Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1943-03-16

Y
sSss'ssssssSsssS - RIA A<S& mightiest bat
Henry McLemore. teries OF anti
| aircraft guns, all of which are
manned by what Americans and
British term postgraduate gun
I ners.
| 1t is there, our flyers insist, the
/ Germans have placed gunners who
/ can bring sparroWs into their sights
/ at 10000 feet. Backing the gun
ners is GOering's pet, hand picked
/ group Of fighter pilots, all flying
/ what many aviation authorities
think are the finest fighter planes
/ in the air today. With tremendous
! speed and ability to operate at
/ great heights, these German pilots
! fly yellow-noSed planes and the
| story goes, and American boys say,
/ these yellow-nosed flyers are the
| fercest and attack with supreme
recklessness. often actually diving
through a tight formation Of Fort
resSes, all guns going.
Initiate Allied Planes.
Some of them try to initiate Spit
fires and Hurricanes in flight in
order TO deceive American gunners
and get in close for burst of their
cannons. The most recogniza BILE
thing about Spitfire is its odd
shaped wing, which British pilots
often tip to American flyers so they
can recognize them The Germans
now tip their wings in the same
way.
This explanation is just to prove
what our boys go through every
day now in order to get back at
them. Soon after the flight over
st. Nazaire they were in the mess
hall still in the suits they wore
over France and they were tearing
into Irish stew with as much noise
is their planes make They were
talking about the trip. They were
all talking about the same thing,
namely, how great it would be If
they had more bombers. if only
they could blast the enemy with
two, three or four times the number
of ships now available.
Seek Better Results.
This is their explanation OF the
great need for more bombers. No
matter how many bombers go on a
daylight raid, be it 1 bomber or 100,
they get the same amount of anti
aircraft fire and the same number
Of fighters. With tremendous num-
bers they would not only be able to
plaster the target with more bombs
but they would be able to dispense
the fighters and flax.
He'll said a squadron leader,
IF We had hundreds of thousands
Of bombers the Germans would be
helpless. They couldn't even come
close to stopping us. Even as it is,
We have comparatively few losses
and belt the daylights out of the
target. But how much better it
NoolNt oC IL VIC NOulu nave 50 IIldIY
bombers that the fighters would not
be able to concentrate in great num-
bers on one squadron or one ship
and the anti-aircraft guns would
not be able to cover the whole sky
when we came in
Going Gets Tough.
The Fortress can take care Of
one, two, three, four or even five,
six or seven enemy fighters. It's
toughness and fre-power are cap
able of that. But, when, because Of
small numbers the enemy is able to
attack with as many as 20 or 30
fighters, the going gets tough. The
American fighters are not thinking
of their own safety when they ex-
press the wish for more bombers,
OF course, their chances for re-
turning safely are in direct ratio
to the number that go over, but they
don't consider that. Their chief aim
is not personal safety but the ability
to obllterate the target assigned and
get back in order to make further
missions against the enemy.
Our American bombers have the
toughest assignment in the world.
There is nothing as mean as a dav-
light raid. In theatrical hit now
running in London, called Flare
Path, which deals with Raj bomb
ing missions, one of the characters
says he is just as glad the Ameri-
cans got the daylight missions, in
dicating there is nothing tougher
on earth.
If there is any way to get more
bombers to those boys, please try to
see that it is done. They are doing
tremendous job with only half
enough planes. Give them a fair
shake and they will see to it that
not only stars but the Stars and
Stripes fall over the enemy.
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