COMBAT AND COMPETITION.pdf - Lakes Gliding Club

CHAPTER EIGHT IN A QUANDARY
would be able to engage each individual aircraft and even less would be
presented with non-deflection shots.
Napalm, the petroleum jelly bomb, which I had used once in anger
and three times in demonstration, was to become an emotive subject
in later years. Had it arrived earlier on the scene, there seemed to be
no good reason why it should not have become a key weapon in our
close support armoury. Flame throwers were used by the armies on
both sides. So why not a flame throwing bomb against enemy soldiers?
A low level close support show, using napalm followed by high
explosive, would have been quite devastating.
The thin walled napalm container burst immediately on impact. But
eleven and twenty five second delay high explosive bombs were a
different matter. Badly delivered, at low level, they bounced over or
through the target.
146 Wing's 'Bomphoon' squadrons tackled the problem in totally
different ways. One went to great lengths - including the study of
stereo pair photographs - in order to arrive at the bomb release point in
level flight and as far below the top of the target as possible. The other
invariably made its attack, in a shallow dive, aiming at the base of the
target. Both techniques worked well in practice and there seemed to be
little to chose between them.
Air superiority was taken for granted by the allied armies. By day
they moved at will, convoys nose to tail, as if the Luftwaffe did not
exist. There was no attempt at concealment. 2nd TAP squadrons were
concentrated on the best airfields, in large numbers, aircraft parked
close together.
On the other side things were very different. Camouflage was as
masterly as it was essential. Almost nothing moved in daylight, unless
the Hun was in full retreat.
Once on the road his transport attempted to keep well spaced out,
dashing from cover to cover. Foxholes and vehicle pits, a desperate
attempt to provide some protection from air attack, had been dug into
the verges alongside all the principal routes.
It was similar at night. There was no difficulty in identifying the
battle zone. The lights of the allied supply columns - the Yanks were
said to be by far the worst offenders - led forward until they were
suddenly extinguished - and from there on was nothing but darkness.
Thinking about that lopsided environment raised all sorts of
questions. For the Typhoon squadrons in particular - was it possible
that we had been tied too closely to an Army which had become
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