RAAF Saga 1944

[spidge]

http://www.diggerhistory2.info/raaf/1944/00-raaf-saga.htm

Great list of personal stories.

Prepared by

R.A.A.F. DIRECTORATE OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

Published for

ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE

by the

AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL, CANBERRA, A.C.T., 1944

TO THE MEMORY OF FALLEN COMRADES

"They gave their lives. For that public gift they received a praise which never ages and a tomb most glorious-not so much the tomb in which they lie, but that in which their fame survives, to be remembered for ever when occasion comes for word or deed . . ."

In this way the Spitfires' war went on until the enemy ground forces began to crack. Air combat became a thing of the past and the squadron joined with R.A.F. Spitfires, Mustangs and Typhoons, many of them piloted by Australians serving in the R.A.F., in slaughtering the retreating German columns. In the now historic triangle formed by Vimoutiel, Orbec and Lisieux the German 7th Army was hopelessly trapped. There the 2nd Tactical Air Force had a clean-up. It was a massacre. In one day this force alone destroyed or damaged 2,035 mechanized enemy transport and 165 tanks. A formation of R.A.A.F. Spitfires accounted for fifty of these in one attack.

[Kyt]

I've seen this on sale on ebay (usually about a tenner) and it's good to find it scanned. I love these WW2-era publications, for the pictures alone.

[Nostalgair]

Yes, they're a great set of publications.

We've still got most of them from when my parents purchased them over 60 years ago now.

Cheers

Owen

[Antipodean Andy]

See these all of the time on Ebay. Perhaps I should consider them more seriously as have read excerpts from the link Spidge posted before. My fave is the Beaufighters in Burma but, clearly, there is so much more.

Did you see the SEAC Libs, Kyt?

[spidge]

This one does not denote squadrons as the war was still in place (I assume).

It is good to see confirmation of some of the statistical information:

For every airman serving with an R.A.A.F. squadron there have been at least three Australians serving in R.A.F. squadrons.

Australian aircrews, contributing nine per cent of the strength of Bomber Command, either as members of their own R.A.A.F. squadrons or flying in R.A.F. bombers

The first R.A.A.F. attack on the enemy capital occurred on September 2, 1941, when R.A.A.F. twin-engined Hampdens took part.

The Australian squadrons attacked forty-five targets in June. They dropped nearly 4,500 tons of bombs-nearly 100 tons more than they dropped in the record month of May - and flew half as many more sorties than in May. This record was beaten again in August when 5,800 tons of bombs were dropped and Australian heavies flew over 1,000 sorties. A week after D-day Australian Lancasters took part in the first high-level daylight precision attack to be made by Bomber Command. It was the first daylight raid made by an Australian heavy-bomber squadron in Europe. Escorted by Spitfires, a force of more than 300 Lancasters attacked a concentration of boats at their moorings, E-boat pens, torpedo boats and the dockside at Le Havre.

In this way the Spitfires' war went on until the enemy ground forces began to crack. Air combat became a thing of the past and the squadron joined with R.A.F. Spitfires, Mustangs and Typhoons, many of them piloted by Australians serving in the R.A.F., in slaughtering the retreating German columns. In the now historic triangle formed by Vimoutiel, Orbec and Lisieux the German 7th Army was hopelessly trapped. There the 2nd Tactical Air Force had a clean-up. It was a massacre. In one day this force alone destroyed or damaged 2,035 mechanized enemy transport and 165 tanks. A formation of R.A.A.F. Spitfires accounted for fifty of these in one attack.