Eighty years ago this week Britain's misconceived standard-bearer of civil air travel is unveiled

 

Britain unveiled the Brabazon airliner, the standard bearer of national hopes for civil aviation postwar. It was vast but carried only 100 passengers, each having as much space as a small car. The designed assumed that long-distance air travellers would insist on comfort comparable to that in the first class of ocean liners Compared to the US C-54 and Constellations already flying it was a non-starter. So much of Britain's industrial resources had been turned over to making military aircaft that peacetime economic prospects depended crucially on supplying airliners.

The USAAF publicized the fact that the P-51B Mustang fighter had sufficient range to escort bombers deep into Germany and had already flown such missions. The USAAF could now draw Germany's depleted day fighter resources into battle, inflicting attrition that would bring air superiority for Overlord. It was a vital turning point in the air war but it had not been planned. Range had not been part of the specification of the P-51 and the strategy of escorting bombers had been forced by the inability of B-17s and B-24s to defend themselves

The Allies opened their attack on the German Gustav line in Italy. The British X Corps on their left flank crossed the Garigliano without serious opposition but the key to the German defence lay further inland at Monte Cassino.

Spitfires entered combat over Burma for the first time, downing a number of Japanese aicraft. Hitherto the type had been reserved for the European theatre: a good register of the low priority the RAF placed on the Far East

The Polish government-in-exile replied to the Soviet declaration that it would set the future frontier unilaterally. They deplored this fait accompli but reiterated a wish for some agreed settlement with the UK and US as mediators. They understood the brutal reality the true decider of the nation's fate was Stalin.

The planned right of British servicemen and women to return to their peacetime jobs was extended to those who had volunteered to fight, removing an anomaly which protected only conscripts. Originally the Labour Party which had promoted the measure assumed that anyone foolish enough to volunteer for war service was willing to sacrifice their post war career.