Entry: July 18, 1941

July 18, 1941

50 km east of Halfaya Pass, Lybian/Egyptian Boarder

Between late June and mid July of this year, things have been rather repetitive around the Mediterranean Sea. On the eastern front, however, news have been received of a rather "easy" campaign so far. The Field Marshals of the Eastern Front all report that they will be in Moscow and back in their homes my Christmas. Just incidentally, I was recalling an old history lesson from my days of secondary schooling. I just hope that the Field Marshals will get wise and either hurry up with their invasion and march into Moscow by early September. Before the war, I had been to the Soviet Union a few times for field studies and once as an exchange student. The winters there in Russia are quite harsh if one does not wear enough layers and warm clothing. I even had a friend, Vladimir, that was living in Moscow. He was in the Soviet Airforce by the time I had last seen him, a young cadet if I remember correctly. I still keep in touch with him before relations with us and the Soviets went awry. In his last letter he was already a lieutenant flying I-16's. I haven't heard from him since Operation Barbarossa started.

In the meantime, back in the Mediterranean, we have been receiving both men and plenty of material for our base. In fact, three squadrons of He-111's, 5 squadrons of Ju-87's, and a new squadron of Me-109's, Bf-110's, and Do-217's all arrived to our base. With the new personnel and materiel, our base was expanded almost 5 fold over the course of 3 weeks! While the new material and men came to settle on this base, my squadron of Me-109's have since gotten even more deadlier than last time. I racked up kills totaling 10 for the month, Hans got 16 however. Because of this, Hans got promoted to 2nd flight leader. I still led first flight, but now Hans isn't my wingman anymore. He still flies with me though, since I'm in charge of the entire wing. Among other things, the British are stepping up a notch in the war. More activity in our hunting grounds has Rommel a bit edgy apparently. The Ju-87 Stuka pilots also noted increase in tanks on the ground. Fortunately, I think the Afrika Korps carry enough equipment to handle the commonwealth armor.

The Colonel is slightly antsy also, worried that the base might become too big for him to handle any more Luftwaffe planes. And with the more planes the base has, the more likely that we'll get slammed by the British again. Since our last encounter with the LRDG, the Colonel has placed additional barb wiring and fencing around the base, as well as more armed guards around the parameter than we last had. Hopefully, the LRDG won't take another crack at us again...