The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-02-26
Entire Cities Could Easily Be Wiped Out By MOd-
 ern BOmbers HIGH LIGHT WAS
 BOMBING OF LONDON Italian Flyers Were First to Bomb From Air at
 Tripoli in 1911
BY EDWARD WALLACE West Cheshire, Conn.

Anyone who has ever been to an air.meet must have noticed the rip- pies of apprehension which flicker through the crowd whenever a low flying plane dives directly at 1t. A mob instinct for wild panic rises half-way to the surface, although everyone well knows that the pilot is going to zoom harmlessly oyer- head. There IS something 50 titanic about the roar of the engine and the power and speed of an onrush- ing plane which causes, like a thunderbolt, terrified disintegration among mere mortals. Now when this plane is really out for blood and the clattering racket of machine guns can be heard above it's thun- dering motor, and bombs are throw ing up geysers of dirt sky-high in it's wake, the effect upon people in it's path is devastating beyond de- scription, and even those not in the immediate danger zone will scatter aC dust.
 On the other hand there is prob- ably nothing in the world today which can bring a man so near to sheer berserk frenzy as the excite ment of diving plane in practice at c ground target, and if this tar- get happens to be a tangible enemy such as body of troops or a bat tleship, one can grasp the eternal appeal to many men of Mussolini's slogan, Better one moment as & lion than many years as a lamb" !" and understand why there were will.-.g volunteers for the Italian suicide squadron" who swore to crash their bomb-laden planes upon {. dc ks of the British fleet in an emotional godhead of concentrated immortality.
 Spectacular Flying
 This sort of ground "strafing" by combat planes is the most spec tacular of all the branches of aer- ial warefare, but not the most ef- feytvie or destructive. The really serious damage in future wars will be accomplished by the heavy, pow erful bombardment planes flying two or more miles above {. the ground which will literally, by day ard night, rain down death and destruction upon their target, de- spite all counter measures such as anti-aircraft guns, and defensive aircraft.
 The present Italo- British crisis in Ire Mediterranean may be said in many ways to be 8 showdown in the old controversy as to the. eff fectiveness of the bombing plane ys. the battleship; and Mussolini's adamant stand may possibly be ex- plained by his confidence in the ability of the Italian air-force to destroy or cripple the British fleet. The Italians, with their remark able Caproni planes, have always been in the forefront of bombing progress and their skill in handling this type was clearly demonstrated during the mass flight made to this country in the Summer of 1883 un- der the command of General Balbo. Italy's airforce is from three to four times as large as Great Bri- tain's, and, in the Mediterrean area, her bases are far nearer and better equipped.
 May Eat Crow"
 Great Britain knows this and there are many indications that she is reluctantly preparing to feat crow" rather than to risk her very existence against a determined foe armed with such deadly weapon.
 The Italians, however, had little or no opportunity to make Use of their heavy bombers during the recent Ethiopian campaign, due to the lack of suitable targets in such