CHAPTERS
1941, A NEW YEAR BEGINS
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Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off To Hell We Go.....
THE MIDDLE AND FAR EAST - WW2
1941
As the year came to a close, these modest succeses in the desert were an enthema to a worried world that had hitherto seen far to many setbacks. I appropriately close 1940 with an excerpt from Churchill`s book "The finest Hour"
We may I am sure, rate this tremendous year as being the most splendid, as it was the most deadly year in our long English and British story. It was a great quaintly organised England that had destroyed the Spanish Armada. A strong flame of conviction and resolve carried us through the 25 years conflict which William 11 and Marlborough waged against Louis XIV. There was a famous period with Chatham. There was the long struggle against Napoleon, in which our survival was secured through the domination of the seas by the British Navy under the classic leadership of Nelson and his associates. A million Britons died in the first world war. But nothing surpasses 1940. By the end of that year this small and ancient Island, with it`s devoted Commonwealth, Dominions and attachments under every sky, had proved itself capable of bearing the whole impact and weight of world destiny. We had not flinched or wavered. We had not failed. The soul of the British people and race had proved invincible. Alone, but upborne by every generous heartbeat of mankind, we had defied the tyrant in the height of his triumph...........And now this Britan, and it`s far spread association of states and dependencies, which had seemed on the verge of ruin, whose very heart was about to be pierced had..........devoted all it`s infinitely varied vitalities to the struggle. With a gasp of astonoishment and relief the smaller neutrals and the subjugated states saw that the stars still shone in the sky. Hope and within it passion burned anew in the hearts of hundreds of millions of men. The good cause would triumph. Right would not be trampled down. The flag of Freedom, which in this fatefull hour was the Union Jack, would still fly in all the winds that blew.
(Excerpt was written after the fact in 1949)
On January 6th 1941 the 7th armoured division, under cover of offensive fighting patrols had reached the outer perimeter forces at Torbuk, capturing El Adem aerodrome this same day. With Torbuk now effectively sealed off from escape, O'Connor and Mackay planned their attack. Giving some indication of the state of the Italian airforce, 40 unserviceable aircraft abandoned by the Italians were found here and a further 35 burnt out aircraft were found by patrols at Gazala a few days later. Everywhere, as the Italians withdrew and abandoned equipment or facilities, the Arabs seemed to come out of nowhere to loot and carry off anything they could manage.
By mid January Headquarters 202 Group had moved up to Sollum while the bomber and fighter squadrons had moved up to landing grounds in the Sollum Bardia area. 208 Squadron and 3 Squadron RAAF were located further forward at Gambut. In preparation for the attack on Torbuk, heavy bombing attacks were carried out on the enemy's defenses, with particular focus on the aerodromes at Berka and Benina near Benghazi where the Italians had withdrawn their bombers. Included among the targets at this time were the Port and shipping facilities in Benghazi and military targets at Derna. The heavy aircraft losses of the Italians was now beginning to take effect and the Allied pilots enjoyed a period of relatively little resistance in the skys.
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