Evening star., 1940-08-26
New Nazi Technique
OF Raiding Reduces
Losses Of Planes
R. A. F. Unable to Mass
Defenses as Effectively
For Small Groups
By DREW MIDDLETON.

LONDON, Aug. 26.-Three thou
sand German warplaneS, roughly
one-SiXth Of the air forces total
operating strength, have been hurled
into the streamlined aerial offensive
aimed at breaking the Royal Air
Force and the spirit of the British
people, neutral air attaches esti-
mated today.
The new technique Of sending
planes on bold raids Singly or in tWoS
and threeS, instead of the original
plan of mass attacks by scores and
sometimes hundreds of bombers on
a single objective, has been less cost
ly to the Nazi air force, these OBJ
servers declared.
The former tactics enabled the
r. A. F. to concentrate its defenSes,
and a burst from a British fighters
guns fired into the thick of a Nazi
formation was sure to damage, if
not bring down. at least one of what
r. A. F. pilots called sitting birds"
An Air Ministry communique said
54 German planes were shot down
yesterday. Nevertheless Nazi bomb
ers visited London twice and also
raided the south of England, the
industrial Midlands, the northeast
and Scotland.
Property Damage Small.
From personal observation, the
actual damage done in the London
area was small. 1t is more difficult
to calculate the effect loss of sleep
and war nerves" will have on the
people and on industrial produc-
tion after 10 days or two weeks more
of this.
The fires started by Saturday
flights raiders were as spectacular
and did about as much damage as
a three-alarm blaze in an American
city'S financial or commercial dis
trict.
They were curbed swiftly-mainly
because long months of compare
tive peace had enabled the auXil-
iary fire service to learn the best
defense against fires started by in
cendiary bombs.
One fired warehouse, full of in
f1ammable material, was brought
under control in little over an hour.
It's contents undoubtedly are lost,
but, more important to London the
fire was prevented from spreading.
Accuracy May Increase.
One factor which must be conSid-
cred is the probability that German
night bombing will increase in ac-
curacy as the night attacks continue.
Until this month the Germans had
done most of their bombing in the
daytime. 1t is natural for the bonn
bardiers to be inaccurate on their
first. night sortieS.
This accounts for the compara-
lively little damage to military OBJ
jectives, such as airports like Mans
ton. One airfield, which Berlin re-
ported was bombed heavily, still is
being used by a fighter squadron
with little loss of efficiency.
Britons who have been looking for
break in the Luftwaffe's morale
because of its losses of the last three
weekS-the British claim over 300
raiders downed since August g.
may be disappointed. according to
one neutral air attache, who claims
'the Germans don't know anything
about it."
Their bomber crews are assem-
bled at an airdrome to which they
have been brought by train; the pilot
from Hamburg. the bombardier from
Reims, the machine gunner from
Brussels, the navigator from Lille ~
he explained.
NaZi Planes Fly to Norway.
They are given a plane, told
where to go and what to do, and
take off from an airport on the
French coast. When the Job is
done they fly to Norway, landing
among ground crews who don't
know the number of planes which
set out"
The air attache said this "un-
doubtedly hurts the efficiency of the
bomber crew" because it has had
no practice working together or in
operating the plane to which it is
assigned
III Is quite probable very few in
the Luftwaffe know the real ex-
tent of their losses" he said. "be
cause the force is so scattered it
is impossible for the pilots to make
contact with each other or the
ground crews to estimate the extent
of damage"