Lex Anteinternet: Thursday, February 10, 1944. Offloading Piper at Saidor, Wellingtons in action, Inaugurating flights to the Keys, and a disaster.

Lex Anteinternet: Thursday, February 10, 1944. Victory at Saidor: 

Thursday, February 10, 1944. Victory at Saidor

The landing at Saidor concluded on January 2, Operation Michaelmas, resulted in an Allied victory on this date.  The Australians and the Americans had linked up, and the Huon Peninsula was mostly occupied.

Offloading of Piper Cub used in Operation Michaelmas.

The Minekaze was sunk off of Formosa by the USS Pogy. 

The Red Army took Shepetovka, Ukraine.

The U-545 was scuttled after being crippled west of the Hebrides by a Vickers Wellington.  T he U-666 disappeared in the North Atlantic.

On the same day, American Airlines Flight 2 crashed into the Mississippi River. All twenty-four passengers and crew were killed.  The cause of the crash was never determined.

Lex Anteinternet: May 18, 1941. Airy Matters.

Lex Anteinternet: May 18, 1941. Airy Matters.: 

May 18, 1941. Airy Matters.

Flag of the Soviet Air Force.

On this day in 1941, Stalin's government began a purge of Soviet air force officers, which I'm aware of only due to this item:

Today in World War II History—May 18, 1941

By this point in 1941 the signs were there that Germany was getting set to invade the Soviet Union.  Eliminating air force officers was a bizarre thing to do, given the risk of impending war.  But much about Stalin's reign was bizarre.

Speaking of things airborne, the RAF inserted a company of British troops on the Baghdad road in Iraq by air, using Vickers Valentia's to do so.

If you've never heard of Valentia's, that's because its one of a collection of obsolete aircraft the British were still using in more remote areas at the time.

The German Navy commenced Operation Rheinübung with the Bismarck.  It would prove to be a short sortie.

It's mission was to raid British convoys.

Petty Officer Alfred Sephton would receive the Victoria Cross posthumously for his actions in directing anti aircraft fire on the HMS Coventry on this day in 1941.  The Coventry was aiding the Aba, a hospital ship under attack by German dive bombers.

More about that can be found here:

Petty Officer Sephton wins the Victoria Cross

Prince Aimone, the Duke of Aosta, was crowned the King of the Independent State of Croatia. He never went there, however, and refused to do so over the issue of Italian annexation of Dalmatian land, making him a particular odd character in that he was an Italian and an officer in the Italian navy.  Following Italy switching sides, he resigned his presumptive kingship and served again in the Italian Navy.  He resigned his ducal title upon the fall of the Italian monarchy.

Lex Anteinternet: December 10, 1919. Air First and a Coal Day

Lex Anteinternet: December 10, 1919. Air First and a Coal Day:

December 10, 1919. Air First and a Coal Day

The prize posted by the Australian government of 10,000 Australian pounds (then the unit of currency in Australia) for the first aircraft piloted by Australians to fly from England to the Australia was claimed by the crew of a Vickers Vimy bomber, entered into the contest by Vickers.



The plane was crewed by pilots Cpt. Ross Macpherson Smith and his brother Lt. Keith Macpherson Smith, with mechanics Sgt. W. H. Shiers and J.M. Bennett.  The plane made the trip from Hounslow Heath to Australian starting on November 12, 1919.



Cpt. Smith was killed test piloting a Vickers Viking seaplane in 1922.  Lt. Smith became a Vickers executive and an airline industry figure, dying of natural causes in 1955 at age 64.



Elsewhere, questions began to come up about the nature of diplomatic officer Jenkin's kidnapping even as Republicans continued to press for action of some sort against Mexico.  And as the mine strike ended, kids in Casper were let out of school due to lack of coal for heat.

Lex Anteinternet: "October 21, 1919" The Great Air Race Commences. ...

Lex Anteinternet: "October 21, 1919" The Great Air Race Commences. ...:

"October 21, 1919" The Great Air Race Commences. At 11.44 a.m. the first of the six aircraft took off from Hounslow, England.

They were bound for Australia, which made sense as the race was sponsored by the Australian Prime Minister and one of the rules of the race was that all the crewmen had to be Australian.

We have already read about the US 1919 Air Derby, which was still ongoing on  this date as following aircraft continued to land. . . and crash (quite frequently with fatal results), and we posted on the 1919 Round the Rim flight, which was still going on, showing the level of air mania in the United States.  But air mania wasn't limited to the United States.  On this day six British Empire aircraft took off in a race of even more epic proportions.



The six aircraft were not all of one type, making this a technological test in addition to being an air race (the aircraft in the Air Derby weren't all of one type either).  These planes were sometimes a heavier, being bombers in part.  They included a Sopwith Wallaby, a Vickers Vimy, an Alliance P.2. A Blackburn Kangaroo, a Martinsyde Type A and an Airco DH.9. Both single engine and twin engine aircraft were in the race.