British Military Aviation in 1943 - Part 3

Part 2 | Part 4

13 July
No.244 Wing, Desert Air Force (No.92 and No.145 Squadrons RAF and No.1 Squadron South African Air Force) land in Sicily from Malta.

18 July
The United States Goodyear airship K74, on patrol off Florida, attacks a surfaced U-boat. The U-134 fights back and shoots down the airship, one of whose crew is killed by a shark. This is the only airship lost to enemy action during the Second World War. U-134 is damaged and forced to return to
base.

24/25 July - 2/3 August
The 'Battle of Hamburg' (Operation Gomorrah): between these dates, Hamburg is subjected to intense raids by RAF Bomber Command (four attacks) and the 8th United States Army Air Force (USAAF). Bomber Command alone mounts 3,091 sorties, during which it drops a total of 8,344 tons of high explosive and incendiaries on the city.

Much of Hamburg was devastated by the bombing and the firestorm which follows the attack of 27-28 July, and approximately 45,000 German civilians are killed. During the course of the Battle, 87 Bomber Command aircraft are lost, 552 British and Allied airmen are killed, 65 captured and 7 interned in Sweden.

The first attack of the Battle of Hamburg on 24-25 July also saw the first use of Window (tinfoil strips dropped from aircraft to simulate aircraft echoes and confuse ground search and nightfighter radars) by RAF Bomber Command. The forerunner of modern 'chaff', Window proved very successful - only 12 of the 700 bombers despatched were lost.

25 July
No.322 Wing (Supermarine Spitfire) foils a Luftwaffe attempt to reinforce Sicily by air. The Germans attempt to land reinforcements by Junkers Ju52 transport aircraft on a coastal strip at Milazzo in the north of the island. 21 Ju52s and four escorting Messerchmitt Bf109s are shot down.

11 August
A posthumous Victoria Cross is awarded to Flying Officer L.A. Trigg of the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) for sinking the U-boat 'U-468' south west of Dakar. Trigg's aircraft was a Consolidated Liberator (BZ832 'D') of No.200 Squadron.

12-13 August
A posthumous Victoria Cross is awarded to Flight Sergeant A.L. Aaron for his actions during a mission to attack Turin in Italy. The aircraft involved was Short Stirling EF452 'HA-O' of No.218 Squadron, RAF Bomber Command.

13 August
The campaign in Sicily ends with the Allied capture of Messina. During the course of the campaign, the Allies destroyed more than 1,000 Axis aircraft on the ground and 740 in the air. Allied losses amounted to 385, of which 25 were lost to 'friendly fire' over the assault beaches.

17 August
The Eighth United States Army Air Force despatches 376 Boeing B17 Flying Fortress strategic bombers to two targets in southern Germany - the ball bearing factories at Schweinfurt (230 aircraft) and the Messerschmitt factory at Regensburg (146 aircraft). No long-range fighter escort could be provided and as a consequence casualties amongst the attackers are heavy - sixty aircraft fail to return.

17-18 August
The research establishment at Peenemunde on the Baltic coast is attacked by 600 aircraft of RAF Bomber Command (Operation Hydra). Although only part of the complex is destroyed, this raid results in the dispersal of V2 rocket production, thereby delaying the V2's introduction into service.

23/24 August - 3/4 September
RAF Bomber Command opens the preliminary phase of the 'Battle of Berlin' with a series of three major raids on the German capital. During these attacks, the Command despatches a total of 1,652 sorties and loses 125 aircraft. Operations against Berlin are suspended in early September due to difficulties in marking targets within the city.

2 September
The term 'radar' is officially adopted by the RAF in preference to the abbreviation, 'RDF', previously used to describe this equipment (Air Ministry Order AMO 863/43).

3 September
Units of the British Eighth Army cross the Straits of Messina from Sicily to land, unopposed at Reggio di Calabria, on the Italian mainland (Operation Baytown). This marked the return of Allied troops to mainland Europe.

8 September
Italy surrenders.

8-9 September
Faced with mounting heavy bomber losses during its daylight strategic bombing campaign, the United States Eighth Air Force begins a small-scale trial examining the employment of USAAF heavy bombers in night raids, mounted in conjunction with RAF Bomber Command. Five Boeing B17 Flying Fortresses of the 422nd Bombardment Squadron accompany 257 aircraft of RAF Bomber Command in a raid against a German long-range gun battery at Boulogne. Flying Fortresses from the 422nd Bombardment Squadron participate in RAF Bomber Command attacks on a further seven occasions, culminating in a raid on Frankfurt-am-Main on the night of 4/5 October 1943, before the trial is discontinued.

9 September
Units of the United States Fifth Army land at Salerno on the Italian mainland (Operation Avalanche).

Part 2 | Part 4