S3 Series

22 December 1941

To: To all Allied Air Forces Malaya,

Gentlemen, we suffered a tremendous defeat. The Battleship Prince of Wales, the Battlecruiser Repulse
and several destroyers have been sunk by Japanese Topedo planes and Dive bombers.
We lost several hundred brave sailors.

You fought valiantly and shot down 14Ki43’s, 6 Ki27’s, 15 G4M1 Betty’s, 4 D3A’s and 27 Kates. Well done.
Unfortunately it wasn’t enough. We were just overwhelmed.

The Japanese are steadily moving south.

Defend: all Installations along the front lines. Defend all allied airfields.

Strike: the following targets to slow the Japanese ground force’s Southern advance.

West coast: Truck convoys 99,100, Ville-base 62, GAF 11, facilities at Panang Island: Ville-base 21, Dock 43, Depo Sm 56
Central: LS 32, Railyard 81
East coast: Ville-base 63, Truck convoy 101

Good Luck Gents.
 

We are going to need attackers and defenders this frame.

This will be very difficult given the numbers we have vs the axis.

The Japanese can strike multiple targets at once and still have
enough pilots to cap their front lines.

Plus their best fighter can carry bombs. Our Buffalos can't carry bombs.

The only positive is we get points for individual destroyed targets.
The Japanese need to close to get points.



Ideas?

See email sent to RCAF and 4th leadership for target photos

Easiest targets will be Convoy 100 (west coast) and Convoy 101 (east coast)
See attached target maps
DO NOT WASTE BULLETS ON TREES, HUTS, TENTS, BUILDINGS or AMMO DUMPS. While the later earns points, it is hard to kill. Killing ack isn’t worth points, but makes it safer to fly.
100lb bomb will kill ack, trucks, fuel
500lb bomb required for Tanks/Halftracks
2 x 500lb for bridge spans
3 x 500 for ammo dumps
Single pass strafing should be successful against Trucks, fuel tanks and ack

Convoy 100 - 18 miles WNW from GAF28
Protected by 2 20mm and 2 MG
See tgt map
13 targets
7 trucks (potential 3.5 pts) orange circles
2 tanks (2 pts) red circles
2 fuel dumps (5 pts) green circles -> primary tgts
2 ammo dumps to east, one under cammo (5 pts). Only if all tgts down and eggs are avail. Save bullets for airplanes.
An immediate launch at T+0 can get the Blenheims there just ahead of the axis. A couple/all of the lights would be nice for cover. East to west best line up for attacks

Convoy 101 – 33 miles north of GAF29
Protected by 1 40mm (north end near bridge), 2 20 mm, 2 MGs
See target map. Bridge just to north is not illustrated
16 targets
2 bridge spans (5 pts)
7 trucks (3.5 pts)
3 tanks (3 pts)
4 fuel (10 pts) -> primary targets
An immediate launch would preclude any axis interference in the attack. Best axis of attack is S to N, although an east to west attack would offer a single bomber a better chance to destroy all four fuel dumps.

RCAF should have 3 pilots, hopefully 4 if Beaver turns out. I’ll ask the boys to fly Blenheims to start.
Will try to hit F100 first, then egress south to x, 6 line then head east to land at F29 on the east coast.
After re-arming, we will head out to sea a bit, then north to hit 101.