News Letter 1941 Jul-Dec - Air Force Historical Studies Office

"VIET ." (Ooncluded) Junker-87 bomber
has a maximum speed of 206 miles per hour,
a radius of action of about 519 miles. and
is capable of lifting one 1,000 lb. bomb
and four 110 lb. bombs. These planes are
employed in the bombing of brid8es. railwa:r
centers, industrial objectives, as vell
as against troop concentrations.
The one-place pursu1 t ~lane and powerdive
Henschel-l'23 bCllllberhave a me.rlmum
speed of about 220 miles per hour,a range
of 560 miles, carr;y 440 Ibs. of bCllllbsand
are armed with four machine guns. !hese
planes are utilized primarily in action on
the battlefield Bt;atnst artillery batteries,
machine-gun nests, troops in shelters. tanks
and other targets.
00nsiderab1e assistance was afforded by
the power-dive bombers to their forces on
. the ground. A major portion of these Wall
attached tomoblle motorized and mechanized
units with the m1ss1onofinsuring the continued
progress of these units. Oontact
with the bombers was maintained by radio.
The mCllllenthat mechanized col'WlUlsencoun.-
tered resistance the aircraft were called
upon for assistance. Oombined air 8Ild
ground attacks against hostile troop co~
centrations and antitank batteries soon
paved the wa:r for the advance of the Germans.
A few words are necess~ on the tactics
employed by the power-dive bombers in attacking
objectives protected by antiaircraft
artilleZT. A group of five airplanes, two
of which are power-dive machines, approach
the target at an altitude closely within
max1mwa range of the antiaircraft fire.
The power-dive bombers then immediately
descend upon the target. acting as if they
had been hit b7 the antiaircraft fire below.
The fire of the antiaircraft artilleZT is
then concentrated on the airplanes continuing
their fiight--meanwhile the power-dive
bombers complete their bombing missions.
The action of the power-dive bombers has
been such as thoroughly to just1t;y their
existence. The successful action of bombardment
aviation. however. calls for the
combined employment of different methods
in the execution of bombardmentmissions.
Xrasnqa Zv;yexda, 23 Mq 1940
JUNGLE .•. (Ooncluded) high dqtime temperatures.
The newly laid concrete was,
therefore, cured by covering with watersoaked
burlap, followed. after its initial
set, by a coat of black asphalt emult1On •.
This latter sprqing operation also reduces
the sun glare reflected by the runwa:r surface.
which is an important construction
detail to prevent blinding of the landing
pilots.
Speed achieved on this project was large..
ly due to the fact that the constructing
quartermaster had planned for months in ad,-
vance, and his force had acCtUDUlateda huge
pile of rock at its own quarr;y. Roads had
been hacked out from quarr;y to runwa:rs1te,
and from the cement plant to the work area;
cement had been ordered from the States
and arrangements made for its transportation
from dockside via the Thatcher Jerry
across the Oanal and thence by truck to the
storage sheds. These factors had an important
bearing on the progress of the air
field when the actual work was started.
Amongthe prelimin&rT tasks accomplished
by the Oonstructing QDartermaster's force
were the clearing of about 1,000 acres of
jungle underbru.sh; moving ot 300,000 cubic
yards of dirt. and the leTel1ng of a long
27-foot hill to fill in the hollo... There
were 32,000 cubic ;yards of rock mined at
the Howard Field qual'r7 and 14,000 cubic
yards of sand scooped from the beach at
:Bru.ja Point. The task reqa1red 186,000
bags of cement.
Howard Field is one of a group of ~
Air Force .installations being oonstructed
to supplement the vi tal defenses of the
Oanal Zone. It is veZT large, when completed
having facilities to accommodate
several thousand officers and enlisted men.
Part of the constru.ction program alre~
has been completed, and some facilities
are tIl use.
INSIDE THE BACK COVER
!he cartoon on the inside o'f the back
cover is one of a series being distribu.ted
by the lmndreds of thousands by the :Britieh
Government to emphasize the danger to ~
tional security of careless talk which reveals
information of value to the eneJIIT.
Poster-size reproductions of the series
(one ot which will be carried in each issue
.(Translatedat the knq War Oollege. Wash.- ot m AIR OQBP8NEWSLETTER)suitable tor
ington, condensed by 001. "I. M. :Barrows, posting in barracks and elsewhere, ma;y be
"I.A., and reprinted from The Milit&r7 Beview
of the Oommandand General Staff to the Intelligence Division, Office ot the
obtained by station commanders on request
School.)
Ohief of the Air Oorps. Washington.
-22-