Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-09-25
Flying Fortresses

way looking toward the sale to Great
Britain of a number of this COun-
try's flying fortresses, famous long
range bombardment airplanes, which
would be of great value to the British
In reaching important German and
Italian military establishments be-
yond the present range of the Royal
Air Force bombers.
AS yet, no formal request for any
of these planes has come from the
British government, but in unoff1-
cial circles soundings are being made
to ascertain the American attitude
toward the transfer of about twenty
five Of the big bombers. If and
when a final decision is made, it will
be helpful if the matter has received
some study, and this preliminary
consideration should be directed to
the primary question of whether,
taking the long view, our own ma
tional safety would be best served by
sending some Of these planes to Eng
land or by keeping them all at home.
The Army has on hand today some
ffty-two of these giant foUr-engined
air craft. Twelve of newer design
are ready for delivery, and by the end
of the year it is expected that sixty
eight more of greatly improved speed
and fighting qualities will have been
delivered. With present facilities,
we are building about ninety a
year. These ships were designed for
defense purposes in the Western
Hemisphere, their theoretical func-
tons being to meet and destroy any
possible enemy in the Atlantic while
he is still far at sea, or to prevent
any aggressor from establishing a
foothold anywhere in this hemi-
sphere. Admittedly these are vital
functions, the sole question being
how we can best insure their sue
cessful execution.
One course would be to keep at
home all of these planes we now have
and to accumulate as many more as
our production facilities permit. The
other is to permit an effective num-
Der of them to be used at this time
against our potential enemies, while
bending every effort toward increas-
ing our production capacity. 1t must
be recognized that either of these
courses involves risk; the question
for us to determine being which in
wolves the smaller risk, or, to put it
another way, which offers the
greater security.
The first course is rooted in
philosophy, or fear, which has been
largely responsible for Hitler's sue
cesses. At no time did the countries
he has destroyed ever effectively
combine against him. AS one victim
was assaulted the next in turn hoped
that 1t, somehow, would escape, and,
on the chance that escape should
prove impossible, meanwhile con-
served it's own strength to await the
aggressor's blow. In this fashion
half a dozen nations, successfully
and individually, have fallen before
the Nazi legions. Really united, they
might have survived, but they pre-
ferred what they thought was the
smaller risk of trying to avoid joint
action while preparing to fight alone
should necessity arise. Nor need we
deceive ourselves as to the reason
for the violence Of the present at
tack on Britain; Hitler hopes to de-
stroy that stronghold before Ameri-
can help in the form of new planes
and other weapons can be obtained
by the British in important quanti-
ties.
We must consider, then, whether 1t
serves our real interests to keep the
flying fortresses at home, growing
older and more nearly obsolete each
month, or to send them now to the
British for use in combat.
Germany is engaged in transfer
ring many Of her vital arms and
munitions works from the heavily
bombed Ruhr Valley to points in
Austria and Poland beyond the reach
of any bombers the British now
possess. But the new locations are
easily within the range of the flying
fortresses.
Certainly, If the R. A. F., using the
flying fortresses, were enabled to
reach and destroy these newly To-
Gated war industries, and thereby
win the war for Britain, there could
be no doubt that we would be serving
our own interests by making them
available for that purpose. If the
British win the war, the threat to
us would be automatically removed.
But even If our worst fears should
be realized in the form of an ultimate
British defeat, there still remains
the chance of securing an advantage
which tits the scales in favor of
selling the big bombers to Britain.
Whatever the final outcome of the
war, it is certain that these planes