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Re: Australian Spitfires
It is worth adding that one key result obtained by the Spitfires in N. Australia was blinding the Japanese effort by shooting down the previously invincible Dinah. The Japanese were unable to obtain vital reconnaissance information and hence unable to plan or assess bombing raids. The importance of these missions can be illustrated by the above reference to 20 Zeros escorting a single Dinah.
As a result of the introduction of the Spitfire the Japanese bomber forces stopped doing daylight missions and switched to night attacks, before being moved to another front where better results could be expected. This was despite its mechanical problems, operational misuse, and fairly limited success against Japanese fighters, as fairly fully described above and elsewhere.
It is worth noting that Spitfire operations in extreme environmental conditions elsewhere e.g. North Africa and the Arakan, do not show the level of mechanical problems experienced in these early Australian operations. Shortcomings in the preparation and support must be strongly suspected. Later Australian use gave much less trouble, showing that it could be done in the SW Pacific, as elsewhere.
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