20 Aug 1942
British CVW defeated by Bangkok's fighters
Sumatra
The enemy dropped his bombing altitude down to a shockingly low 5000 feet. Damage was severe to both sides. We shot down at least 17 bombers with flak, and probably damaged all of the rest of them. Air-to-air losses were an Oscar, a Mohawk, and a P-40.
Airbase damage is at 60%, we lost 10 aircraft on the ground this turn.
Bay of Bengal
The British CVBG launched a strike on the Port Blair invasion task force, which was met by 20 Zeroes and 9 Oscars on long-range CAP from Bangkok. That's a number I wasn't prepared for this far away from their base--we only had 7 Martlets escorting the strike of 4 Swordfish and 12 Albacores, with most of the fighters standing by to protect the fleet against Betties that never came. The enemy CAP nearly obliterated the British carrier air wing. 3 Marlets were downed and they tore into the bombers, taking down 3 Swordfish and 11 Albacores. Only two bombers reached the enemy fleet--the enemy just turned into the attack and avoided the torpedoes.
The enemy bombers kept hitting Port Blair, ignoring our CVBG. They also hit the base with paratroopers, and thanks to the severe disruption caused by the bombing, we weren't able to wipe them out.
This is really highlighting the inadequacy of the Wildcat/Martlet--I'm having great success against the Zero with a lot of other fighters, mostly fighters that are faster than the Zero. But the Zero can outturn and outrun the Wildcat, so it's not like we can hit and run. Worse than the Wildcat are the biplanes that the Brits think are adequate attack aircraft. British Avengers can't get here soon enough.
Reinforcements
AM Gladstone arrives at Melbourne
No.23 Sqn RAAF Det arrives at Brisbane (6/6 P-39, restricted)
No.321 Sqn RAF arrives at Trincomalee (1/6 Catalinas, officially a Dutch command but with access to British aircraft; transitioned to British PBYs and assigned pilots for training)
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