Word: messerschmitt
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...Sandwiches" of 'Messerschmitt fighter-bombers usually came over first between layers of Messerschmitt fighters, to draw off R. A. F.'s fighter strength. Then fol lowed bomber squadrons, trying to slip past secondary defenses to strike at Lon don or to surprise R. A. F. bases, aircraft factories, Army camps. With their blows at military objectives they mingled many a savage shot below the belt, at civilian targets and morale. They experimented with "herringbone" formations, Indian file or chain formations, darting single attacks, converging attacks and their opposite, in which big formations dispersed in all directions...
...except at the Ruhr bottleneck, but the broad new Autobahnen (speed highways) helped guide night pilots to Augsburg (northwest of Munich), which in the 15th and 16th Centuries was one of Europe's great trade centres and now has, besides the ancient palaces of its merchant princes, the Messerschmitt aircraft plant...
...taught young Germany to fly gliders. By 1935, when Hitler was ready to build up his Luftwaffe openly, they had man power in training, factories planned, designs developed. These they standardized and limited to a few models for mass production by four main companies-Junkers, Dornier, Heinkel, Bayrische Flugzeugwerke (Messerschmitt). Standardization and mass production are Erhard Milch's passions, right down to his fliers' toothbrushes. The Junkers 87 dive bomber is his special pet. Udet got the idea for it from the U. S. Navy...
First big Nazi air attack began on Aug. 8 near Dover. Before daybreak a flotilla of Nazi motor torpedo boats darted into a Channel convoy of 20 small coastal ships, sank three. The convoy continued westward down the Channel. About 9 a.m., 50 Junkers dive bombers, with Messerschmitt fighters swarming above them, swooped out of the morning sun. Some of the ships were towing barrage balloons which the Germans had to shoot down before they could dive-bomb. Anti-aircraft fire and squadrons of angry British Spitfires and Hurricanes hurtled up from the British coast. The sky spun crazily with...
...single convoy of small ships guarded only by trawlers due to a growing shortage of destroyers. Far to the north, above Ireland, German bombers attacked a convoy that had been sent around that way because the British had mined St. George's Channel between Eire and Wales. Messerschmitt fighters accompanying Nazi bombers to Britain started carrying one medium-sized bomb apiece. Everything that flew over Britain now had something to leave there. The Nazi High Command claimed that its submarines, motor torpedo boats, bombers sank more than 200,000 tons of British ships during the week, including the destroyers...