Evening star., 1941-03-05
Balance Sheet OF Aid
To England Reveals
u. 5. Benefits Most
information Invaluable
To American Defense
Given Since War Began
BY EDGAR ANSEL MOWRER.

peasers and pro-FaSciSts shrek that
the administration is reducing this
country to indigence and impotence
by its wholesale gifts" of war ma
terrell to "imperialistic" Britain, the
facts belle any impression that the
United States is in the position of a
horse being ridden by the British
Empire. For, to date, this country
has probably received greater value
from the British than it has given.
America has turned over a couple
of billion dollars worth of war ma
teriel-some, of it brand new and
first class, made to British specifica-
tions; much of it mediocre, or out
moded; a good deal frankly obso-
lete, like the so old destroyers. Ex-
cept for the destroyers, every single
object has been paid for In full, in
cash.
Most military people in Washing
ton believe that it would have been
to our advantage to have filled
British war orders and dumped our
old stuff upon them if we could,
even had we not desired the British
to win, or received anything like the
prices that we got, since thereby,
Britain paid for the complete mod
ernization of our own war materiel
and the renewal and enlargement Of
OUR armament plants. Hardly q
serious officer in the American Navy
but admits that the right to estab-
lish eight naval and air bases on
British territories adjacent to our
coasts is worth far more-on a cash
and national defense basis-than the
so outmoded destroyers.
Vital Information Received.
But over and above the vast
amounts Of money and the new
bases, we Americans have, since the
beginning of this war, been receiv-
ing regularly from the British in
formation so vital to our national
defense that one American military
observer in London declared it
worth hundreds of millions of dol
1ars"-meaning that its value was
incalculable.
British records, tactics, strategy,
Information, war material, secret
formulae, everything has been made
available to our officers, without
their having to enter the war. And,
in addition to telling us the inside
story of the war, the British have
been showing it to some of us. The
chance for our pilots to test the
finest British aircraft in the sky
over Britain, for our naval officers
to travel the North Sea and Medi-
terranean on British warships, is
unequaled. To learn something of
the same sort German pilots and
officers had to fight and die for Gen.
Franco in the laboratory" that
was the Spanish civil war.
But this favor from the British is
q mere trif1e in relation to the mass
of other benefits they have confer
red upon us. 1t can be said without
contradiction that the British have
turned over to our people every sin
gle bit of military information that
we have requested, Thanks to their
generosity, the American authori-
ties, in the process of enlarging our
Navy and creating our new Army
and air force, are drawing upon
British war experience and informa-
ton, including what the British
learned from the French and the
Germans as well. With this expe-
rience at our disposal, if American
genius does not produce literally the
best in the world in every respect,
we shall have only ourselves to
blame.
All Branches Benefited.
What does such information
amount to? There are scores of
items. and some of them are still
being held secret. Just imagine any,
thing you like connected with the
war, from complete captured Mes
serschmitt airplane, to protective
ointment against poison gas and in
formation concerning the British
communication system.
Every American defense branch
has benefited
Take, for instance, the American
Air Corps. 1t has received from
British Empire sources, in addition
to the captured Messerschmitt,
complete British Spitfire airplane,
one of the finest fighters in the
world. There is a German Benz
motor for our experts to take apart
and examine; complete sets OF
drawings of the Rolls-Royce Merlin
engine, considered by many the
finest in the world, and Sabre
airplane engine. We know all about
all types of British airplane bombs,
have samples and descriptive data of
the non-magnetic armor plate on
their aircraft. We have their bomb
racks. We can, if we will, utilize
their experience in the manufacture
of airplane machine-gun turrets, the
continuous machine-gun mechanism
on the planes, the special equipment
for heating machine guns at high
attitudes, bullet-proof windshield
defrosting devices. We have insight
into the precautions taken to pre-
vent British planes from being shot
down by their own people, and the
system which guides these planes
back to their own fields. Or, II we
choose, we can copy any type of Ger
man bomb that the British have re-
trieved, investigate the quality OF
their bombsights and compare them
with ours.
To demonstrate the quality OF their
anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns,
the British have furnished us with
examples of their most successful
types. Of other types, we are well
come to drawings, photographs,
range tables, data of every kind and
actual specimens of any desired
material.
The British have turned over com
plete information on their fuses and
ammunition, and their highly de-
veloped systems of fire control.
There is nothing in their present
war material or in reports of scien-
tific developments which the British
have withheld from us. From Britain
we received a complete tank OF the
most modern type, with all necessary