Evening star., 1942-06-01
Cologne
Continued From First Page.)

was proof OF the growing power
of the British bomber forces" and
also "a herald of what Germany
will receive, city by city, from
now on.
The British radio told the Ger
man people it was but "the first
step" and reminded them that "the
Yanks are coming" to add their
might to Britain's bombing strength.
That the Yanks may be coming
very soon was suggested in an ex-
change of messages between 1t.
Gen. Henry H. Arnold, chief of the
United States Air Forces, and the
r. A. F.'s bomber commander in
chief, Air Marshal A. T. Harris.
Although Britain's huge bombers
stayed home last night, informed
sources said they were held back
solely by bad weather over the con-
tinent. Despite the scale of the
Cologne raid, they said, the bomber
command was set to attack again
had the weather been favorable.
(The Germans said single" British
planes were over Germany, presum-
ably scouting.
United States Officers Observe.
Some United States air officers
few as observers in the raid but air
sources emphasized that the ac-
complishment, which the Air Minis
try called highly successful" was
the work of British forces alone.
Joined by American planes, they
said, Allied air fleets may deliver
blows three times as great.
Well-informed experts agreed that
a succession of such raids, increas-
ing in scale as United States air
forces become available, might bring
Germany to her knees by autumn.
This echoed a recent contention
of Air Marshal Harris that 'if I
could send 1000 bombers over Ger
many every night it would end the
war by autumn"
Marshal Harris sent his flyers off
with the admonition to press home
your attack on this nights objective
with the utmost determination and
resolution in the full knowledge that
if you individually succeed, the most
shattering and devastating blow
will have been delivered against the
very vitals of the enemy"
Would Facilitate Invasion.
Once the task of smashing Ger
man industry had been achieved,
the air experts predicted, it would
be relatively easy for Allied armies
to invade the continent.
THE German army would be
short of all types of equipment and
its troops shaken by steady attacks
on their homes" one commentator
observed.
Sooner or later, German indus
trial workers, especially those con-
scripted from Allied countries, would
rebel"
These sources said the R. A. r.
aim probably would be at an aver
age of 1000 planes on each night of
attack but that it would be neces-
sary, at times, to send over 5000
bombers-all great, four-engined
weight-carriers.
Such force could drop 10000, 900
pounds of high explosive and in
cendiary bombs. Some of the R. A.
F.'s biggest, newest four r-engined
bombers each bear a greater load
than a whole squadron of the
smaller Blenheims.
Will Try to Erase Cities.
Some British air authorities have
contended that bombing alone is
insufficient to win the war; but
there is reason to believe that the
government and the air council
have chosen it as the best method
of Furnishing the Germans until
ships are available to transport an
Allied expeditionary force to the
continent.
Aviation sources said future oper-
ations probably would try to erase
cities as YET undamaged by the r.
A. F., as well as to complete the
destruction of such already-bat-
tered centers as Kiel, Mannheim
and Muenster.
Listed by them as targets for the
future were Vienna, Chemnitz,
Graz, Erfurt, Linz, Hindenburg,
Gleitwitz and others-all industrial
centers scattered across greater
Germany from Upper Silesia to
Austria.