Evening star., 1942-09-07


cessful without dive bombers and
parachute troops. This was three
years after Hitler's Stukas blasted
Poland Lack of dive bombers is re-
garded as having been leading fac
tor in British reverses in North
Africa. In their attitude towards
this weapon, United States Army
aviation chiefs appear to have fol-
lowed the Royal Air Force, which
has held the Stukas in contempt
since their sorry showing in the
Battle of Britain, on a mission for
which they were never intended.
The dive bomber was invented
soon after World War I by Glenn L.
Martin. 1t was tried out and re-
jected by the Navy. But the Navy
officially adopted the dive bomber in
1885. 1t appears to have been men,
toned for the first time in War
Department release on July 20, 194l.
announcing the creation of an Air
Support Command. For the ma
neuvers of September, 1941, the
Army was compelled to borrow six
Give bombers from the Navy. The
Arrny's own dive bomber, authorized
not long ago. is adapted from the
Navy's Douglas SID Dauntless, used
by the marines in their attack on
the Solomons. 1t is significant that
this action was no raid. as at Dieppe,
but a conquest The DauntleSs is to
be supplanted by the Curtiss SB2C
Helldiver, a carrier and catapult
plane, now going into production.
The first military parachute leap
in history occurred at Chanute Field,
H.. in April, 1923, when 10 officers
and men executed a successful mass
| jump" The Army decided not to
proceed with the tactic, which was
adopted with enthusiasm by the
Germans and Russians. The pioneer
American parachute battalion of 500
men was organized in 1910 at Fort
Benning, Ga. In May, 1941, occur
red the conquest of Crete, the first
instance of occupation of territory
from the air. The Armys answer, a
month later was an increase of its
one parachute battalion to four.
One such battalion was used for
| the first time in American military
maneuvers during last autumn. The
following dates are Illuminating
September 18, 1941, the War De-
partment authorized its first battal-
ion of air-borne troops; July l,
1912, Gen Arnold announced the
pioneer American Troop Carrier
Command, to include gliders, trans
port planes and air-borne combat
troops July 81, 1912, the first glider
program was authorized for want
of gliders, 1t has been necessary to
train some pilots with dead stick
landings in power planes; August
6, 1912, the War Department an
nounced the authorization of its
first air-borne divisions, with the
s2d Infantry Division as parent unit
Great Transport System.
Since Pearl Harbor, the Army and
Navy have set up a globe-circline
air transport system unparalleled
in history, with cargoes aggregatine
hundreds Of thousands of tons. But
President Roosevelts original pro-
gram Of $4,000 military planes called
for only per cent in transports. I,
was not until last August 10 that
the Army and Navy announced
plans under which 80 per cent ol
all multi-engine planes will some
day be cargo and troop ships.
1t is clear that the present ali
transport system was made possible
chiefly by communicating CONNER
cial fleets and wasteful use O.
Army and Navy heavy and medium
bombers, sorely needed on the battle
front. The Navy's Consolidated
Coronados and two-engine Catalina
have been serving as sky freighter'
for months, in large numbers, owe
the Pacific and Atlantic; and Gen
Arnold is witness that for yea
"the backbone of the Atlantic ferr!
service" has been the Consolidated
B-24. A huge program Of militar.
transport planes is now well undel
way, but will not become fully ef
fective before the end of this year
A charge brought against Amer
lean war aviation as a whole, from
heavy bombers to smallest fighters
is that 1t is permeated Throughout
by the defense thesis, sometime
known as "Maginot Line mentality,
to an extreme unknown in any othe'
country. The Lightning and Thun
derbolt weigh twice or two and j,
half times as much as any recorded
pursuits, and no slight part Of th'
added weight is devoted to armol
and structural toughness. Innum.
erable dispatches have told of bomb
ers and fighters which were riddlee
with bullets and shells and never
theless returned to their bases. Or
else they rammed enemy ships anc
clipped off wings or tails without
damage to themselves.
A Messerschmitt ITO which thu
British recovered intact last veal
and sent to this country for study
was found to have little defensive
protection. The first Zeros were {
complete tactical surprise to Amer
leans. Beyond any other planes ir
history they embodied the pure Of
fensive. They were stripped O.
every ounce of protective weight. in.
Guiding armor and parachutes. Boti
the German and Japanese com
mands regard as stimulus to pilot.
the knowledge that life and deatf
depend solely on their daring ane
skill. Both look upon planes ane
airmen as expendable material.
Zeros 'Toughened Up
That the second Zeros have beer
greatly "toughened up" is though
to argue no sudden concern on the
part of Toxic for the safety of it:
pilots. The Mitsubishi-00 was Sc
light as to provide only filmsy gun.
platform, with result that its tive
20-mm. cannon and two light ma.
chine guns were out-shot and out.
ranged by the P-40C Tomahawk!
50-caliber weapons. Moreover, wher
the first Zeros attempted steep dive
which it was favorite American
; strategem to lure them into doing
their fragile wings were as likely a.
not to fold up.
The American theory is that th'
lives of pilots, gunnerS, navigator