Western Desert, Egypt. 11 November 1942. Portrait of Air Vice Marshal Arthur Coningham, Air ...

Western Desert, Egypt. 11 November 1942. Portrait of Air Vice Marshal Arthur Coningham, Air Officer Commanding Western Desert (left, with his foot on a captured German petrol tin), and General B. L. Montgomery (wearing a beret), in conference at a headquarters. Right from the start of the present campaign the Allied Air and Land Forces have operated in perfect harmony. The success of our drive westward was due to the perfect co-ordination of our attacks from the air with the movements on the ground. The air offensive began some days before the ground attacks. Bomber aircraft and fighter bomber aircraft smashed enemy transport and neutralised his air striking force by pounding his airfields night and day. As soon as our armies attacked, the full weight of the air onslaught was turned on the ground positions of Rommel*s front line troops. In the first week more than 2,000 tons of bombs were dropped on the enemy front line positions. One third of this weight being concentrated on an area six miles square, where enemy armoured forces were assembling. This terrific bombardment was not relaxed for one hour. It was kept going relentlessly by our fighters, fighter bombers and light bombers by daylight and, every night by our medium and heavy bombers. The result was that the enemy was not once able to concentrate or assemble his armoured divisions in sufficient strength for a counter-attack, and the effort by the Air Forces played a large part in preventing the enemy from hitting back.