Evening star., 1943-07-04
Observers Doubt That Bombing
Alone Can Bring Axis Defeat
By Paul Gkali

oWVtb
shelter, then the German home front
would probably collapse.
theoretically. such arguments are
hard to refute. But to put them to
test. not one but so or 90 important Ger
man and Italian centers would have to
be bombed nightly, regardless Of tho
cost in Allied planes and crews.
Airfields Too Distant.
Is this feasible in the present circum-
stances? Military experts here say no
not 20 long as airdromes Of departure
are 50 far distant from targets as they
are today. It is possible that when half
OF this continent Is occupied by the
Allies, the death blow to NaA Germany
could be dealt from the air by bombers
with fighter escorts taking of from
continental airdromes. But then the
war will be approaching its end, any,
way.
To evaluate the havoc bombing has
wrought in terms Of figures is one OF
the hardest jobs with which military
expert can be confronted. The few
travellers arriving from Germany, even
II they are technicians. only bring frag-
mentary stories. Air pictures to be cor
rectly interpreted must be read prefer.
ably by some one who knows the hit
factory they depict and can estimate the
amount Of damage done to its machin-
cry. Even 50, 1t is often impossible
by studying the picture to be quite sure
that beneath the debris comparatively
intact machinery does not still exist
The best military experts here esti-
mate that as result Of Allied bombings
to date, Ruhr production has sunk Is
per cent. They say that this figure is
II anything, conservative. For the
whole Of Germany, this means pro.
duction decline of 8 per cent.
Fifty per cent Of the whole German
railroad system is concentrated in
Western Germany. Initially, Royal Air
Force pilots contented themselves with
the bombing of railroad lines and
bridges but it was soon discovered that
German efficiency could repair the lines
within "a hours and that temporary
bridges could be built by the Todt ex-
perts in a maximum OF two days. To
meet air attacks on their railroads, the
Nazis have organized flying repair
squads.
Recent bombings. therefore. have been
concentrated on railway workshops and
locomotives. In Cologne, Dusseldorf.
Oberhausen and Krefeld-au key centers
OF Germanys western railroad system
workshops have been successfully bomb
ed. Now all serious repairs to locomotives
and freight cars must be effected in
towns In Central Germany some 100
miles east Of the Rhineland with con.
sequent loss Of time.
Many Locomotives Wrecked.
Equally Gripping to German economy
has been the destruction in the month
Of May Of SO locomotives. The loss Of so
locomotives means that 1000 German
freight cars capable OF transporting
10000 tons Of merchandise have nothing
to pull them. AS a consequence Of the
Allied concentrated blows against Ger
man railroads and engines, 1t is estimated
by experts here that the efficiency of the
transport system In Western and North
ern Germany has been reduced by ap-
proximately 40 per cent.
BY attacking the Reich's railroad
system the Allies have indirectly affected
German production in factories far dis
tant from the Ruhr. Thus. 1t is esti-
mated that the monthly production Of
the important Siemens armaments works
near Berlin has sunk Is per cent owing
to lack OF raw materials and another 10
per cent due to delays in the arrival Of
mass-produced machine parts.
Another incidental, but extremely
serious problem facing the Nazis as
result Of Allied bombings Is the housing
Of roof1ess evacuees.
Bombings have also seriously impaired
the efficiency Of workers, who suffer from
lack of sleep. nervous fatigue and moral
depression. Most reliable observers here
believe that the avrage daily output per
man In the Ruhr coal mines, which can
not be touched from the air, has fallen
Is per cent during the past year.
This brief and necessarily incomplete
picture OF some of the effects OF Allied
bombings should not, however, be inter-
preted as meaning that the German
production machine is rapidly reaching
the point where it will have to stop.
There are several factors which destroy
this illusion. The first is, the Nazis are
extremely quick in repairing damage or
having others do so. Essen has been
bombed 56 times to date without being
knocked out. In France, the Renault
works. bombed heavily in April, 1912,
were entirely rebuilt two months later.
AS for lie Cruesot, attacked last October.
it was flourishing again when Allied
planes visited it anew last Saturday
night.
The second factor is that the Nads
have transferred 80 per cent Of the Rhur
factories to the east and reconstructed
another 10 per cent underground with
the result that approximately 40 per cent
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