Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1943-08-15
War Today
' r+-.~e'-r-
Waning Daylight
Causing Plenty Of
Worry in Berlin
Bv CLARK II. WOODWARD
Rear Admiral, L. :, Navy

in limiting that Berln "OuIu
soon become the target for
heavy aerial assaults-such as
those which recently reduced
Hamburg 10 ghost CITY
an Raj commentator suggested
last week that BerlineTS must
be watching the daily Tour,
minute shrink8ge Of daylight
with much apprehension.
Within "a hours Or Goeboels
candidlv and gloomily warned
the people Of what might come
and ordered evacuation from
Berlin Of all noneSSenual pei
sons. This not only implies
that air attacks are expected IN
the near future but-more sig
nificantly- is q signal comics
sion Of II anility 10 defend the
capita which Goering promised
woula be immune from bombing
attacks.
1t is not surprising, then, that
following a shower or leaflets
dropped by RAF), warning that
Berlin faced the same fate as
Hamburg. state Of panic
ensue1 which resulted in a
'.nnass stampede from the city
because of the fear of Allied air
understanding TO reports.
The virtual destruction or
MISUNDERSTANDING Sc on d
Z CITY and largest port-was
bound TO shake the people
throughout the nation, partcu-
larly as they know also what
has happened 10 Cologne, Essen,
Dortmund Dusseldorf and
many other cities of the Reich.
IN CONSEQUENCE. the peo-
pie OF Germany seem 10 be con-
WINGED that the Allies can de-
stroy one city after another
with decreasing resistance from
Nazi defenders. Fear OF what is
to come has thus become an
Allied secret" weapon.
Berlin unquestionably ranks
as number one on the list OF
Allied targets. Being both the
seat OF government and a most
important industrial center. a
sustained drubbing of that city
by devastating air lombard
rf1ents would have a tremendous
effect on the morale Of the en-
tire nation.
with intensified bombings OF
Germany's most important cities
and with no NaZi victories on
other fronts TO offset the re-
sulting devastation, il Is ques-
tionable as TO how long the
people will be able TO stand the
strain of round-the-clock bomb
ing.
or some 30 or more OF Ger
manys most important indus
trial cities at least IS have been
bonnie d frequently-some as
many as so 10 more than 100
times. Unquestionably they
will be visited many more times
in the future.
THESE SPECIFIC targets
were not selected on account Of
their size or population, but
principally due 10 their impor-
arce in the transportation sys-
TEN. or because of their ship
building plants, aircraft fac
tories. steel works. or as pro-
ducers OF other vital war ma
terials.
In Berlin. for example, there
Is n tremendous concentration Of
industry including aircraft
plants, gun factories. machinery
and armament plants and chem
ical works. In addition, the cap
ital city Is the hub OF many
railway lines and second only TO
Duisburg as an inland port.
Hamburg. which has just been
destroyed, had among other in
dustries six aircraft plants and
six shipbuilding plants.
Essen is noted for its seven
armament plants. Cologne is
one Of the most important trans
port centers i'm the entire Reich.
Duisburg. situated at the con-
fluence Of the Rhine and Ruhr
rivers, is probably the greatest
inland waterway harbOr in the
world. II has eight large steel
works and nine important chem
ical plants
Breslau is the chief industrial
center Of the eastern Germany
and an important transportation
center. II has 10 machinery and
armament plants. Dusseldorf is
a most important industrial city
with exceptionally fine trans
portation facilities trail and
wAterl.
Dortmund is one OF the buSi-
est Of German cities Nurnbefg
is outstanding as an armament
center having II plants.
Stuttgart is extremely impor-
tant because Of four aircraft
engine factories and IS machin-
cry plants Bremen is noted for
its shipyards and aircraft fac
tories.
THE ALLIED bombing pat
tern seems 20 concentrate on
Germany most vital cities one
by one. blasting each with re-
peatcd raids until All its war in