Sunday Post - 29.12.1940, Blaðsíða 2

2
SUNDAY POST
Spitfire v. Messerschmidt.
♦ ...
British designers of aircraft are
far better than their German
colleagues.
SUNDAY POST
U issued by S. Benediktsson
publisher of Daily Post.
Office: Al]?ySuprentsmi8jan
h.f. Teleph. 4905. Reykjavik.
Sunday, Dec. 29th, 1940
LONDON had no air. raids
during Christmas. This has
probably been due to bad weather
conditions rather than any leni-
ency of the Nazis although they
have been trying to persuade the
Americans that no German bomb-
ers had been sent over the
Channel so that the harassed
Londoners could celebrate Christ-
mas in peace.
But in the U. S. A. people are
not easily convinced that there
has suddenly been any change in
German mentality, even if they
abstained from bombing civili-
ans on Christmas eve. One of
the U. S. A. senators said that
he ooiuld not find anything worthy
of praise in the fact that Nazi
airmen who have indiscriminate-
ly bombed British civilians
throughout the year', now gave
themselves a holiday for two
days. Besides, the Nazi doctrine
has never been that of peace on
earth.
In England Christmas, the
second Christmas of the war, was
celebrated in the usual way. No
wailing sirenes disturbed the
peace. The King sent a Christ-
mas message to his people and
the peoples of the Empire, and
the leaders of the subjugated
people who fight against the
common enemy sent Christmas
messages to their countries.
A Scottish commentator who
described the Christmas cele-
bration this year in the America
program of the B. B. C- said
that this time there were not so
many and valuable Christmas
gifts as before but the Christmas
cards now were more beautiful
than ever before.
There was a broadcast of greet-
ings from British ‘soldiers in for-
eign countries ranging from Ice-
land to Egypt. The spokesman
of the B. E. F- in Iceland said
that he had been walking along
the main street where a crowd
of people were doing the:r Christ-
mas shopping at the last hour,
just as in England. He told his
lis'e'ers that the cl mate were not
so cold as might be expected
from the name of the oountry and
assured them that the troops
were comfortable. Just mow every
body’s thoughts were with his
people at home in England.
On Christmas eve and Christ-
mas day no British bombers raid-'
ed German cities, neither, as be-
fore said, did the Nazis attack
WHEN building up the
“Luftwaffe”, the Germans
made a big mistake. They built
thousands and thousands again
of bombers, but almost forgot
the fighters. Now, after1 the out-
break of war, they have woke
up and are building thousands of
fighters, and, specially, fighter-
bombers. Dunkirk wqjs the first
big victory of the British fighters,
but not the last. Since then they
have brought do\yn hundreds
of German planes of all kinds.
These battles have proved the
quality of the R. A. F. machines.
Home in Germany the experts
of the German air force designed
one fighter after another, one
victim for the R. A. F. after on-
other. Let’s have a look at
types of fighter aircraft that
have taken the sky since the war
was declared.
At that time the main type of
the British was still the Gloster
Gladiator, but the Spitfires and
Hurricanes were on their way.
The Germans had the Heinkel
112, but no battle was fought be-
tween fighters and only few
bombers were in action. In spring
1940 the air activity increased
but then the “Luftwaffe” met its
enemy no. 1, the Spitfires and
Hurricanes, which it’s been trying
to beat all the time since then,
but in vain. Then we saw the
most desperate experiments in
'the history of aireal warfare.
The Germans sent one. type
after another into action, but
quite without result. Over came
the Messersmidt 109, the Me 110
and the Heinkel 113. They sent
one fighter escorting each bomb-
er, they had to send two, then
three, and four fighters with
each, and at last they’ve had to
change their fighters into fighter-
bombers. Now the Germans are
trying still new types, not in the
least similar to the former ones.
England. Yut Mussolini’s airmen
chose Christmas day to commit
one af their foulest deeds since
Abyssinia and Spain. They attac-
ked the undefended island of
Corfu, killing over twenty people
and injuring some thirty.
Let us hope the new year will
bring victory over Nazism and
Fascism and that the next Christ-
mas may be celebrated in peace
and goodwill.
Focke-Wolf “Fw 198” is a single
seater fighter with the engine
and the propellers behind the
pilot and the tail planes carried
on hollow steel booms. The
Fokker “D23” has two engines,
one in front of, the other behind
the pilot and the tail planes
carried the same way as those
of the “Fw 198”. These and
other new types haven’t been in
hot action yet, but we knotov,
that the R. A. F. bombers have
raided the factories, where they
are built, successfully, and caused
big damage.
Now let’s have a look at what
the Allies and the U. S. A. have
been doing in the same time. —
“What a victory", herr Hitler
has thought _ before Dunkirk,
“Our army is bigger and stronger
than theirs, and our dear Luft-
waffe rules the skies’*. But he
didnt know one thing, poor chap.
The British had just started the
mass production of a new fighter,
just the right sort to beat
the “Luftwaffe” this time. The
new fighter came, and the Ger-
mans met the “Defiant1* for the
first time. This wonderful mac-
hine started its career with rob-
bing several hundred war pri-
soners out af the hands of the
Germans at Dunkirk. But the De-
fiant wasn’t the last word. Only
few weeks ago the “Fairy Ful-
mar” took the skies from the
decks of the aircraft carriers. A
two-seater fighter similar to the
“Fairy Battle”, it has eight mac-
hine guns in the wings, but no
further features are known
Anyway it has frightened the
Italians, because in its first two
days in the Mediterranean it
shot down enery enemy fighter,
which it met. Hope the Italians
are able to swim, poor little
boys.
Now, over to America. When
the Americans want to do somet-
hing, they use to do it. Now
they .want to: build a f’ghte" l e ter
than the Spitfire, because that’s
the best figther they know.
They’ve designed the “Air cobra’1
one of the most sensational plan-
es ever built. The there’s -the
"Lockheed P 38“, a two engine
fighter. Both planes have lots
of features, e.g. a speed between
400 and 500. m. p. h. But future
alone knows, if they are better
than the Spitfire, and then they
are good, anyway.
' ' B.
SEPTEMBER 16. 1940. FLASHBACK OF A SETBACK.