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While the war started ferociously, no ground progress was done by any of the sides. It did show that the sides were pretty evenly matched, and that the war will not be over soon, which is probably not what the Axis forces hoped for. The fighting settled on all fronts after this day, with only occasional light arms fire exchanges. Both sides were preparing for the offensives that took place on June 25th.

Fig. 5. A Spit chasing a 'jet' chasing a Spit

In the early morning hours that beautiful yet tense Sunday, the by now much feared Axis 'jet' planes initiated a simultaneous attack on a powerplant and an airfield deep inside the British territory. While the attack on the airbase was unsuccessful, the powerplant was destroyed and this marked the first progress in any of the bombing campaigns. The losses were not too high on any of the sides, but an interesting event was observed by some locals. A ditched 'jet' plane was destroyed by one of its own in order not to be taken and studied and perhaps even used in combat by the Allied side. Its pilot was taken as a POW.

Fig. 6. An engine on the verge of blowing up

The day turned even worse for the Allies, as soon thereafter the Axis initiated a similarly configured attack in the African theater. This time they managed to destroy both the Gabes Bridge, an important link for the Allied ground troops, and the El Djem airfield close to it. Furthermore, the El Djem base was then captured by the Me-262s landing there, thus pushing the frontline further North. A single brave Allied pilot then tried to defend the airfield all by himself, but crashed nearby during one of the low level passes. An important addition to this mission was also the Axis use of a leased Japanese destroyer, which provided surprisingly strong anti aircraft cover.

Fig. 7. A mid-air collision

The Allies then tried to retaliate in the Rhineland theatre, but they suffered severe loses there with all of their P-51 fighters and P-47 fighter bombers being downed, and only 3 pilots surviving. The Allies lost 3 of their new He 100 planes, but were overall satisfied with the result.

Fig. 8. A Spitfire strafing

With the fighting ceased for the day, it became obvious that the Axis forces made a significant advance in the war. Yet, one cannot ignore the fact that the Axis side started the war without sparing any expenses. The Allies can only hope that their forces will last long enough for the Axis side to expend their resources. If this should happen, the Allies are expected to start a major counteroffensive, and the course of war could change dramatically.

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