Evening star., 1943-10-14

several NlOlllIlS David Lawrence.
1t has been an open secret that our
Navy men wondered why the Royal
Air Force did not bomb the German
war ships lying in Norwegian wat
ers. With all the talk about the
usefulness of air power. it was be-
lieved that no more strategic target
was available for air bombardment
which could affect the plans of both
the British and American navies.
1t is conceivable that American Of
flclals even prodded their London
friends in the Admiralty about it,
But nothing happened. One reason
may have been the fact that in
Britain the air force is independent
of the Navy and can select its own
targets-something that has been
little understood by the advocates
of separate air force for America.
1t finally was not the Royal Air
Force which crippled the Tirpitz
but the British Navy, which used
the most hazardous method imagin-
able-an attack by what were vir-
tually suicide crews in midget sub
marines. Reports indicate the at
tack was successful in inflicting
such extensive damage as to render
the Tirpitz harmless to Atlantic
traffic for many months to come.
The British Navy as we'll as the
American Navy has been keeping
certain groups of warships tied up
In the Atlantic with patrol duties,
fearful of the emergence of the Tir-
pitt. This situation can be relieved
now and the relief comes at a time
when more and more British and
American naval vessels are needed
for the operations in the Bay Of
Bengal against Burma and for ac-
ton against the japanese islands in
the Central Pacific.
Balanced Perspective.
Incidentally, the perspective of
all nations is beginning to be better
balanced as between air power and
sea power and land power. Thought
full supporters of each service never
claimed for any one instrument of
warfare complete independence of
any other but a substantial inter-
dependence. The extremists did.
Air power, of course, has had hard
shedding against traditional points
of view, but air power today has
gained its rightful place. What is
unfortunate, however. is that both
sea and land power have failed to
be given the credit they each de-
serve.
Thus. the world has not been told
officially as yet that it was sea
power which saved the dav at
Salerno in an engagement which,
II lost, might have turned our for
tunes entirely the other way in
Italy. On the beaches at Salerno.
It was the guns from the naval
vessels which covered the landings
and kept the Germans from driving
our men back into the sea. This
is not to say that some air power
was not present. But the land
based planes were out of range due
to the fact we had not yet put into
shape our bases near enough to
help the ground operations. There
was a certain amount OF air cover
from British aircraft carrierS-that
Is, naval aviators-but the absence
Of dive bombers was definite
weakness. Neither the Army nor
the Royal Air Force have gone in
for dive bombers. Only the Ameri-
can Navy and Marine Corps have
developed proficiency in and believe
in dive bombers as weapon for
landing operations.
Navies Too Modest.
There were no dive bombers at
salerno to clean out machine-gun
nests and the artillery of the enemy.
The American Marines, which have
special units trained in dive bomb
Ing, have not been used in the
Mediterranean due doubtless to the
desire to permit the Marines to
concentrate their organization on
the Pacific war.
Such units of the American NAVY
as participated in the battle of
Salerno gave a remarkable demon
stration Of amphibious warfare
along with the British. The new
landing barges from which tanks
roll off directly to the beaches and
the many other types of landing
vessels now used in amphibious
warfare did Job at Salerno which
has not been fully told. The British
and American navies have been too
modest about 1t. The American YES
sells, largely manned by naval re-
serves, now have performed three
times IN succession this new type
OF landing operation-in North
Africa last November, in Sicily and
at Salerno in recent weeks. It
must not be forgotten, of course,
that air power secured nearly 100
per cent mastery Of the air over
Italy as against German planes be-
fore the landing operations started.
Again, there should be no over
emphasis on any one branch of the
service. All services are being
synchronized with each other under
unified commands. AS for British
and American cooperation in these
amphibious operations, nothing like
It's intimacy and efficiency has ever
been witnessed before among
allies.
Reproduction Rights Reseryed)
BUICK s,{c,a1 :,s ia -,