Part 214: Operational Report: 08/07/42

These bloody Japanese subs seem to prey on our wounded ships.



She soon sinks after taking four torpedoes in twenty four hours.
We have some supply ships at Cox's Bazar, and the Japanese make a raid on them, we come off better in the engagement, and break up the attack on these ships.



The man shot down is Norton of the 67th squadron, but he bails out and is rescued.
We don't do as well in the second raid, but the ships still survive.



Our Fulmars make a raid on Akyab for some reason, but are swatted away by a whole wing of Nick fighters.



Then our whole bomber force goes in to Cox's Bazar at one go – this is a shot in the dark, as none of these planes are designed for naval attacks, but its worth a shot.



Then the Bettys arrive, and the luck of the transports runs out.



Hundreds of men are pulled from the water, but the battle for Cox's Bazar is quickly turning into a bloodbath. Another wave follows this and we lose another ship.



Then our bombers go back in, the airspace over the battlefeild being filled with aircraft for most of the day.



On the ground to the south of the city, the two armies clash, and we come off worse in the engagement.



While the Japanese forces take Cox's Bazar – the defenders seemingly having taken to the hills.







The Grampus seems to have no luck with her torpedoes.







The first part of Operation Cerberus has begun. Troops surge ashore at Vaitupu, taking heavy losses to accidents and drowning as they do so.



They then find the Island empty, and quickly take it over.







We see a slow day at Hong Kong.









That was one hell of a crazy day over Cox's Bazar, leading to the loss of the city and the planes stationed there. I have no idea where the defenders have gone, it seems I may have accidentally ordered them to move out.
This is why we have lost 117 planes today. 70 of them fighters.

Thank god I placed the 67th Squadron in Calcutta. I would have been swearing my head off.



More troops on their way to Port Moresby – the 48th Division will be meeting the Aussies defending the city, hopefully our planes will take a shot at this force before they land, I have the spotters looking in the direction they are most likely to come from, so there is a good chance of getting some early kills.