Evening star., 1943-09-05
Air Blows on Reich
Have Plane Priority,
Gen. Arnold Says
BY ths6~nciated Press


LONDON. Sept. 4.-The Ameri-
can daylight bombing campaign
against Germany now has No. /
priority on United States heavy
bomber production, Gen. Henry H
Arnold, chief of Army Air Forces,
declared today, and it will be inten-
sified ''in the near future" with far
bigger bombers able to operate in
less favorable weather than Flying
Fortresses.
Gen. Arnold said he thought the
Allied bombing eventually would
bring a simultaneous collapse of
German war industry and morale.
The air chief wrapped up all
questions about the effectiveness of
the campaign with q statement to
a press conference that:
"If the Germans don't stop our
fAllied) bombers, they won't have
any air force left, and without any
cir force they won't be able to con-
tinue the war-the same thing will
happen to them as in North Africa
and Sicily
He concurred that the Nazis ap-
peared to be making little progress
in stopping the bonbers so far.
Bigger Bombers Coming.
The new bombers are those which
Gen. Arnold described generally in
q recent service magazine article
larger, with more than twice the
bomb load of a fortress and with
heavier guns and longer range.
He added in response to a oues-
tion thas it was hoped the new
bomber would be equipped with
"gadgets" and instruments. 80 we
won't have to keep so many heavy
bombers on the ground because of
weather.
He declared that I'VE are progress
Ing with the development of planes,
crews and technique for the British
based Tactical Air Force"
When the time comes for the
continental INVASION" he said, I'VE
will do what the Tactical Air Force
IN Northwest Africa did so bril-
liantly in Tunisia and Sicily and
now is doing in Italy"
A second front" for the Russians
actually has been effectuated by
the 8th Air Force, Gen. Arnold said
Bombing Aids Russia.
Even on the Russian front in
directly Hitler has been hurt by
American boinbers in Britain.
The Luftwaffe has had to pull
away more of its first-line planes
essential for any offensive the Nazis
might have planned against the
Red Army this summer-they've
pulled those planes away from the
Russian front and sent them west
to try to stop the ever more deeply
penetrating Fortress raids against
vital industrial targets.
e@l Properly the Russians have asked
their partners to lift some of the
pressure off them-well, the 9th Air
Force has certainly helped.
The hundreds of German fighters
our forts have destroyed on the
western front are fighters that will
never stop Russian bombers or strafe
Russian troops"
He disclosed that a big part of
the bomber force which raided the
Ploseti oil fields, Rome and Weiner
Neustadt, near Vienna, were from
the 9th Air Force in Britain-three-
flfths of the attacking force against
Ploesti.
Planes Were Liberators.
They were trained here and the
mission was planned here" Gen.
Arnold said. He disclosed that the
planes were Liberators which flew
with Fortresses here last fall, spent
three months rsiding Italy from
North Africa last winter. returned
here for more raids on northwest
ern Europe and then "sneaked" back
to Africa again a few months ago
The group is led by Col. Edward
T1mberlake of San Antonio, Tex.
he also confirmed that sizeable
part OF the original American North
African Tactical Force was made
up OF planes drawn from here last
fall-hundreds of P-38 Lightnings
and P-39 Airacobras.
In answer to the perennial queries
about (which is the best fighter
plane" Gen. Arnold said he was
sure that for escorting bombers the
PAT Thunderbolt was better than
the Spitflre because of its longer
range and that the Lightning runs
1t a close second"
So far we are on schedule" he
said, in the time table of victory
first supremacy in the air and then
crushing invasion by land and by
sea-"