British Military Aviation in 1941 - Part 3

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20 May
Operation Merkur (Mercury): the German invasion of the island of Crete, begins with an airborne assault by the Luftwaffe's 7th Parachute Division. Although Allied ground units on Crete, and naval vessels in the surrounding waters, fight tenaciously, the defenders are forced to withdraw from the island during the period 28 May to 1 June.

18,000 British and Commonwealth troops are evacuated by the Royal Navy - 2,000 men are killed during the battle for Crete and a further 12,000 taken prisoner. Royal Navy losses around the island are also extremely heavy. However, the defenders, for their part, inflicte heavy casualties on the Luftwaffe paratroop and airlift units that take part in the assault - over 4,000 men are killed, mostly from 7th Parachute Division and 220 of the 600 Junkers Ju52 transport aircraft used in the operation are destroyed. Mercury was to be the last large-scale airborne operation mounted by the Luftwaffe during the Second World War.

20 May
The German battleship Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen pass through the Kattegat en route for the North Atlantic convoy routes.

21 May
A Royal Air Force photographic reconnaissance Supermarine Spitfire of the Photographic Reconnaissance Unit sights the Bismarck in a Fjord near Bergen in Norway.

21 May
Operation Splice: 46 Hawker Hurricanes are flown to Malta, however, only four aircraft are retained, together with the pilots of No.249 Squadron. A detachment from No.82 Squadron (Bristol Blenheim) also arrive on the island.

22 May
A Martin Maryland photographic reconnaissance aircraft of No.877 Squadron Fleet Air Arm confirms that the Bismarck and Prinz Eugen have left Bergen.

24 May
The Bismarck and Prinz Eugen are engaged in surface action by HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales. During the engagement Hood is sunk and Prince of Wales damaged, however, Bismarck is also sufficiently damaged to require her to break off her attempt to enter the North Atlantic and head for Brest on the Atlantic coast of France. Shadowing British warships subsequently lose contact with the Bismarck off Greenland.

26 May
The Bismarck is sighted by Ensign Leonard B. Smith of the United States Navy, approximately 550 miles west of Lands End. Although the United States is not yet at war with Germany, Ensign Smith is flying as a member of the crew of a Consolidated Catalina of No.209 Squadron piloted by Pilot Officer D.A. Briggs. Fairey Swordfish aircraft from the carrier HMS Ark Royal later cripple the Bismarck in a torpedo attack.

27 May
The Bismarck, able to steam only in slow circles, is sunk by gunfire and torpedoes from Royal Navy surface forces at 1101hrs.

6 June
Operation Rocket: 43 Hawker Hurricanes arrive to reinforce Malta, together with the personnel of No.46 Squadron.

12 June
Fourteen Bristol Beaufort torpedo aircraft from No.22 and No.42 Squadrons fly a search from Leuchars and Wick for the German pocket battleship Lutzow, which has been sighted off the coast of Norway. Flight Sergeant R.H. Loveitt successfully locate the battleship by moonlight and carry out a successful torpedo attack, which forces the ship to return to Kiel in Germany for repairs. Flight Sergeant Loveitt is subsequently awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal for this action.

12-13 June
RAF Bomber Command drops 445 tons of bombs on the Ruhr - the heaviest tonnage delivered to date.

12-13 June
The first operational sortie over Germany by a bomber squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). Four Vickers Wellingtons of 405 (Vancouver) Squadron RCAF bomb Schwerte Marshalling yards. The RCAF eventually provide an entire bomber group [No.6 (RCAF) Group] in Bomber Command.

14 June
British Commonwealth forces in North Africa launch Operation Battleaxe in an attempt to drive Axis forces out of Cyrenaica and relieve the siege of Tobruk. The offensive is supported by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) squadrons of 253 Wing, with two squadrons of Hawker Hurricanes and one each of Bristol Blenheims and Curtiss Tomahawks. The South African Air Force also commits one squadron of Hurricanes and a Squadron of Martin Marylands. The offensive is a costly failure and points to the need for improved ground air co-operation.

15 June
The air defences of Malta are reinforced by Hawker Hurricanes flown off the aircraft carriers HMS Ark Royal and HMS Victorious and of the 47 aircraft despatched, 43 arrive safely. A further 64 aircraft are flown in by the end of the month.

22 June
The first 'Gee' chain ground stations at Daventry, Ventnor and Stenigot are completed. Gee was a medium range radio aid to navigation and target identification which employed ground transmitters and an airborne receiver. The navigator plots returns on the screen of the receiver on a special Gee chart.

22 June
The German armed forces launch Operation Barbarossa - the invasion of the Soviet Union. The Luftwaffe will play a key role in the campaigns on the Eastern Front between 1941 and 1945.

24 June
The first aircraft are delivered from America to West Africa via the South Atlantic route.

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