Evening star., 1940-08-16
FutefuI Air Bottle

Inc increasing severity OF the
German air siege of England-a
siege which yesterday brought more
than a thousand death-dealing
fighter and bombing planes against
the heart of the British Empire
leaves little doubt that valiant
Britain is face to face with the su-
preme test in this war-to-the-d death
between totalitarianiSm and the last
European stronghold of democracy.
Whether this greatest of air assaults
Is the prelude to a co-ordinated in
vaSion attempt by sea and air or is
the long-eXpected invasion itself,
confined largely to aerial warfare of
hitherto unknown frightfulness, is a
matter for speculation by military
experts. So far, there have been no
indications of any move to land
troops by sea or air, although there
have been reports of few Nazi
parachutes found. at inland points.
Perhaps Herr Hitler hopes so to
crush British resistance by inceSSant
aerial. bombardment as to force
capitulation without necessity of a
large-scale attack by boat. His
bombers are concentrating on naval
and air bases, on ports on shipping,
on anti-aircraft batteries, on balloon
barrages, on factories and on other
military and naval resources, upon
which Britain must depend for sue
cessful resistance If these objectives
can be reduced by air to degree
which will render England practi-
cally impotent against invasion by
air or sea, Hitler would be in a
position to make another of his
famous peace offers'-the terms to
be dictated by him, of course. Some
authorities believe that such an offer
will be made before an all out"
invasion by water and air will Sbe
launched. Others hold that the
present aerial onslaught will con-
tinue with mounting ferocity until
Zero hour" when a concerted attack
by bombers, torpedo boats, transports
and parachutists will be loosed with
q fury unprecedented in warfare.
But so far the British have demon
strated a magnificent capacity to
resist the mightiest of the waves of
bombers and fighters from across the
Channel. Although sadly outnum-
bered, the Royal Air Force is display
ing a quality of fighting prowess that
is taking a heavy toll of the enemy.
The Germans themselves admit that
they encountered an iron curtain"
More than that, British flyers are
not yetso hard-pressed that they do
not find time to carry the fight to
enemy soil-even as far away as
Italy. And British morale remains
unshaken, according to latest reports
from the stricken area. One evi-
dence of this was the humorous
taunt aimed by Londons Club st.
James at Nazi predictions that Hitler
would be in the British capital by
August 15 Two vacant seats were
left at tea staged by the club yes
terday-one for Hitler and one for
Mussolini. Undoubtedly it is true
that Hitler's program for invading
England is behind schedule. The
delay probably has benefited the
British more than the Germans, for
they have been speeding production
of warplanes, tightening defenses
and perfecting plans for defeating
the attacker Hitler's forces, too,
have been making preparations
but every days delay has brought
them closer and closer to the period
of stormy weather and treacherous
seas that September usually brings
to the English Channel. 1t is clear
that Hitler must act quickly and
decisively now if he is to achieve his
supreme ambition of beating Britain
into submission in this epochal year
OF Nazi conquest.