| Fatman | 12 Aug 2016 3:33 p.m. PST |
OK the question is fairly self explanatory. I have read dozens of books on he Malta campaign and have even met some of the RAF veterans, however I don't ever remember hearing about any Luftwaffe or Regia Aeronautica attempt to knock out the islands RDF stations. Am I just getting senile or were the Axis really that short sighted? Thanks in advance. Fatman |
| Mako11 | 12 Aug 2016 4:36 p.m. PST |
Haven't read a lot about Malta, but have some on aerial engagements in the theater there. My guess is perhaps no, or at least not a concentrated effort to do so, since their attacks on them in Britain were viewed to be "unsuccessful". Actually, they were successful on occasion in knocking them out, but the British quickly repaired them, and/or put emitters there so the Germans thought they were repaired, even when they weren't, so they abandoned their attacks on them. Wouldn't be surprised to see that carrying over into the Med. Theater. |
| Fatman | 12 Aug 2016 4:53 p.m. PST |
Yeah to be honest that's what I thought. I had never really considered it before but our Blues Bears game next year is going to be Malta '42 so I was thinking about targets for the Axis. So airfields, the harbour and shipping are it, makes things more simple for me always a good thing. ;-) Fatman |
| Sundance | 12 Aug 2016 5:41 p.m. PST |
I figured pretty much the same thing as Mako. They probably thought it wasn't worth the effort to focus on them so just soldiered on. |
| Greg G1 | 13 Aug 2016 8:21 a.m. PST |
I read in one account of life in Malta, by a Maltese teenager of a anti-aircraft gun site being attacked. It was a 3.7" site and one of the guns was hit and destroyed. The radar units were small targets, here is a photo. link |
| Fatman | 13 Aug 2016 9:36 a.m. PST |
Greg
I have read of other attacks on gun sites, mostly by "Jabo's". We are using a version of "Wings @ War" from Tumbling Dice so the Guns are factored into the targets they defend. One of the reasons I am glad the RDF wasn't a major target is the fact I don't have to scratch build that radar array in 1/600th. ;) Fatman |
| slugbalancer | 13 Aug 2016 9:54 a.m. PST |
Unlike southern England, there wasn't much room for subtlety in air raids on Malta. There was little need to disguise where the attacks were going and the defenders could fairly easily move between targets due to the small size of the island, 122 sq miles. So I guess the radar sites weren't such an important target as the airfields and the port facilites. |
| Fatman | 14 Aug 2016 10:38 a.m. PST |
The advantage of taking out radar in W@W is it restricts the height and energy interceptors may deploy at. As the RAF player you really don't want youur Spit's at height 2 and energy 2 as the !)('s come in at 4/6! Fatman |
| Norman D Landings | 14 Aug 2016 11:47 p.m. PST |
Something the Maltese will tell you cheerfully is that the Italians actually attacked very little on Malta – ditching their payloads in the sea and heading for home to the satisfaction of all concerned.
I'd suggest a morale check at the start of any Italian air raid to determine whether the mission commander intends to press home the attack. |
| Fatman | 15 Aug 2016 7:46 a.m. PST |
Norman D Landings
Yeah I have come across this before however like most stories like this it is an urban myth. In fact both RAF and Luftwaffe documents of the time comment on the determination of the Regia Aeronautica crews and fighter pilots. The story is probably based on the fact that the Regia Aeronautica stuck with high level bombing using significantly smaller bombs than the Luftwaffe, I think at this stage of the war a 250kg was the largest bomb widely available and 100kg were much more common. This limited damage and increased "scatter" of the bomb loads. because of this I am having two lines for bombing one for the Luftwaffe and a less effective one for the Italians. As an aside in North Africa Luftwaffe bomber and Stuka crews often requested Regia Aeronautica fighter escort. This was because they knew Italian fighters would stick with them while Luftwaffe pilots often left them hanging if they saw the chance to score a kill. Fatman |
| Norman D Landings | 15 Aug 2016 2:28 p.m. PST |
Oooooow…. all the good stories turn out to be BS, dammit! Well, never mind. I'm disillusioned but better informed. Cheers, Fatman! |
| Fatman | 15 Aug 2016 4:24 p.m. PST |
Sorry my man, however not all the best stories are false, were you aware that standard fittings in Fiat Br 20 bombers were racks to hold bottles of Chianti? Fatman |
| Norman D Landings | 16 Aug 2016 5:53 a.m. PST |
Truly, the Mediterranean is the cradle of Western civilisation! |
| Fatman | 16 Aug 2016 6:57 a.m. PST |
Yup I know RAF types who would say that the RA had it's priorities right. Fatman |
