World War 2 In Review No. 75: War in the Air

By Merriam Press

World War 2 In Review No. 75

Merriam Press World War 2 In Review Series

eBook Edition 2022

Number 75 of World War 2 in Review features these articles on World War II:

(1) No. 2 Squadron, Royal Air Force

(2) Air Warfare in World War II

(3) 191 Days of Desert War: The USAAF in North Africa, November 1942-May 1943

(4) Renard R.31: Belgian Reconnaissance Aircraft

(5) Italy's Air Forces: Italian Royal Air Force (Regia Aeronautica Italiana)

(6) Aviazione Della R.S.I.: The Air Force of the Italian Socialist Republic

(7) CANT Z.506: Italian Floatplane

(8) Antonov A-40: Soviet Flying Tank

(9) Eagle Farm Airfield: USAAF Camp Eagle Farm/RAAF Relief Landing Ground

(10) Japanese Ace Hiroyoshi Nishizawa

(11) Republic P-43 Lancer: American Fighter

(12) The Last Me 262 Downed

(13) Escuadrón 201 "Aguilas Aztecas": Mexico's Aztec Eagles

(14) Remembering the "Aztec Eagles"

(15) 394th Bomb Group USAAF

(16) B-26 Marauders of the 394th Bomb Group

467 B&W and color photos and illustrations

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Sep 2, 2022
• ISBN: 9781387640362

Book preview

World War 2 In Review No. 75: War in the Air

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Hoosick Falls, New York

2022

•

eBook Edition 2022

ISBN 9781387640362

Copyright © 2022 by Merriam Press

All rights reserved.

Additional material copyright of named contributors.

The views expressed are solely those of the author(s).

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the United States of America by

Merriam Press, 489 South Street, Hoosick Falls NY 12090

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On the Cover

No. 2 Squadron, Royal Air Force

Number 2 Squadron, also known as No. II (Army Co-operation) Squadron, is the most senior squadron of the Royal Air Force.

No. 2 Squadron's traditional army co-operation role is reflected in the AC of its title, its motto Hereward (Guardian of the Army), and the symbol of a Wake knot on its crest. Its unofficial nickname is Shiny Two.

No. 2 Squadron was formed at Farnborough, Hampshire on 13 May 1912, on the founding of the Royal Flying Corps as one of the first three squadrons of the new force. It was formed from a detachment of No. 2 (Aeroplane) Company of the Royal Engineers Air Battalion. Both No. 2 Squadron and No. 3 Squadron were equipped with fixed wing aeroplanes, while No. 1 Squadron was equipped with airships. The Squadron's first commander was Major C J Burke. The Squadron was equipped with a mixture of aircraft types, including the prototype Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2.

From 26 February 1913, the squadron was based at Montrose in Angus, Scotland, the first operational Royal Flying Corps base in the UK. This was established on the instructions of the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, to protect the Royal Navy. At Montrose the ghost story of Desmond Arthur spread around the flying corps. In May 1914, when the Squadron was transferring south from Montrose, five aircraft crashed when they hit a bank of fog just south of the River Tees. Six of the aircraft had to land, with five of them crash landing, resulting in many injuries and two deaths (a Lieutenant and a First Class Mechanic) in a field near Hutton Bonville in the North Riding of Yorkshire.

No. 2 Squadron was the first to fly the English Channel into France at the start of the First World War with H.D. Harvey-Kelly being the first pilot to land his aircraft. The squadron spent the war on reconnaissance duties in France flying, amongst other aircraft, the B.E.2.

Although its principal role was not air-to-air combat, it still had one flying ace among its ranks in Arthur William Hammond. It also numbered the first aviation Victoria Cross winners in its ranks, in Second Lieutenant Rhodes-Moorhouse and Lieutenant Alan Arnett McLeod.

The squadron gained the 'AC' in its title in the inter-war years, flying army co-operation (AC) sorties during the partition of Ireland in the early 1920s. After time in China during 1927, the squadron re-equipped with the Armstrong Whitworth Atlas again on army co-operation work.

At the outbreak of the Second World War the unit was flying Westland Lysanders. In France until the Dunkirk evacuation. It was then based at RAF Sawbridgeworth in Hertfordshire as the principle squadron in that location. Over time the squadron equipped with fighters – the Curtiss Tomahawk in 1941, the North American Mustang in 1942. In July 1944, assigned to the 2nd Tactical Air Force, the squadron returned to France in the reconnaissance role. It was re-equipped with Supermarine Spitfire Mk.XIVs in November 1944. Shiny Two relocated to RAF Celle in June 1945 after the war in Europe was won as part of the British Air Forces of Occupation.

Squadron Codes

KO (November 1939–May 1941)

XV (May 1941–1943)

Commanding Officers

Squadron Leader A J W Geddes (29 April 1939) (Wing Commander from 1 March 1940)

Wing Commander P J A Riddell (24 December 1941)

Wing Commander P W Stansfeld (8 February 1943)

Squadron Leader B O C Egan-Wyer (29 June 1943)

Squadron Leader M J Gray (25 August 1943)

Squadron Leader C A Maitland (7 September 1944)

Squadron Leader R J F Mitchell (25 March 1945)

Squadron Leader D W Barlow (24 April 1946)

Aircraft

September 1938-September 1940: Lysander I and Lysander II

September 1940-July 1942: Lysander III

August 1941-April 1942: Tomahawk I, IIA

April 1942-May 1944: Mustang I, Ia

May 1944-January 1945: Mustang II

November 1944-January 1951: Supermarine Spitfire Mk XIV

Duty

September 1938-June 1940: Army Cooperation squadron

June 1940 onwards: Tactical Reconnaissance

Location

30 November 1935-6 October 1939: Hawkinge

6 October 1939-19 May 1940: Abbeville/ Drucat (France)

19-20 May 1940: Lympne (UK)

21-21 May 1940: Bekesbourne and Croydon

21 May-8 June 1940: Bekesbourne only

8 June-24 October 1940: Hatfield

24 October 1940-3 February 1943: Sawbridgeworth

3 February-20 March 1943: Bottisham

20 March-27 April 1943: Fowlmere

27 April-16 July 1943: Sawbridgworth

17 July-10 August 1943: Gravesend

10 August 1943-22 January 1944: Odiham

29 February-11 March 1944: Sawbridgworth

11-24 March 1944: Dundonald

24 March-4 April 1944: Sawbridgworth

4 April-30 July 1944: Gatwick

30 July-14 August 1944: B.10 Plumetot (France)

14 August-3 September 1944: B.4 Beny-sur-Mer

3-6 September 1944: B.27 Boisney

6-11 September 1944: B.31 Fresnoy Folney

11-27 September 1944: B.43 Fort Rouge

27 September-11 October 1944: B.61 St. Denis Westrem

11-23 October 1944: B.70 Deurne

23 October 1944-9 March 1945: B.77 Gilze-Rijen

9 March-18 April 1945: B.89 Mill

18 April-30 May 1945: B.106 Twente

30 May-18 June 1945: B.116: Celle

18 June 1945: B.150 Hustedt

Significant Dates

6 October 1939: Moves to France with BEF

19 May 1940: Forced to return to Britain by the rapid German advance

14 November 1942: First Mustang sortie

July 1944: Moves to Normandy after the D-Day invasion.

17 January 1945: Last Mustang sortie

Bibliography

Butcher, Percy Edwin. Skill and Devotion: A Personal Reminiscence of the Famous No. 2 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps. Hampton Hill, Middlesex, UK: Radio Modeller Book Division, 1971.

Halley, James J. The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth, 1918–1988. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 1988.

Heathcott, John. Unit Heritage: 'Second to None': 'Shiny Two', No. II (AC) Squadron, RAF. Wings of Fame. Volume 11, 1998. London: Aerospace Publishing. pp. 140–157.

Jefford, C.G. RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury: Airlife Publishing, 2001.

Onderwater, Hans. Second to None: the History of No. II (Army Co-operation) Squadron RAF, 1912–2002. second edition, Airlife Publishing, UK.

Raleigh, Walter. The War in the Air: Being the Story of the part played in the Great War by The Royal Air Force: Vol I. Oxford: The Clarenden Press, 1922.

Rawlings, John D.R. Coastal, Support and Special Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft. London: Jane's Publishing Company Ltd., 1982.

Rawlings, John D.R. Fighter Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft. London: Macdonald and Jane's (Publishers) Ltd., 1969 (new edition 1976, reprinted 1978).

Air Warfare in World War II

Air warfare was a major component in all theaters of World War II, and, together with anti-aircraft warfare, consumed a large fraction of the industrial output of the major powers. Germany and Japan depended on air forces that were closely integrated with land and naval forces; the Axis powers downplayed the advantage of fleets of strategic bombers, and were late in appreciating the need to defend against Allied strategic bombing. By contrast, Britain and the United States took an approach that greatly emphasized strategic bombing, and (to a lesser degree) tactical control of the battlefield by air, as well as adequate air defenses. Both Britain and the U.S. built a substantially larger strategic forces of large, long-range bombers. Simultaneously, they built tactical air forces that could win air superiority over the battlefields, thereby giving vital assistance to ground troops. The U.S. and Royal Navy also built a powerful naval-air component based on aircraft carriers, as did the Japanese; these played the central role in the war at sea.

Pre-war Planning

Before 1939, all sides operated under largely theoretical models of air warfare. Italian theorist Giulio Douhet in the 1920s summarized the faith that airmen during and after World War I developed in the efficacy of strategic bombing. Many said it alone could win wars, as the bomber will always get through. The Americans were confident that the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber could reach targets, protected by its own weapons, and bomb, using the Norden bombsight, with pickle barrel accuracy. Japanese aviation pioneers felt that they had developed the finest naval aviators in the world.

Air Forces

Germany: The Luftwaffe

The Luftwaffe was the aerial warfare branch of the Wehrmacht. Under the leadership of Hermann Göring, it was able to learn and test new combat techniques in the Spanish Civil War. The war also led to greater emphasis on anti-air weapons and fighter aircraft due to their ability to defend against enemy bombers. Its advanced technology and rapid growth led to exaggerated fears in the 1930s that helped to persuade the British and French into appeasement. In the war the Luftwaffe performed well in 1939–41, as its Stuka dive bombers terrified enemy infantry units. But the Luftwaffe was poorly coordinated with overall German strategy, and never ramped up to the size and scope needed in a total war, partly due to a lack of military aircraft production infrastructure for both completed airframes and powerplants when compared to either the Soviet Union or the United States. The Luftwaffe was deficient in radar technology except for their usable UHF and later VHF band airborne intercept radar designs such as the Lichtenstein and Neptun radar systems for their night fighters. The Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter did not enter service until July 1944, and the lightweight Heinkel He 162 appeared only during the last months of the air war in Europe. The Luftwaffe could not deal with Britain's increasingly lethal defensive fighter screen after the Battle of Britain, or the faster P-51 Mustang escort fighters after 1943.

When the Luftwaffe's fuel supply ran dry in 1944 due to the oil campaign of World War II, it was reduced to anti-aircraft flak roles, and many of its men were sent to infantry units. By 1944 it operated 39,000 flak batteries staffed with a million people in uniform, both men and women.

The Luftwaffe lacked the bomber forces for strategic bombing, because it did not think such bombing was worthwhile, especially following the June 3, 1936, death of General Walther Wever, the prime proponent of a strategic bomber force for the Luftwaffe. They did attempt some strategic bombing in the east with the problematic Heinkel He 177A. Their one success was destroying an airbase at Poltava Air Base, Ukraine during the Allied Operation Frantic, which housed 43 new B-17 bombers and a million tons of aviation fuel.

Introduction of turbojet-powered combat aircraft, mostly with the Messerschmitt Me 262 twin-jet fighter, the Heinkel He 162 light jet fighter and the Arado Ar 234 reconnaissance-bomber was pioneered by the Luftwaffe, but the delayed period (1944–45) of their introduction – much of which was due to the lengthy development time for both the BMW 003 and Junkers Jumo 004 jet engine designs—as well as the failure to produce usable examples of their two long-developed higher-power aviation engines, the Junkers Jumo 222 multibank 24-cylinder piston engine of some 2,500 hp, and the advanced Heinkel HeS 011 turbojet of nearly 2,800 lb. of thrust, each of which were meant to power many advanced German airframe design proposals in the last years of the war—meant that they were introduced too little, too late, as so many other advanced German aircraft designs (and indeed, many other German military weapon systems) had been during the later war years.

Although Germany's allies, especially Italy and Finland, had air forces of their own, there was very little coordination with them. Not until very late in the war did Germany share its aircraft and alternative fuel blueprints and technology with its ally Japan, resulting in the Nakajima Kikka jet fighter and the Mitsubishi Shusui rocket fighter, respectively based on the Me