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aircraft reported off the coast, but snow and fog assisted evasive tactics and our fighters did not succeed in making contact. On the 29th and 30th enemy bombers, acting singly and in pairs, made a number of attacks on East Coast shipping, including unarmed vessels and Light-ships, using machine guns and both high explosive and incendiary bombs. Details of the results are given elsewhere in this Résumé. Our fighters were hampered by weather and by the fact that six of the fighter aerodromes had been rendered unserviceable by the severe weather conditions; nevertheless, a total of 99 fighter aircraft were despatched on each. of these two days. On the 29th a Heinkel was engaged off the Tyne, but escaped into clouds before a decisive attack could be delivered. On the 30th a Heinkel was shot down 10 miles east of Coquet Island, north of Newcastle, and another was intercepted and attacked by three Hurricanes. It escaped into the clouds, but shortly afterwards an aircraft (believed to be this Heinkel) was heard sending out distress signals.

Coastal Command.

28. Routine patrols have been curtailed by weather conditions but were continued whenever possible, in addition to special searches for submarines, escorts for convoys and searches for survivors of merchant ships. On one day (the 25th) seventeen convoys were provided with air escort.

29. With reference to the sinking of the U-55 referred to in paragraph 8 above, the flying boat had just returned from convoy escort in that vicinity on account of bad weather, but on receipt of information of this attack the aircraft immediately returned in the hope of regaining touch with the submarine. The clouds were down to sea level, but at 3 P.M. (over three hours after H.M.S. Fowey's attack) the Sunderland located the submarine on the surface, through a hole in the clouds.

30. On the 29th January a Hudson aircraft on patrol between Flamborough Head and Horns Reef was attacked by a Messerschmitt 110 twin-engined fighter. The Hudson claims to have disabled one of the engines of the enemy aircraft, but sustained slight damage before making its escape in the clouds. On the 30th January, two flights of Hudsons assisted the aircraft of Fighter Command in trying to intercept the hostile bombers which were attacking our East Coast shipping off the Moray Firth and Flamborough Head, but did not succeed in making contact.

British Air Forces in France.

31. Thirty-five fighter patrols have been sent up by the Royal Air Force Component and the Advanced Air Striking Force during the week, but weather conditions made interception difficult, and the only combat to record is an indecisive one between three Hurricanes and a Heinkel, which took place near the Luxemburg frontier. Reconnaissance activity was much reduced by the unfavour- able weather and ground conditions. A Blenheim, which was sent out on the 25th January, did not return, and the German wireless claimed that on that day a British aircraft had been shot down in the neighbourhood of Duisburg by two Messerschmitt fighters.

French Air Activity.

32. A few reconnaissance patrols were undertaken during the week by the French Air Force on the Western Front. On one occasion a patrol was attacked by twelve enemy aircraft at extreme altitude, but the temperature was so low as to prevent firing on either side. On the night of the 26th-27th January there were two reconnaissance missions: one following the route Ehrang-Coblenz-Wies- baden-Kreuznach-Durkheim, dropping leaflets in Coblenz and Wiesbaden, the other over Trier-Bonn-Frankfurt Mannheim.

German Air Activity.

33. The past week has been notable for the resumption of German air attacks on our East Coast shipping, and on a slightly more extensive scale than in the past. Details are reported in Appendix III to this Résumé. It is possible

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