Special: Operation Calendar

Pilots,

Switching it up from our usual tales of inspiring heroics, today we want to shine a light on the disaster that was ‘Operation Calendar’. This military operation took place at around this time of year in 1942 and is most memorable for how it failed in spectacular fashion. What started out as just another “Club Run” –what aircraft supply operations to the besieged island of Malta were called during WWII – ended with the destruction of almost all of the 52 Spitfires that said operation was meant to deliver into the war zone. Find out what went wrong with this fascinating event during this week’s history special.

Here are the offers that will be available this weekend:

Triple XP for the first victory of the day

Had there been more experience during the planning of Operation Calendar, then maybe it would have been successful.

50% discount on consumables

All consumables will be at half price all weekend long, ready to be bought by clever pilots who think not only strategically but also economically.

50% discount on training/retraining your crew

Save some gold when shuffling your pilots between aircraft! Gold is a precious resource after all!

30% discount on the following aircraft:

						Spitfire I
						Spitfire V
						Spitfire IX
						Spitfire XIV

A special about a botched delivery of Spitfires in real life may ironically become the catalyst for a successful delivery of Spitfires to your hangar.

The special runs from Friday 18^th April at 08:00 until Monday 21^th April at 07:30 CEST (GMT+2). 

It’s widely known that Spitfires performed well on their home soil in the Battle of Britain but did you also know that they were in service in many other foreign locations all over the European theatre of war as well?

One such place was Malta. At the time, the small island had been part of the British Empire and served the U.K. and its allies as a strategic stronghold in the Mediterranean. With Spain ruled by Franco, France signing an armistice with Germany in 1940 and Italy part of the Axis forces since the beginning of the war, Malta was (apart from Gibraltar), the only base that the Allies had left in the region. Not only did its location allow the control of all naval traffic into and out of the Mediterranean Sea, but it was also an important stopping point for supplies on their way to the frontlines of North Africa.

British Spitfires on deck of the USS Wasp (left & right) and in the air over Malta (middle) in 1942.

Because of this, the island faced numerous heavy attacks from the Axis forces, who continuously bombed Malta and brought it to the brink of submission. The defeat could only be prevented thanks to a strong air defence compiled of mostly British aircraft, which repelled the enemy raids long enough for the majority of the Luftwaffe to be called away to the Soviet front.

‘Operation Calendar’ was part of the so-called ‘Club Runs’ – a series of missions that aimed to take U.K. and allied aircraft from the British mainland and deliver them to Malta. 52 Spitfires were loaded on the aircraft carrier USS Wasp, which departed from Glasgow on 14^th April 1942. The planes were in bad condition, suffering from leaking tanks, faulty cannons and defective radios – problems that were pretty common back then and which RAF Command planned to rectify once the aircraft were delivered to their destination. 

The standard operating procedure was that the planes would fly off the aircraft carrier to the Maltese airport once the ship passed close to Gibraltar. Although the pilots had reported the various faults that plagued the Spitfires, there was not enough time to repair any of them at sea. The final phase of the operation began on 20^th April when 46 of the Spitfires, covered by functioning F4F Wildcats, finally took off. They actually managed to get to Ta’Qali airfield on the island. However, this was about as far as they went.

Unfortunately for the Allies, the enemy knew about the manoeuvre and descended upon the newly arrived planes with full force. Within minutes of delivery several waves of enemy aircraft, consisting of over 100 Junkers ‘Stuka’ bombers and Bf 109 Messerschmitts, attacked the parked planes on the ground and pretty much obliterated the surrounding airfield in one of the biggest targeted Blitz air raids of the Maltese siege. Due to the mechanical problems of the planes, the brand new Spitfires couldn’t be readied in time for their own defence and were completely destroyed before they could even fire a single bullet.

With the failure of the operation, the Allies had to send a new batch of planes, which essentially led to a repeat of the mission that was this time called ‘Operation Bowery’. Let this be a lesson for all you pilots to always make sure your plane is properly airworthy before heading into combat.

Check your plane, check the special and then off with you, pilots!