Defence cuts and reshaping

Lions led by Donkeys - as always

The British armed forces have always been badly treated by the Governments who sent them to war. The sailors who fought of Phillip II of Spain's armada were left in port to die from disease unpaid, the infamous redcoat of the 1770s was poorly paid in comparison to other less dangerous jobs in the motherland, battalions were sent to garrison forts in the Caribbean and decimated by yellow fever. The Boer war saw poorly trained troops massacred for financial gain and the First World War repeated the same mistakes for no gain at all.

Now occupation forces from Afghanistan are returning to redundancy and uncertainty on civy street- Thanks for all you've done guys!

Whilst I remain horrified at the human cost and the treatment of the heroes by the Ministry I can also see the motives, however cold, and insensitive they are.

Warfare is a fluidic and evolutionary creature that needs to be kept up with, something we failed to do in 1914.

Although the teachings of Guderian in Achtung Panzer and the Blitzkrieg showed that the day of the Infantry and Cavalry were well and truly over for successful offensives but it soon became evident that vast swathes of infantry still had to be used for garrisons and policing roles. Some seventy years on and we're in a similar boat. In fact things have moved backwards as aircraft design has accelerated. Modern fighter jets are too noisy and fast for photo reconnaissance and satellites too expensive to move. Moreover in a war against insurgents who hit and fade into the countryside rather than fight as a division it is hard to spot them, especially when you're travelling at 600mph and filling the area with noise sending people running for the hills. So who has to go on patrol and see what's what? The infantry.

Unmanned drones are silent, hard to spot on radar and visually, they're also slower as well as more fuel efficient. For recon purposes they are the pinnacle and they save lives. No one will be put in danger of attack and the drone can coordinate an artillery barrage, air strike or missile strike.

Once the occupation is started it is difficult to mount strikes with infantry ales time. Helicopter infantry is very dicey these days as any untrained fool can take down a helicopter with a one shot rocket launcher. Also the time needed to mobilise infantry, who aren't trained for surgical strikes, takes time. Modern warfare against plain clothed terrorist insurgents requires time and effort that is watched. If an incident happens around the world , and let's face it it is happening now in Mali, Algeria, Somalia - an armed response can be a logistical nightmare to organise and deploy.

Small teams of highly mobile elite squads is much more preferable for special operations. SAS and SBS teams can be mobilised and dropped into a combat zone within 48 hours rather than 48 days plus. They're harder to find and combat too. You can also arm and equip small teams with the best equipment for a lot less than outfitting a regiment and it's support staff with standard equip. It is thus very understandable, from an operational point of view, to why the MoD are scaling back and moving to a more fluidic form of warfare that will be more effective at combating terror and insurgents than sending our boys enmasse into a situation they're not equipped or trained to deal with properly.

If this scale back is to occur though, it is the duty of this government to thank the troops for their return and help get them jobs, homes in the same way demobbed troops were received after World War Two.

Libdems back Airport works in Medway

It was announcement last week that there were plans to expand operations of the Rochester Airport with the laying of a concrete runway and facilities that give opportunities for up to a thousand new jobs in the area.

Rochester Airport has been blighted by bad luck in the past. Seven years after Short bros. and Pobjoy engine manufacturers moved to the site it was devestated by the Luftwaffe (15th April 1940) putting production back by a year and scattering production to sites across the UK never to return. Then followed the Channel Airways flights from Rochester in old Dakotas only to be cut short by stringent requirements of the Civil Aviation society. The rolling lease problems (that they have been too short for any real developement) and other issues saw an end to the microlight fleet who moved to Upminster and the once popular airshows grind to a halt.

However now a new beginning may be in the making. In these dark economic times, nationally as well as longterm local issues, it is a welcome move to generate income and business for the towns. More importantly there has been consultation with local residents over the issue and the move has been made together.

The White elephant of Highspeed rail travel?

With the proposition of the new HUB airport still grabbing all the media attention and every political sinew within the Medway towns it is time to look at one of the best alternatives - HS2.

One of the major problems with airport capacity is the amount of short range internal flights such as Eastleigh ( ok, Southampton airport) to say Newcastle turning a five and a half hour train journey into an hour and twenty minute flight with check in and check out- you don't even need to drag your luggage up and down escalators or across London on the Tube!

There's also the cost with a single train fare on that journey costing £170.50 for a single against the cheapest non-stop Flybe flight of £77 one way!

Just for a comparison, if you wanted to go from Paris to Berlin, a journey of 651miles (as opposed to the 343miles of Southampton to Newcastle) costs £169s (€211) and takes eight hours twenty minutes including a change at Mannheim or Frankfurt am main depending on your route.

So obviously those of us with access to an airport are more likely to fly quickly and cheaply rather than battle with the UK's ageing rail network...

Hang on, hold the phone... What about HIgh Speed travel?

Well, that's something different. Like in the case of our European neighbours it is more than possible. The construction of new lines such as the HS1 Ebbsfleet to St Pancras, from that terminal to a HUB in Birmingham where it could springboard out or even do it from London to Newcastle, Liverpool, Manchester and even Edinburgh and drastically reduce journey time.

Imagine a five hour journey from London to Edinburgh. You wouldn't lose a whole day travelling at each end of your holiday.

Yes, countryside will be spoilt by the construction. I remember the campaigns to oppose the Eurostar route through Boxley valley. However the damage isn't that bad (though I'm sure some residents would not agree!) and it is only a thin sliver of land compared to the massive swathe of destruction a new airport, especially in the estuary, would cause. We also know that Rail is a greener form of transport than aircraft.

The big problem will be cost to the commuter. Commuters in Kent were given the RPI+3 formula to help pay for HS1 service by the last Labour government and hence our fares are cripplingly high. Most of us don't even use the bloody thing. Yes it is quick if you want to get into London or want to get a connection for Kings Cross but it if you work in South or central London the time you save you then spend on the tube getting to work at the added expense of the tube and for an HS ticket.

For HS services, indeed for rail in general, operators need to keep prices affordable otherwise they'll turn an exciting, green infrastructural improvement into a great big white elephant.

It isn't a Messerschmitt Mr Cameron

First published on the 11-10-2012 on my History blog.

Today, during his trip to the Imperial War Museum David Cameron referred to the Museum’s Focke-Wulf Fw 190 as a Messerschmitt. Normally this would not be a problem but unfortunately he said it within earshot of an amateur Luftwaffe historian – me.

Now it may not seem like too much of an error but to put it into context it would be like comparing a Spitfire to a P. 51 Mustang.

So if you’ll bear with me I will provide a brief biography of both aircraft and within you will see the differences.

BF 109 G's note the Daimler Benz inline engine & small cockpit

The Messerschmitt Me 109 was designed by Robert Lauser and Willi Messerschmitt at the Bayern Flugzeugwerke with the first prototype flying in September 1935 with a Rolls Royce Kestrel engine. It was designed as the Messerschmitt entry to a RLM specification for a new single seat fighter to replace the aging He. 51 biplane. The 109 saw of challenges from Focke-wulf and Arado fairly easily. The big competitor was the Heinkel He. 112, the competition was so close that both machines were dispatched to the Condor Legion in Spain to take part in the civil war. Despite the superiority of the Heinkel machine the 109 was chosen.

The 109 was the first fighter to kick off the revolutionary designs that would come to the frontlines of air forces around the world including the Dewoitine D.520 and Supermarine Spitfire. The 109 was the first all metal fuselage fighter with an enclosed cockpit with a new high-powered engine. The Me 109 R (later listed BF 209) one many pre war air races. During its brief spell in Spain the 109 acquitted itself excellently ripping through the older Soviet models of the Republican forces and hand in hand with the modern Heinkel He 111 and Junkers Ju. 52 bombers (as well as the excellent Junkers Ju 87 Stuka) handed aerial superiority to the Nationalists.

By the outbreak of the Second World war the Messerschmitt 109D (dora) was the standard model of the Luftwaffe which was slowly being replaced by the superlative E (emil) model. Whilst on a par with the Spitfire, Hurricane and D.520 they’re massed numbers over the Panzer thrusts and with superior tactics with experienced officers who had served in Spain quickly gained superiority.

When it came to the Battle of Britain the 109 E with its four machine guns and two MG FF cannons maintained superiority in the early months of the battle. It was only when the OKL directives to push the 109s to fly deeper over England that losses began to mount and the limits of the range became apparent. When the Luftwaffe switched targets to London the 109 was working at the limits of its range and only had enough time for twenty minutes of air combat over the capital which would mean that the Jagdflieger would have to keep an eye on the fuel gauge or risk ending up in the drink on the way back to France.

The pinnacle of the 109 design, the F (Friedrich) model was coming into the frontline. The F was superior to anything else in the air at the time and quickly maintained superiority over the RAF in the Balkens, Africa (where Marseille shot down six Hurricanes in one day – TWICE!) and Russia. When Hauptmann Pingel crash landed his Friedrich outside Dover in ’41 he handed the RAF an intact model for evaluation and soon the Spitfire was modified to meet the design.

The G (Gunther) came out in ’42 but was only meant to be a stop gap for the proposed BF 209 fighter but when it didn’t come it continued to be the mainstay of the Jagdflieger. The G was covered with “boils” with extra armament and additions to the fuselage but it took its toll on performance and the model was quickly out performed by the P-47 Thunderbolt, P-51 Mustang and the newer models of Spitfire – even by Yak 9’s in Russia.

Despite this there was the 109K (Kurfaust) which saw limited production which was designed for high altitude fighting, the 109 T which was a 109 E with an arrester hook for Aircraft carriers and the post war models including the Hispano Ha. 1112 in Spain (which was powered by the Rolls Royce Merlin and a squadron were used in the making of the Battle of Britain movie) and the Avia S-99 (powered by a Junkers Jumo 211 engine, which had been used in Heinkel He. 111 bombers.) which served with the Israeli airforce.

The 109 was the highest scoring fighter in the war. Aces like Erich Hartmann who scored over three hundred kills aided this. It was also the most heavily produced aircraft of all time until recent years with 30,573 machines built in Germany during the war accounting for 47% of all aircraft built for the Luftwaffe!

FW 190 A- note the radial engine and bubble cockpit

The Focke-wulf 190 was designed by Kurt Tank with the maiden flight being in June 1939 and, unlike the 109 was powered by a radial engine rather than the sleek inline liquid cooled engine. The Radial engine, which many experten claimed was a hindrance, actually gave the craft a greater lift and able to carry heavier loads. This led to the 190 being used for torpedo aircraft roles, anti-tank ordinance and the Mistellen. The original A1 model was fitted with four 7.92 mm Machine guns (two in the fuselage and two in the wing) and two outboard MG FF cannon on wing mounted pods which gave it quite a punch and it was swiftly nicknamed the Butcherbird.

After its eventual introduction in 1941 it quickly proved itself superior to anything the RAF had to offer until the Spitfire Mk. IX came to the front line which levelled the playing field again. On its arrival to Russia in 1942 it made an immediate impact despite the Soviet’s believing the 109 was the threat. With modifications the ground attack units became quite a menace to the Soviet armour.

The big problem with the 190 A was that its manoeuvrability at high altitude was quite poor in comparison to other craft but more than made up for it at medium and low altitudes. Focke-wulf quickly rectified this problem by using the inline Junkers Jumo 213 engine thus creating the amazing long nosed Fw 190 D (dora). However this model lacked the high rate of turn and roll that the A model had had. The Dora was supposed to be a stop gap according to Kurt Tank for the Ta. 152 which when tested by Herr Tank left six Mustangs that “bounced” the prototype in its dust!

However positive feedback of the Dora from the pilots changed the minds of OKL. Unfortunately for the Luftwaffe it was too little to late as it didn’t come into service until the end of 1944. The retreating Wehrmacht and destroyed German production meant that there was a shortage of numbers being produced and the ageing 109, far beyond its useful production life and the vicious 190 were unable to stop the tide of Allied aircraft.

Boris admits being at odds with National policies

As my Conservative doppelgänger (apparently) arrived to thunderous applause and chants at the Conservative party conference something more telling comes out.

Though the nation is yet again pondering another party leadership challenge with many in the right of the party feeling David Cameron is too cosy with us whining work shy Liberals. Boris' star is very much in ascendence especially as he doesn't have to follow through on pledges if national policy gets in the way.

There in lies the rub. Although he did rubbish the idea of expanding Heathrow - rightly so as all the major parties pledged this - he also stated;

It is sometimes inevitable that the mayor of a great city will find himself saying things that do seem at variance with national policy

It would not be an unfair assumption to say he's talking about Boris Island.

Local campaigners have sometimes (or often in some cases) tried to stir the waters and make a big show over what Boris' intentions and power over the cabinet are. I've always maintained that as Mayor he's proposing what HE thinks is best for London but it is up to the DoT and Cabinet to make the final decision and Boris Island/Thames Hub is really not popular (especially with the Libdems who voted to oppose it at conference - it is now party policy) mainly for the perils of flight and the environmental damage.

Could this latest admission from Boris be really that telling? I'll let you decide but I think so. I think all of the recent outbursts have be borne out by a frustrated Mayor who is finding himself roadblocked by Government.

I will say this (again) though:

Nothing has been decided yet. There are those who'll tell you the Government have U-turned on Heathrow and in the same breath warn of Boris Island. I say wait. The Government are truly in a quandary and want to review all of the options before making a decision so let us wait until then.

Libdem conference Votes NO to Boris Island

Peter Welch of Southend West

Whilst some political groups and commentators will still warn you off the almost inevitability of Boris Island as the "least negative option" but last Sunday a big step was taken at the Liberal Democrat Party conference.
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Medway's very own Cllr Geoff Juby, leader of our Council group was due to speak and a good contingent of our exec committee were there too including our Chairman Tony Jeacock.

In the end Geoff was not called to speak but Peter Welch of Southend West spoke passionately and eloquently against the proposals.

Conference voted AGAINST any estuary airport.

Let's just be clear so there can be no calls of inconsistency or claims to the contrary;

The Liberal Democrats are in support of creating a new HUB airport. They are AGAINST any Heathrow expansion or development in the Thames estuary.

Hope everyone has got that.

Any way, I've attached the party email from Mr Welch and included the link to the petition.


I spoke against Boris Johnson’s idea of a Thames Estuary Airport at Liberal Democrat conference last Sunday – and won a big vote. I told conference delegates that the ideas being pushed by London’s Conservative mayor were wrong on environmental, economic and aviation grounds.

I reminded delegates of the beauty of the Estuary, inviting them to come and see for themselves:
Come and visit the estuary sometime. Come to Leigh on Sea and to Old Leigh. Gaze out across the Estuary. You will probably be surprised at how beautiful it is. Locals are always tweeting pictures of the estuary, while they wait for a train in the morning. Every day it is different. You’ll be surprised at all the wildlife, so close to London, even while the centre of the estuary is a busy shipping route. There are 300 000 sea birds in the estuary, harbour seals, even seahorses. You’ll probably say to yourself: this should be protected.
And guess what? It is!  If you destroy the unique wetlands of the estuary, you breach the Ramsar convention, you breach the Habitats Directive, and you destroy sites of Special Scientific Interest. You’d be breaking international agreements.

I told them that the Isle of Grain proposals were estimated to cost at least £50 billion, would involve building far out into the Estuary, and would that there would be no return on this investment for years and years.
Lastly I told the conference that the Chief Executive of NATS had described the Estuary as “the worst possible place to put an airport”. It would interfere with the flight paths at least four of our present airports – and the risk of bird strike would be unacceptably high.

Conference voted for my amendment - ruling out the Estuary option  - by a massive majority.

Peter Welch 
2010 Liberal Democrat candidate
Southend West

PS: We need to continue campaigning. It helps if you can forward this email to people you know who are or may be opposed. They can then sign the petition at http://campaigns.libdems.org.uk/Estuary%20Airport%20Petition
A special thanks to all the people who have printed out petition sheets and collected signatures from friends, neighbours and colleagues. We have had a great response.



It will be interesting to see if Labour's members back the move in today's motion. Even more so, the reception it will receive at the Conservative party conference next week. The Liberal Democrats have stood up for common sense on this matter - lets hope the others do to.

If there is a general consensus of all three parties Nationally, as there is locally in Medway, in Southend and in North Kent then we can block this proposal and sink Boris Island once and for all.

Referendum for the airport proposal?

This was something that first surfaced at the beginning of the year. From memory it was at full Council and was voted down by the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and the Independent group by a sound majority. If that had been anything else it would have been dropped right?

Well... no. It's still going on and Councillor Osborne (Lab and PPC for Chatham & Aylesford) is still leading the charge on his proposals though support is gaining.

During my Leave I reaffirmed my opposition to the the referendum. Unfortunately at the time I had not slept properly in weeks, was restricted to 140 Character tweets and at the exact moment was heavily involved in a pitch battle with a 4 week old baby who wouldn't stop crying and a two year old who refused to believe daddy when he says;

You can't open the gate it is locked with a padlock and daddy doesn't have the key... Sophie stop that and- You get the idea.

Basically I could not out line why I think this is a complete waste of time so I thought I would write about it - then forgot - now been reminded by a recent post.

Right...

1. In the brief discourse Tris mentioned the AV referendum;

Public opinion was against AV, didn't stop referendum

Fair point.

There are a lot of comparisons that can be drawn between the two referendum;

Firstly its not that popular - yeah sure there's a very vocal support group but if you ask the average chap/ette on the street I'm sure there'd be a general apathy and the ultimate; What's the point? (I'm coming to that later)

The other comparison that a lot of we AV supporters found was that we all agreed with AV, all our friends on Twitter and at political meetings, the papers we read, the people on TV all agreed with AV but the public did not. I propose, and if you really think about it (go on) that it is the same with this one too. There is plenty of noise but from the same people. All the people I've spoken to think it is a waste of time. Like I said in a previous post - deafened by their own noise.

Also, similar to AV, there has been little debate on the subject especially in the local media. The average citizen hasn't really heard the debate from organisations such as DRINK or from Lord Foster etc. Indeed a while ago there was a meeting out on Hoo about the airport and it was a complete white wash of anti- airport propaganda and no one from Foster and Co to defend the project.

Further to that, the local Labour media machine has demonised anyone who thinks that the airport might be a good idea. Happened to me and I'm a no one really (for saying; Also... This hurts to admit this but... If it will benefit the nation as a whole and boost British Business for many decades then... well... can it really be a bad thing), I imagine many Councillors are running scared of even suggesting they like the idea.

How can you have a balanced and fair referendum with an automatic public bias to the idea?

Surely, any independent survey and or Consultation would take that into consideration and dismiss the results?

Especially that the window for such a referendum is shrinking. The proposals were to tack them onto the Police Commissioner's election this November - the clock is ticking and it doesn't look viable.

2. The cynic in me thinks that this is no more than a large stick to beat the Tories with. After all it is about giving people a voice and people like that. Thoughts of practicality go to the wind, there almost inconvenient.

After all, Zach Goldsmith has threatened a bi-election, Heathrow area might get a referendum! Why not here!!!! Booooo- Tories!!!!

Of course if the airport gets built, that's the Tories fault because we didn't get a referendum and if it doesn't then they can claim victory for the over all campaign... win-win

But as I say, that's me being cynical.

3. Ultimately the referendum would mean nothing.

The Government is looking to improve National airport capacity, they will be looking coolly at environmental effects, infrastructure, space, housing etc... Of course local opinion will be taken into it but let us be brutally honest - will it really matter if the Nation's needs are more important.

I cite Spock (see video - about 1:14) and you cannot argue with that logic. The NATIONAL government must make decisions for the many, rather than the few. Any referendum will look NIMBY, especially if debate has not occurred and/or there is a low turn out.

If all potential sites were to return with referendums with a No vote what would you expect the Government to do?

4. There is still no guarantee that a new airport will be built as there are options like maximising current space and ports. There is also no guarantee that there will be one built here, what with all the problems that threaten the island/Hoo environmentally and logistically which are enough to sink the project before you include the lack of political support by the Libdems, Labour and Local Conservatives nor any of the local councils.

A referendum would work out as overkill.

5. Finally, and I do concede a little ground here...

The Referendum/ bi-elections are a one shot weapon. You can only use them once and it is too soon to do that. The Consultation starts next year and as I have illustrated here, and before, there is no need to run about like a wet hen firing of salvo after salvo. It is commonly known that you hold your best hand to last, or your doomsday weapons to the end - you don't drop an H-bomb to capture a bridge.

If a referendum does prove to be the only solution, the last straw or line of defence then let it be. We have time on our side and a huge ball of possibilities to unravel well before talk of a referendum or Bi-election becomes necessary.

Right, that all said, I'm going to put my ear plugs back in and wait for the inevitable return barrage....

Speculation over Aviation Policy and Justine Greening's departure

So Justine Greening has been shuffled out of the cabinet. Even before she has cleared out her desk the media and pundits have begun speculating what this means. Like an episode of Dawson's creek or from my premarital love life everyone is sat about over thinking everything, suggesting hypothesises and second guessing every tiny detail. 

 A couple of months ago the opposition were trying to convince us all that Boris island or the Hoo peninsula scheme were the only options and that those evil Tories would force it upon us - Those blaggards! 

 Then in recent weeks Heathrow expansion has become the sticking point and aren't those dastardly Tories are going to U-turn on an election pledge. Then on the weekend there were suggestions of an airport Northwest London.  

 Now with Greening gone and the virtual unknown of McLoughlin getting the brief the spot light is going back on Heathrow. 

 I think it is time for us all to be honest...  

 No one knows where this new airport/expansion will be even if there is to be one! 

 Let's stop guessing and stabbing in the dark and wait for this consultation. When it finally comes, it will be the chance for ALL the possibilities to be weighed and debated and for everyone to have their say. 

 My personal opinion, and it is simply that and I don't say it's anything more, is that Ms Greening went because she wasn't impartial and that whatever the outcome opposition would call foul play.

This consultation is a chance to lay out Aviation policy and to finally answer the question of capacity in the country. Getting rid of internal flights in favour of HS2, moving freight capacity onto smaller airports or fields, a better distribution system that could free up space, finally abandoning the slap-dash space filling or quick fixes that have been successive Government's solutions. It will also be the time to bring to the table the reasons why an Estuary airport won't work r be so detrimental to the environment. Lets stop fearing the Consultation and work with it to achieve the aims we want. 

It would be wrong to rule anything out but it would also be wrong to say anything is definite. Lets be adult about this.

As the artillery barrage and scare mongering continues from different groups pertaining to know what is going to happen and what the Government is up too and the inevitability yadda yadda yadda it is the cool hard logic that states no one knows and I shall save all of my ammunition for the Consultation. People will be less tired of listening to the constant drone of noise and take it in the manner it is intended. Until then we should remember the wise words of Baz Luhrmann who once said;
worrying about something is as effective as solving a problem as chewing bubblegum - and wait for the consultation instead of constantly seeing signs in every perceived and real in/action.

Bombing the Wrong targets Part IV: The Luftwaffe in Africa

One of Rommel's complaints was that the Luftwaffe weren't doing enough and historians are keen to point out the lack of German aircraft over the advance towards El Alamien and even over the fortified front.

So what were the Luftwaffe doing in North Africa?

In a prophetic message to the advancing British soldiers in 1941 a fighter pilot of Jagdgeschwader 53 wrote on the blackboard of their airbase:

"We Come back... Happy Christmas!"

Two months later they had riding forward with the Panzer armies. As the successes of Rommel's push became apparent aircraft were taken from Kesselring's Malta operations and his refusal to accept Herkules and his own thirst for glory meant that the Luftwaffe were dragged along with him on his ill advised thrust into Egypt.

Von Waldau FlFu Afrika

Rommel was notoriously difficult to work with and Frohlich, the Fifu Afrika took to avoiding meetings and was eventually relieved of command and Von Waldau was placed in charge. Waldau had much more of a backbone, he wasn't willing to take Rommel's outbursts and spoke plainly. Of course Rommel's style of leadership left a bewildered Waldau guessing what was going on. During Operation Crusader Waldau held his craft back unknowing what the over all situation was and where Rommel and his tanks were. The same happened as Rommel pushed forward in Operation Thesius and for the first two days the Luftwaffe was absent from the skies. On the third day, in desperation Waldau sent his Stukas up and when they found a group of tanks heading West towards the German lines they attacked. Unfortunately they were Rommel's tanks that had got turned around in the swirling desert combat - luckily no one was killed. Better communication from the field would have averted this and given Waldau's forces more potency.

There were sevre logistical demands on the small air force in North Africa as they were caught in the same supply problems that held Rommel's forces in a vice. At any one time he had no more than a months supply of petrol until November 42 when it dropped by 90%!!! On top of that the desert proved problematic to the running of aircraft with sand clogging aircraft and engines becoming warn out from over use in operations like the air bombardment on Bin Harcheim, but I will come to that in Part V.

Larger parts like wings and undercarriages could not be brought in by airlift or shipping so a lot of damaged aircraft had to be cannibalised just to keep the few in the air and without a recovery service the number of aircraft just dwindled. This was not helped further by Rommel's rapid retreat from the line at Alamien and Luftwaffe crews were forced to abandon the lame ducks and get out with what they could.

Permanent air superiority could never be obtained in the true style of Blitzkrieg. Waldau had too few aircraft. The North African Luftwaffe never really surpassed 300 machines as the Ostfront in Russia had priority for new machines especially with the massing of aircraft for the push towards the Caucuses in mid 1942. Von Waldau also had the problem that he had no medium bomber force. The Luftwaffe needed two engine-bombers for longer term aims such as knocking out enemy airfields behind the lines, harassing communications and roads to help cause confusion and chaos. The desert was not suitable for such aircraft and none could be spared from the operations over Malta or the Mediterranean so Von Waldau had to had to work with Stukas and Jabo (Fighter bombers) which suited Rommel's needs as he really only wanted a flying artillery to give his tanks more mobility and speed.
Geisler sent raids from Crete to strike the Allies behind the lines and hit the RAF depot at Alexandra but they began to suffer from enemy fighters pushing them to night attacks. They were further hampered by the Allies stripping down Spitfires to be able to reach high altitude and intercept the Junkers 86 recon aircraft thus leaving them blind of potential targets and assess damage. Frohlich had also sent a solitary bomber to strike the French held fort Lamy on Lake Chad on a round trip of 2500km but that was about it for the Medium bombers role. The consideration that a medium bomber raid on British targets in Egypt would have led to their destruction at the hands of the larger RAF force in Egypt and the greater discipline of the RAF pilots to target bombers over fighters, unlike the Jagdflieger. 


 The Fighter pilots were a breed unto themselves. Hans-Joachim Marseille, the star of Africa shot down 17 fighters on the same day and had a top score of 158 and rivalled a fellow pilot Horst Reuter's feat of shooting down 6 Hurricanes in a single day TWICE. The famous Bomber pilot Werner Baumbach claimed that fighter pilots lacked the discipline and stoic attitude of the Kampfflieger and in Africa he is proven correct as the fighter pilots became caught up in scoring as many kills as possible to try and get bigger and bigger scores but they saw more challenge in taking down fighters which although important was not what was needed as many Afrikakorps soldiers found to their discomfort as the defence lines and Rommel's devil's gardens were bombed to oblivion. These aces began to suffer losses as the RAF improved the quality of its fighters and the 109 Fs were suddenly facing Spitfire Mark Vs and P-40s instead of the rugged and dependable Hurricanes. Though despite their losses Unteroffizier Bernd Schneider shot down a Bristol Bombay transport carrying the 8th Armies new C-in-C Lt Gen W. H. E. Gott and he was killed on impact meaning that another C-in-C a little known General called Montgomery was called up.


The third limb was the Stukageschwadern who worked so hard to help Rommel advance. They were expertly handled by Waldau who, with Kesselring's intervention, managed to tame Rommel into letting him know what was going on in advance rather which paid massive dividends in the taking of Torbruk which earned Waldau the Knights Cross and Rommel his baton. However the bombs were near useless in the desert. Unless there was a direct hit on a tank or building they were next to useless. Half of all bomb damage and casualties are caused by flying shrapnel and glass but in the desert the explosions only throw up sand which doesn't do any damage when it hits other vehicles or even soldiers.


Waldau's 300 aircraft were beset by enemy bombing attacks, SAS strikes, bad weather that turned the dust strips into swamps, supply issues that plagued the whole African adventure, huge lines of communication and with the massive advances by Rommel a head on the lines that would outrace all the important logistical sections like Fuel, signals, repair miles in the rear with no time to catch up. The situation was so dire that a glider formation was brought in to fly these necessary logistical organisations up to the front without wasting fuel.


Kesselring promised Rommel an airlift of supplies and the Feldmarschall provided. It took a bit of time as the Luftwaffe didn't have the number of transports available in the Mediterranean theatre and they had to be disengaged from the Eastern front which obviously takes time. Oberst Robert Starke with some six Gruppen of aircraft and gliders from LLG 1 were the first to arrive and begin operations. The airlift flew a total of 4425 sorties across Mittlemeer from Greece and Crete to Bengazhi flying in pulks of 25. There were extreme shortages of crews due to sickness and aircraft even though Starke took ambulances and signal aircraft and even a modified refrigeration plane to plug the gaps. These shortages meant that crews would often have to fly the trip twice a day!

The trip was perilous for the formations of Junkers 52 transports and their Messerschmitt 110 escorts. Not only were their take off times similarly heralded with an Ultra message, which of course were duly read by the RAF, they also could only fly on good weather. On the 12th May 1942 15 Ju52s were intercepted by Kittyhawks and Beaufighters, by the end of the battle 8 transports were lost and a further one damaged - 175 soldiers went down with them but only 39 were rescued.
That day one of those true acts of heroism that War brings out occurred when father of six Hauptman Kroseberg of the Search and rescue flew over the survivors and dropped his own life jacket to the men in the sea - only to go MIA before he could return.

However the crews managed to deliver 28,200 men and 4400 tonnes of supplies as well as taking back the wounded, which numbered over 10,000 for June 42, mail, Von Waldau's burnt out aero engines so that they could be repaired and retuned later. In the early stages of Thesius they carried 1000 men, 25 tonnes of material and 300 tonnes of aviation fuel- Daily!

The air fleet transferred to Brindisi in Italy at the end of a railway hub operating to Torbruk but the number of aircraft dropped to 161 aircraft by August, 50% were operational. Allied fighters were increasing in number and pressurising the transports and their escorting ME 110s from 7 and 9/ ZG 26 and 70 52s were lost in a six week period! These craft would be vitally missed that winter with the airlift to Stalingrad! Further aircraft were drafted in including Wiking flying boats and Messerschmitt gigant 323 and 321 transports and even the transport schools were mobilised to assist coming up to half the Luftwaffe's transport fleet even Bomber groups were conscripted. The sad fact was as Rommel fell back the Crete based aircaft under Wild's Lufttransportfuhrer I could no longer reach the German front lines and after Torbruk fell only the line from Italy to Bengazi remained and that was under constant pressure from a resurgent Malta. Even sadder still, and infuriating for Kesselring, Rommel blew up all the ammunition and fuel he had demanded that Kesselring's men had fought so hard to get to him as he withdrew from El Alamein.

By November '42 they had flown the Herculean feat of flying 42,000 men, 15,000 tonnes of supplies pulled 9000 wounded and sick out of the front.


It can not be said that the airmen and machines of FlFu Afrika and of Luftflotte 2 operating in the Mediterranean had not tried their utmost or not fought valiantly. Ultimately they were undone by overall strategy and logistics though.

German Air weapon developed in Medway

As many people will have gathered, I'm a bit of a Luftwaffe geek with far too many books and pointless anecdotes.

As I read Friday's Medway Messenger I turned to the history section and was shocked to see a German Mistel on the page. After my initial confusion I read the article to discover that the two aircraft were in fact developed by Short Bros or Borstal and was a way of crossing the Atlantic in one journey rather than short hops to Iceland. The Empire flying boats were able to make the journey on their own but it meant ripping out the passenger or cargo holds and creating room for another fuel tank.

An attempted Composite had been made during World War One but it was no more than an experimental aircraft. Others included fighter or reconnaissance aircraft housed in or a top of Zeppelin or Airships with varying success. As airship travel appeared more and more dicey with the loss of R 101 and Hindenburg (which was lost during production of the composite) travellers were looking more keenly at aircraft.

Major Robert Mayo, the technical director at Shorts suggested the Maia (S.21 Empire flying boat) and Mercury (S.20) composite. Short's chief test pilot said:

All eight engines were used during combined flight but the controls of Mercury were locked. The airfoil designs of the two aircraft were such that Mercury's wings were carrying the major part of the air load at the speed and height chosen for separation. Safety locks prevented separation until this speed and height were reached and both pilots had an unlocking handle, both of which had to be pulled to cause release

The two aircraft were held together by a series of locks that had to be released by the pilots of the two aircraft and a third which would disengage automatically when the strength of 3000lb was applied to it as the craft pulled away. The design of the two aircraft also meant that on seperation the Mercury would climb whilst Maia would drop away thus avoiding collision.

After initial test flights around the Medway towns the first flight from Southampton to Montral with separation off the coast of Ireland took place on 21st July 1938 and a distance of  2930 Miles taking 20 hours at 144 mph.

Other sucessful flights from Dundee to South Africa took place as well!

Unfortunately World War Two interrupted the development of this aircraft and Maia was destroyed by the Luftwaffe in Poole Harbour during the Battle of Britain. Following a successfully career as a reconnaissance aircraft Mercury was scrapped in Borstal by Short and recycled into war aircraft.

The German aircraft developers were always interested, and some historians argue too interested, in aircraft design and developmental craft. Fuhrer and Luftwaffe HQ also liked to throw out challenges to their gifted designers to meet possible needs such as the Amerika bomber plans for the hypothetical plan to bomb the USA.

Clearly composite aircraft and the ideas developed in Medway were rapidly picked up by the Luftwaffe during World War Two. This was in two fold.

The first was on exactly the same line of thinking - trans-Atlantic flight for the Amerika bomber. The plan was for a Heinkel He 177 bomber to fly as far out into the Atlantic as possible with a Dornier Do 217 bomber on her back. At the mid-ocean point the Heinkel would release the Dornier who would continue to New York, bomb the target then fly to a pre -arranged point where the crew would bring the craft to a controlled crash landing and be picked up by a U-boat. This project was abandoned as wasteful of material. This clearly drew its ideas from the Mayo-Short composite of fuel conservation although as a one way probably one off attack on an unprepared America.

The Second was the Mistel project. With a large surplus of bomber aircraft that could no longer be economically used, a shortage of bombs and an excess of fighter aircraft the Luftwaffe command and designers came up with the great idea of using Junkers Ju 88 bombers with a modified crew compartment i.e. filled with explosives and a Focke Wulf FW 190 or Messerschmitt Me 109 (as seen in the picture) strapped to the top. Using the Bomber's fuel they would fly out to the target and the fighter would release the lower portion in the same manner as a bomb before flying back to base.

With the production priority production being on fighters there was an excess with too few pilots to fly them and German Bomber design had fallen way behind the Allies by this late point in the war. In fact it was almost suicidal for the Kampflieger to go into battle as their slow, ponderous aircraft were easy targets. Luftwaffe high command much preferred to use strike fighters and modified Junkers 87s and Henschel Hs 129s for attacking armour.

The Mistel were operated by Kampfgeschwader 200 the elite Military intelligence bomber squadron and used against bridges on the Oder during Operation Beethoven to slow the Russian advance with a limited effect.

Heavy and ungainly they offered the pilot little hope if engaged in close combat by fighters and the only escape was to jettison the lower craft and make a run for it as the pilots of KG 200 were bomber pilots and not skilled in dogfighting as their Jagdflieger colleagues. However using the lower aircraft's engines and fuel capacity gave the whole aircraft a much longer range than a lowly single engine fighter.

Other Mistellin projects included an Arado jet propelled bomb with Heinkell He 162 Salamander atop or even a modified Messerschmitt Me 262 airframe packed with explosives with a bomber variant of the Me 262 as the second aircraft. Though swift and deadly as this craft would have been it would have been massively draining of the small amount of resources left to Germany by 1944-5.


There are no known surviving aircraft of this type however one of the composite fighters does still exist and is housed at the Imperial War Museum, London!!! Thankfully I work there so was able to wander out and take some photographs of the underside of the Fw 190 A8 to show you the strut holes.

Here are two of them either side of the Fighter's redundant bomb rack.

Here on the starboard wing is a small "boil" with another strut hole. This was the key to the whole design. Under the boil is a small explosive charge that once triggered by the pilot will separate the two aircraft sending the lower portion to the ground.