Operation shadow. Prequel to Operation Excess.
An unwelcome surprise.
Kyte stood on his office veranda overlooking Takali airfield.
He was in a brown study on this clear crisp January morning.
Watching the disappearing Blenheim he reflected on the fact that he did not like keeping his pilots in the dark about missions when they put their lives on the line every day, and sometimes three times a day flying observational sorties from Malta for no real reason than to convince the enemy that they had chanced upon their objective accidentally. Yesterday it had been a Sunderland that he had dispatched to locate in an area that the Admiralty knew full well was the correct one.
Kyte suspected that it was to protect the identity of some agent supplying coordinates for all these movements of enemy units and convoys etc. But having to fly over targets and physically let them know they were spotted to add to the deception was asking for disaster sooner or later.
Even Kyte was unaware of how far from the truth he really was.
Not even GOC. Malta was aware of just how much the War Office knew about Axis movements thanks to the Staff at Bletchley Park and Ultra, nor how far Winston Churchill was prepared to go to keep it secret. For the lives of many thousands of souls, and indeed the very survival of Britain may depend upon the intelligence gleaned from the myriad of radio messages intercepted at GCHQ, which were then forwarded to the Boffins and cipher clerks at Bletchly for appraisal.
Anyway, whatever the reason, Flt Lt. Nick Colman of 148 Sq. and his crew were now showing the flag to the Italian Navy at about 28,000 feet just off Southern Italy.
There job was ostensibly to shadow the ships and radio information on composition, position, direction and speed to Admiral Cunningham and his Escort Group heading towards Malta from Alexandria.
He had just sent a message to say that since the Sunderland's sighting late yesterday afternoon one of the Battleships had slipped away during the night on some clandestine mission, when his Co Pilot jogged his arm and pointed to the North West. "What is it now Don." He said to his co pilot Don Farmer. " That Cant back again." One of the Italian aircraft had been shadowing them on most days that week.
"No Skip. I'm not sure but you'd better take a look at this one."
Nick scrutinized the small silhouette closing on them in the distance and whistled through his teeth. " So the buggers are here at last then."
Closing fast upon the Blenheim, was a sight that he had not seen since September of last year over the hop fields of Kent.
Not an innocuous Italian Cant, but a German Me 110 was bearing down on them.
"This one's got teeth" Nick said to no one in particular." It's time we were somewhere else boys". With that remark he pressed on the pedals, moved the stick over and started to turn toward Malta some 40 miles to the South West.
At that very instant his rear gunner Flt Sgt. Reginald Balmer opened up with his Twin Vickers K. just as incoming rounds started to pepper the fuselage from the ME. It was a bit of a one sided show and nick decided to take further evasive action.
With the Blenheim's slow speed but tight turn he bamboozled his adversary by continuing to turn in towards the ME rather than away from it.
In taking avoiding action the Me overshot its prey and Reggie got another pot shot at it.
Nick swept back over the fleet, drawing a little desultory flack from the now awakening gun crews. He rather patronizingly noted that nothing even came anywhere near him.
There was no time for complacency, however, for the German pilot had now completed his stall turn, and was rapidly regaining his ascendency in the game.
A long range shot failed to reach the Blenheim, but Nick knew that in a few more seconds he would be under the guns again with little chance of escape this time.
This time as soon as he had turned, he went into a dive in order to momentarily gain some distance on his pursuer.
Keeping a tight turn on he convinced the ME pilot that he was in for a long end chase back to Malta.
Consideration for his fuel situation convinced the Oberleutnant that it was not worth the risk of meeting a marauding Hurricane nearer to the Maltese coast, and having chased off the Blenheim, he returned to his base in Sicily.
The Butchers' Bill.
No real serious damage to either aircraft, but a timely warning to Malta that the Luftwaffe were now arriving in force in Southern Italy. This was to become even clearer a couple of days later, when Admiral Cunningham accompanied by the Carrier Illustrious escorted an inbound convoy to Valletta.
But Operation Excess is a story for another day.
Rob.
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