Evening star., 1939-04-02
Questions Efficacy Of
Aerial Combat
By Frederic J. HdSkin.

yet military experts are beginning to
wonder If the real efficacy Of bombing
from airplanes has not been greatly over
emphasized.
Every one who has had access to
metropolitan newspapers has become
familiar with the many photographs Of
such cities as Barcelona which have
been subjected to aerial bombing. Upon
reflection the close observer of such mat
tiers must reach the conclusion that, after
three years of intensive bombing from
the skies, Barcelona looks much as other
cities. Only the photographs of selected
sites and particularly exposed places show
any severe ravages. Much the same is
true of Madrid. Such great structures as
the famous Madrid Hotel and the tele-
phone building there, veritable targets
for bombers have come through the long
siege with only few cornices knocked
off.
1t is true that the great university
buildings have suffered severely, but they
were employed as barracks and natural
military objectives and moreover, were
situated on the outskirts Of the CITY,
Further, 1t is stated that most Of the
damage was done not by bombs from
airplanes at all, but by bombardment
from land artillery.
No one who has been in bombed city,
or no one with a rich imagination who
has read about such an experience, would
desire to be present at bombing, but the
fact remains that the bark of the bomb
than its bite.
That the first effect Of bombing Is q
terrific strain on morale cannot be ques-
toned, but experience repeatedly shows
that people become accustomed to any
danger. After devastating eruption Of
Aetna, survivors return to live on Its
slopes; after a flood of the Mississippi
River causing many fatalities, the sur
vivors return to dwell on its banks before
they are dry.
Aerial bombardment has been going
on much longer than is generally real
lied. The first recorded instance was 127
years ago when the Russians sent bal.
looms bearing explosives over the French
lines in the Napoleonic wars 1t seems
curious indeed, that the Russians should
have been the first to employ this very
modern type of attack while, in the very
same warfare, they used the bow and ar.
row, one Of the more ancient types. They
were the last civilized nation to use the
bow and arrow as military weapon In
the Occident
The Russian aerial bombardment ex.
periments did not prove very successful,
but balloons were used for military OBJ
servation at Antwerp in 1914, at Solferino
in 1859, in our own Civil War and in the
Franco-Prussian War.
Perhaps because OF knowledge Of the
Russian attempt in 1912, the first Hague
Peace Conference in 1899 adopted con-
vention which fatty prohibited aerial
bombing. The convention had a life Of
five years. BY the expiration Of that
period, the Wrights had flown at Kitty
Hawk and when proposal came up for
the renewal of the prohibition, 1t was
tabled During the conference Santos.
Dumont landed at The Hague. In other
words, when it had been sho1h that such
a prohibition against aerial bombard-
ment might mean something, 1t was
abandoned
Attempts were later made for the out
lawry or regulation of aerial bombing by
various conferences. For example, q set
of rules was drawn up at The Hague
Conference of 1923, but, to date, not a
single party has ratified them. 1t is said
that one reason against any blanket pro-
hibition has been reluctance, especially
on the part of Great Britain, to refrain
from bombing in policing borders in such
regions as India and Africa. It cost
Britain only s150,000 to put down by air
a Somaliland uprising in 1920, whereas
it had cost sl2,5O0,0Oo to suppress a
similar uprising by land. However, last
year, Prime Minister Chamberlain an
nounced that Britain would cease use
of the airplane for police bombing work.
The Shanghai bombing has been the
most destructive. 1t is estimated that
10000 were killed. Shanghai was unpre-
pared and undefended for practical pur-
poses. The first air raid on London in
the World War. May 81, 1915. killed
and wounded 80, with property damage
of 100000. However, before the war was
over, the 81 Zeppelin raids and 50 plane
attacks on England killed 1413 and
wounded 3,408. In Paris 402 were killed
and 809 wounded. During the A days
bombardment by the famous long range
land gun, more people were killed and
wounded than during three and half
years of aerial bombardment. There
were 305 air attacks on German cities by
the allies, but figures on casualties are
lacking.
The technical advances since the World
War have been enormous During the
war 300 tons of bombs were dropped on
England between 1915 and 1918. Enc
mics today, 1t Is estimated, could drop
800 tons of bombs on England every day.
Scaling the casualties proportionately
this would mean $1,000. But even this
remains a small figure compared with
the effects of land attack. Also. air war;
fare is extremely costly. Moreover, when
statements are made, as they were, for
instance, at the time of the Munich con.
ferences, about the number of planes
which could fly over London or Paris and
the tonnage of bombs that could be
dropped. little or nothing is said about
what the adversaries would be doing. 1t