The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-08-09

1t was e9Clmaged bnaC Tie SfcIhalA0
had used at least $50 planes In the
attacks on conveys and the Daily
Express put the number at BOO
500 fighters and 800 bombers.
It was asserted officially that IN
the days fighting at sea the Ger
mans had lost So planes, 10 junkers-
a. dive bombers and "a Messer-
Schmidt fighters. A reliable unofn-
cial estimate was, however, that the
Germans had lost 10 planes, bring
ing the total of German losses in
British Isles fighting to 1886 since
mass air raids started June ID. Loss
of is British hurricane and spitfire
fighter planes during yesterdays
operations was admitted by the air
ministry.
Experts estimated that so bombers
and 80 fighters had made the hrst
ships attack yesterday, that l2O
bombers and fighters had conduct
ed the third. Submarines and E.
boats, fast motor torpedo boats, CO.
operated.
Survivors of U.-Boats
Wounded survivors OF U-boat
sinkings, arriving at a southeast
England port on the way to hospital
asserted that the German planes
and U-boats had adopted the Ger
man tank-plane technique used on
the continent.
After torpedoes had been fired
into British ships by the E-boatS'
they charged, German planes swept
down and machine gunned survivors
who chung to RATS or struggled IN
the water.
The German bomber planes, some
flying in squadron formation, many
singly, began their operations today
on land detectives.
Battle In Egypt
Cairo, Aug. 8 - CUP. - British
fighter planes, outnumbered two to
one, have downed Is Italian fighter
planes in the biggest air battle OF
the middle east, Royal Air Force
middle East headquarters asserted
today.
Two British planes failed to re-
turn.
Gloucester gladiator fighters, sin
gle seat multi-gun biplanes, met the
Italians in the neighborhood OF Sid
Omar, over the Italian Libyan des-
ert, a communique said.
Their batteries, four machine guns
each, went into action and, accord
ing to the communique, triumphed.
According to official estimates
the British victory brought the to-
tai of Italian planes downed in the
Near East to 1875 definitely, with 65
probably" shot down.
The gladiators are compact BIZ
planes. Models now possibly out
dated had an admitted speed of $50
miles an hour. Two Of their four
machine guns are mounted Ill
troughs in the sides of the fuselage,
easily reached by the pilot. and tive
are mounted forward below the
lower wing, one on either side OF
the fuselage and outside the pre-
peller radius.
Express Belief
British military quarters expressed
belief that Italy's drive against
British Somaliland had started
fight for the riches of the middle
east over an area about as big as
Europe, with sea power, commune
cations and water and oil supplies
as the possibly determining factors.
weather conditions over the area
varied to such an extent that some
military experts believed that Italy
would be obliged to fight its war
in stages, rather in an all-round
synchronized drive, apart from
such considerations as supplies OF
food and, in desert areas. supplies
Of water.
A campaign against British Som
aliland could be timed with a drive
into Egypt because of the similarity
of weather conditions, military men
said. But operations against the
Sudan, along whose frontier there
is now skirmishing, would be ham
pered now by heavy summer rains,
it was said.
Again Advancing
London, Aug. 9.-(UPl-A COM
munique from the Cairo general
headquarters, issued today in Lon
don, said that italian columns again
were advancing in the Fascist Of
fensiye into British Somaliland,
with the objective of taking Ber-
bera.
The communique said that the
italian columns that seized the des-
ert posts of Hergeisa and OdWelna'
about so miles inside Somallland,
had resumed their advance.
Previously, British forces had
been reported concentrating in the
mills south of the big port Of Ber-
bera for a stand against the Fas-
cist mechanical forces, led by air.
planes.
London, Aug. 9.-CUP)-The adj