Re: Importance of Malta WWII

"dott.Piergiorgio" <dott.PiergiorgioNIHON@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:

The trouble was that the same logic can be applied (and was also
boasted) about southern Italy, Sicily and sardinia in 1930s.

Malta and Henderson field works, Sigonella etc. not: why ?

The Italian a/c save some hopeless cases was between decent and
excellent (SM 79, Macchi 202/3/5) and the X and II Fliegerkorps was
effective enough; so the "bug" don't lie in the hardware: my guess is
that lies in the exessive inland position of the airfields in these
days of 150-300 kph cruise speeds (meaning at least 25-30 minutes
between Sigonella and Gela Coast)

Your opinions ?

If you're talking about 1943 and the invasion of Sicily, then I would
say that the bug was most definitely in the hardware and software: for
the same reason as the decline of the Luftwaffe in the latter part of
WW2, the utterly brainless management (or lack thereof) of resources,
most particularly pilots and their replacement training. Harware-wise,
the Allies could muster much much heavier bomber squadrons,
replacements, and proper long-range fighters for loitering, something
the Luftwaffe could not do. I would also hazard that while the
Italians and Germans had radar operation by that stage to pick up
incoming attacks, there was no way to absorb the losses that they
incurred. In the same way, had the Germans/Italians and Japanese had
better fighters (plus tactics and pilot management skills) and heavier
bombers in early- to mid-1942, they could have kept the airfields on
Malta and Henderson clear of aircraft pretty decently. At least that
is my opinion.

Of course, ocupation is another issue---Malta could be starved whereas
the Japanese did not have the naval and army resources to do the same
to Guadalcanal, through a combination of stupid army strategy
(training and criminal misuse of manpower and logistics) and
thinly-stretched naval assets (and some missed opportunities precisely
because of the threat of Henderson airfield---going to show, once
again, that a single gaping hole in even just one section of a
country's military/social/educational system can have repercussions
crucial to many other sections).
--
BOFH excuse #248:

Too much radiation coming from the soil.
.