Evening star., 1940-12-04

suit ships, swooping low before re-
leasing their bombs. Their speed
and the small loads that they can
carry render them ineffective.
British Spotter Effective.
The Germans nave tried very hard
to get control of the air over Eng
land, but they have not got it. They
have used every kind Of ship they
have. They have struck from all
four points Of the compass. operat-
ing from convenient bases to the
east and south-opposite Dover. OF
course, they are only a short 20
miles, or approximately three min
utes' flying time, away.
There are two reasons why they
have failed to gain control OF the
air over England.
The first is machine-an elec-
trical device which In the truest
sense Of the word can be said to have
saved Britain.
at the request OF the British
government, three paragraphs de-
Scribing the technique by Uhich
enemy planes are spotted before
they reach the English coast are
omitted here)
The second reason why the Ger
mans do not have control of the air
is that the Hurricane and Spitfire,
the two first-line British interceptor
planes, are definitely superior as air
weapons to either the Messerschmitt
100 or the twin-motor Messerschmitt
ITO. This superiority means that it
does the Germans no good to send
their Messerschmitts over above
their bombers to protect them from
the interceptors. The English can
break up the MesserschmittS at high
attitudes, shoot down the bomber.
below them.
The ability of the English to cope
with the Germans means this-that
the Germans are unable to carry out
mass daylight bombing raids.
Few Bombs Not Effective.
A few bombs, or many bombs badly
directed, are not effective in destroy
ing military objectives Bombing
from the air does not begin to be-
come effective until there is an enor-
nous amount OF it in concentrated
doses. Then. as in Poland and
France. it is devastating.
The heavens are big. and as Ions
as the Germans have many more
planes than the English, isolated
planes or small formations of planes
will always be able to break through
any Gordon. And the daylight raids
that are reported by cable are this
kind of raid.
So excellent is the English defense
by day that it is very rare NOWADAYS
whenever one or two bombers get
through the interceptors to their
targets. The daylight raids are not
made by bombers. but by pursuit
ships flying at great speed and at
enormous altitudes-not less than
and nearer 6 miles straight up In
the air. AS converted into bombers
they are absolutely useless except
when bombing such targets as the
whole city of London. And then
they can only peck away.
Field Hit IS Times Still in Use.
AS TO the effectiveness of this kline
OF bombing I give you this example
have stood on an airport on tht
edge Of London. Before the war i,
was commercial airport and Ger.
man pilots flew planes in and out Of
1t. They must know it as they know
the palm of their own hands. Iva.
shown a map which recorded every
single bomb that was dropped on tn
f1eld since the blitz began. I counted
56 hits. This field that had beer
hit Sc separate times and yet hac
never been out of operation for ar
hour. The total damage was:
An empty hangar destroyed by
conclusion from a land mine.
A training plane annihilated.
A visiting Spitire which wa.
parked on runway destroyed.
And this field. to repeat, is one ol
the best known in England and ha'
been In continuous use as an R. A. F
military airport since the war began
The only kind Of bombing the
Germans can still do Is that kind oI
bombing which can be done without
control of the air. bombing at night
In regard to bombing by night thest
facts are pertinent: that anti.
aircraft is ineffective in defense. hit!
very few planes because of the diff
Guilty of aiming at an unseen plan.
in the dark. But the anti-aircraft
is credited with keeping enemy
planes at high altitudes-at least
! of over 4 miles. At lower altitude.
their fire becomes more accurate
and they are apt to be picked up By
the searchlights on the ground
whose lights reach about miles.
Night Bombing Inaccurate.
At 1 or S miles above the grount
over a blacked-o -out country, accuracy
in bombing is extremely dimcult.
1t is made much easier by moon
light. The moonlight reflects or
surface water-lakes, ponds, rivers
and guides the bombing pilots. Tha'
is why unless some way is found t
intercept night bombers damage
from night raiding will always b.
much greater when the moon is full
All you have to do to predict damag.
ing night raids over London in ad.
vance is to consult your almanac (ol
damaging night raids over Ger.
many.
The most exciting and momentou!