The Journey of Flight.pdf - Valkyrie Cadet

86
USAAF personnel
are shown here
plotting an 8th Air
Force bombing
mission.
Similarly, during
the Battle of
Britain, pilots
were directed to
incoming German
attackers by
ground-based
controllers using
radar.
Meanwhile in Eastern Europe, by April 1941, German bombers moved into the Balkans in preparation
for the next Blitzkrieg operation. From bases in Hungary, Bulgaria and southern Germany, the Luftwaffe
began extensive operations in support of German ground forces against Yugoslavia and Greece.
The British expeditionary forces, though fully occupied in North Africa, came to the aid of Greece.
But this time, the German onslaught overpowered all opposition, and German and Italian victories
followed in rapid-fire succession. By the end of April, most of the British forces had been evacuated
from Greece, and the Germans had entered Athens.
The next big activity for the Luftwaffe was to prepare for an airborne attack against the island of
Crete, Greece. This attack was a spectacular and successful demonstration of glider-borne and parachute
troop operations. After seizing key air bases, advanced German forces were supplied and reinforced by
Junkers 52 troop carriers, while Luftwaffe bombers attacked the British who were attempting to evacuate
the island.
By June, the British had been forced to yield Crete to the invaders. With new bases in Greece and
Crete, the German Air Force was able to bring more strength to bear against British forces in the
African Western Desert. The Luftwaffe, for a brief period, increased its support of German ground
forces in the Northern Africa campaign.
Germany now occupied all of south and southeastern Europe and was moving through Africa
against heavy British resistance. The Germans were also successfully blockading the British Isles