Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-09-22

the fawless logic and closely knit
reasoning of Gen. Douhet, predicted
that 70 hours, or such matter,
would see the end of the next
war" They foresaw the mastery
of the air" gained in a few tremen-
dous strokes, bolts from the blue,
followed by the abject surrender Of
panic-stricken and hamstrung
nation.
Limping along the surface Of
Mother Earth beneath the imperi-
GUS roar of this aerial barrage, a
few writer's - contemptuously dis
missed by the winged prophets of
doom as experts of the old school"
have been suggesting from time
to time that the next war might
well discover that air power would
be the more formidable when it
was employed in conjunction with
surface force, as part of the team,
and that alone it was unlikely, be-
cause of the inherent qualities of
Its instrument, the airplane, that
1t could ever gain a decision by
assert that as between opponents
anywhere nearly matched in mi
tial strength and productive ca
pacity, there is no such thing as
mastery of the air" Facts seemed
to support these contentious. But
the Affair enthusiasts have been
prolific in excuses.
China Held No Test.
Chinese cities. almost undefend-
ed by Chinese air forces, were nei-
ther destroyed nor taken by air
attack, but only when the jap
anese infantry fought their way in.
This, said the Affair school. proves
air attacks will be discovered
against q highly organized civiliza-
ton like that of London or Paris.
The basis of Chinese life is too
simple and primitive for air at
tacks to have full effect. The Span
ish civil war-Madrid-Barc
The air forces employed were too
small TOO badly handled: Gen.
Franco did not want to really in
jure Spanish cities. Wait for the
big show.
1t came. Germany moved into
Poland, and the German air force,
superior in numbers about 4 to l
or better and in technique about so
to /, smashed the Polish air force
In 48 hours and thereafter cruised
the air of Poland without let or
hindrance. It contributed enor-
mously to the German victory, and
the underestimation of what it could
do was one of the gravest Polish
errors. Yet it was still the defeat
of the Polish armies in the field
which made the real decision, and
it was the wonderful air-ground CO.
operation of the Germans which
commanded the admiration of the
experts of the old school"
Then followed Russia's assault
upon Finland. According to the best
Affair theories, Finland should have
lasted about day. Its air force
was outnumbered something like
Is to l. But its army, was of far
higher quality proportionately to
the Russian than the Polish Army
was to the German. Finland held
out for months, inflicted severe
losses on its huge opponent, kept
its little force in being right down
to the last day of the war, and
yielded at last only to overwhelm-
ing numbers of men and guns fight
ing on the surface of the earth.
Its stout resistance won a peace
which-while bad enough-was far
indeed from the utter extinction
and slavery of Poland All, well,
said the air experts, what could
you expect from the Russian air
force?
Norway Proved a Point.
The next campaign was that of
Norway. Here was put to the test
point which all observers had been
anxiously examining question
of how far, in coastal and narrow
waters, shore-based aviation might
extend the power of the land over
the sea, and alter the conditions
under which warships had formerly
functioned in such waters. The
power of the airplane under such
circumstances proved, as almost
every one had anticipated, to be
formidable. 1t was also shown that
lacking strong air support, expe-
dictionary forces for landing on a
hostile shore were hardly likely to
succeed, that in fact the establish
ment Of supporting air base within
striking distance of the point of
landing was an absolute prerequis-
lite; and that distance is a great
handicap to effective air operations.
1t was shown that the air force
Is an absolutely essential part of
the team whether in land or sea
operations, and that in either, air
tnferiority is terrible and perhaps
fatal burden. But these sober con-
siderations, when given expression,
seemed highly annoying to the
Affair school, who actually seemed
to think-in total disregard for the
geographical facts-that in this
campaign air power had proven its
ability to conquer sea power, and
that the British fleet was nullified
and neutralized. This is an ex-
cellent example of the frantic en-
deavors which the Affair people
make to draw great conclusions
from small and strictly limited
promises.
Followed the German incursion
into the Low Countries and France.
The Low Countries were simply
overwhelmed by treachery and su-
perior force. France, rotted from
within, chained to a defensive STRAIT
egg and to a defense habit of mind,
almost unarmed in the air, went
down before the German onrush.
Once more the magnificent co-ordi-
nation of all elements of the Ger