Friend or Foe? Part 2
Bibliography with Notes plus Bonus Content
Bickers, Richard Townshend. The Desert Air War: a gripping historical account of the RAF’s role in North Africa during World War II. UK: Lume Books, 2018. Kindle.
“…In the confusion of air combat more than one pilot would fire at the same enemy machine and believed that he was the one who sent it down. Often an aircraft diving away from a fight with smoke pouring from it was thought to be on fire and doomed, but many a smoking aircraft has returned to base. Sometimes, when an aeroplane pulled away from a dogfight at full throttle, exhaust smoke billowing from its engine was mistaken for a fatal conflagration.”
Delve, Ken. The Desert Air Force in WWII: Air Power in the Western Desert 1940-1942. South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Books, Ltd, 2017. Kindle.
Chapter 3: From Victory to Defeat to Stalemate
“…local air reconnaissance…from bases in Sicily…quickly revealed weaknesses and a lack of defensive preparedness in Allied positions, a direct consequence of the removal of land and air units for the Greek campaign….The first dive-bombing attack was made on 14 February…In fact, British reconnaissance and intelligence had picked up the presence of German units in the fronts lines, but commanders in Cairo were of the opinion that it did not involve major units and posed no immediate threat.”
Jackson,W.G.F. The Battle for North Africa 1940-1943. New York: Mason/Charter Publishers, 1975, p. 93.
“The British obtained their first positive identification of German troops on 21 February when a pilot flying west of El Agheila spotted an eight-wheeled armoured car which only the Germans possessed at the time. Three days later the first clash occurred between reconnaissance troops. At much the same time radio intercepts began to suggest the presence of a German headquarters in Africa. Thus, the British knew by 24 February, when Wavell accepted the Greek plan…that there were German troops facing them…”
Shores, Christopher F., and Giovanni Massimello with Russel Guest. A History of the Mediterranean Air War, 1940-1945: Volume One: North Africa. London: Grub Street, 2012. Kindle.
CHAPTER 3 GRAZIANI MAKES A MOVE
“Regia Aeronautica fighter claims totaled six Gladiators and two probables, plus four Hurricanes (one identified as a ‘Supermarine’ or ‘Spitfire’), plus two probables!”
Author’s note: Spitfires would not come to the desert until 1942.
Shores, Christopher F., and Giovanni Massimello with Russel Guest. A History of the Mediterranean Air War, 1940-1945: Volume One: North Africa. London: Grub Street, 2012. Kindle.
CHAPTER 6 REVERSES AND REINFORCEMENTS
“‘…saw a dogfight between a Hurricane and two ME 109s. The Hurricane put up a marvellous show and must have been a most experienced pilot. Then the most awful thing happened—he finished his fight and came away, ammunition expended, to land at the emergency landing ground. Some mad LAA (light anti-aircraft) gunners started shooting at him, and to my horror, shot him down in a great burst of black smoke from only about 300 feet. This was one of the worst things I had seen yet in the war and Oh, how I cursed and swore at those complete idiots!’”
Bonus Illustrations
WWII in North Africa 