AIR BATTLE

it is now possible to tell one of the greatest air stories of the war the story of New Year's Day 1945 on a light airfields in Holland and Belgium preparations are beginning for another day of air support to our armies in the field in the light of dawn the routine of checking over machines and Armament is underway suddenly across the snow covered landscape a strong force of planes comes racing in but they aren't Allied planes they are German [Music] Fighters anti aircraft rers and the RAF regiment Dash into [Music] action all over Belgium and Holland the same thing is happening the Luft Waffa has swept into the offensive with hundreds of machines in an allout attempt to smash our Air Forces on the ground [Music] radio messages are flashed to other airfields and Spitfires tempests and typhoons take off from Icy runways to shoot the L Waffa out of the [Music] sky more of our Fighters acting as bomber escorts throw their weight Into The Fray and the bombers go on their missions to Germany without escort a flying fortress unprotected Ed by fighter cover falls a [Music] victim the carefully planned stra by the enemy [Music] continues Belgian firefighters work gallantly helping to quell the flames [Music] overhead British American and German aircraft are at grips in the greatest air combat since the Battle of Britain [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] an RAF plane chases a German fighter for a mile after mile until his ammunition runs [Music] out our camera plane takes up the pursuit with guns blazing and delivers The Knockout blow [Music] the countryside around every Allied Airfield is littered with the remnants of some of Germany's best planes and with the bodies of her best Pilots their Savage attempts to destroy Allied aircraft by Cannon and machine gun fire have ended in complete and utter disaster today has been another illustration of the basic failing in the enemy's use of air power the German effort to use a tactical air arm without first establishing air superiority as a separate indispensable condition has proved a costly impossibility for every plane the Germans destroyed they paid twice over and while 136 fighter pilots were lost lost by the lwaa in attacks on tactical airfields alone the RAF lost only four in a raid plan to gain the advantage by surprise the Germans themselves were surprised at the high price they paid the RAF and United States Air Forces will remember the first day of 1945 as one of the greatest of their many triumphs [Music]