FlyPast 06.2018

June 2018 FLYPAST 39

FOUR GOES TO WAR

a 2 Squadron escort formation.

The following day 4 Squadron

experienced combat and found it

a sobering lesson. Scrambled to

intercept a Messerschmitt Bf 109

sweep, the Tomahawks returned

without success but lost Lt A W

Alder in the engagement.

The Allies were working up to

Operation Crusader, a westward

‘push’ to Tobruk in Libya, and

offensive sweeps and bomber escort

became the norm. Neither air force

could gain an upper hand in the

days preceding the offensive.

BACK AND FORTH

On November 18 the Eighth Army

advanced, recording large gains

against an enemy that initially

made little effort to fight back.

During the first three days, 4

Squadron carried out sweeps over

the battle area and a strafing run on

Sidi Rezegh airfield.

Gains made on the ground

facilitated a move forward to LG

122 on the 20th, bringing the unit

just short of the Libyan border.

Generalfeldmarschall Erwin

Rommel – the ‘Desert Fox’ –

responded to the offensive and the

first decisive clashes took place near

Sidi Rezegh on the 21st.

Detailed to attack transport, the

unit suffered its second loss when

Lt J G Ereaut was downed by anti-

aircraft fire. Two days later the

ground battle turned in the enemy’s

favour and the Tomahawks engaged

Bf 109s during several sweeps over

the front line.

Captain A Bosman secured 4’s

first ‘kill’ when he shot down a

Messerschmitt moments before Lt

Golding collided with an attacker.

Bosman saw the ’109 fall away

and explode. W/O R E Jackson,

flying as a non-commissioned

officer until 1942, completed the

day’s ‘bag’ by probably destroying

a Messerschmitt. Success was

tempered by the loss of Lt P A du

Plessis.

Operations continued in this

manner for the next three weeks.

The Axis advance was checked and

eventually pushed back, with 4

Squadron strafing vehicle columns

or escorting light bombers. Fighters

attempting to cover the withdrawal

successfully claimed two Bf 110s

and a share in a third claimed on

November 24. Lt Thorpe was shot

down during this engagement but

managed to return to his unit two

days later.

Captain A X Kriel assumed

command in December, coinciding

with a move to El Adem in Libya

in pursuit of the enemy. Bosman

downed a Bf 109F while on an

escort flight to Tobruk on the 5th.

Five days later Rommel’s forces had

been pushed back to a line south of

Gazala where they turned to face

the Eighth Army advance.

While flying top cover to a

SOUTH AFRICAN PILOTS MADE A VITAL CONTRIBUTION TO THE DESERT WAR. STEVE MCLEAN RELATES 4 SQUADRON’S EXPLOITS

“Two days later the ground battle turned in the enemy’s favour and

the Tomahawks engaged Bf 109s during several sweeps over the

front line”

Far left

The transit camp at

Aboukir in September

1941, before the arrival

of the Tomahawks.

Left

Derna Pass, November

1941, overlooking the

harbour.

Below

Believed to be AN378 at

Gambut in mid-1942.