Evening star., 1943-11-21
Bombs Over Berlin


The record RAF raid over Berlin
last Thursday night as part of a
sustained air offensive conducted
round the clock" for several consec-
utive days again focuses attention
on the wars aerial phase. Official
sources in London were unusually
communicative over this operation,
described as the greatest armada of
heavy bombers ever dispatched over
Germany and estimated to number
fully 1000.
The raid on Berlin was synchro-
nized with one on Ludwigshafen, an
important industrial and communi-
cations center in Western Germany.
This appears to be new Allied
tactic, simultaneous attacks on wide
ly separated objectives confusing
enemy plans for defensive concen-
trations. AS matter of fact, Ger
man inceptor opposition was mod
crate both at Berlin and Lud-
wigshafen, while heavy clouds
blocked searchlights and hindered
flax direction. For all these reasons,
Raj losses were relatively light.
Only thirty-two bombers were lost
"a gratifyingly small percentage.
The destruction wrought on those
simultaneous raids must have been
tremendous, for London announces
that more than $500 tons of bombs
were unloaded. including a great
number of two and even four ton
block busters. This is the heavi-
est bomb load yet dropped on Ger
many in single nights operations.
The main weight of the attack seems
to have fallen, not on the heart of
Berlin, but on the industrial belt
south of the city. Neutral sources
report intensive damage and con-
fusion, though aerial reconnais-
sance by Allied photographer planes
will be needed to check on the re-
suits.
Aerial warfare is more fluid than
other phases. New types of aircraft,
novel devices and improved tactics
are continually altering the delicate
balance between offense and de-
tense. Last summer sustained
Allied air offensive gained such tre-
mendous momentum that it seemed
to be carrying all before it. City
after city was devastated, the most
sensational success being over the
great port city of Hamburg, which
was almost wholly destroyed. This
raised hopes that Germany might be
knocked out from the air or at least
so shattered industrially and psy-
chologically that a collapse OF it's
ability and will to fight would not
be long delayed. But, months be-
fore, the German high command
had switched production from
bombers to fighter planes, and these
new craft appeared in swarms,
armed with new devices like the
rocket gun and the phosphorus shell
which wrought havoc on the Allied
attackers, especially on daylight
raids.
The latest Berlin raid may be con-
sidered as an experiment to de-
termine whether the operational
radius in large-scale attacks can now
be extended. Berlin lies almost at
the extreme range of effective air
attacks from bases in Britain. If
attacks on the German capital and
metropolis can be kept up without
too much cost and Berlin can be
"Hamburgized," the psychological
as well as the material consequences
may be very great.
The whole problem of aerial war
fare against the Reich is extremely
complex, involving such factors as
weather, temperatures, length of
nights and location of operational
bases. The development of Italian
and Russian fields and especially
the establishment of Shuttle bomb
ings" between them and the British
Isles might transform the entire
tactical picture in remarkably
short time. While wishful thinking
should be discouraged, it seems a
fair assumption that Allied air
strength and initiative continue to
increase, with the balance fitting
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