Evening star., 1944-07-04
Jap Air Force Faces
Fate Of Luitwafe,
Gen. Arnold Asserts
By NELSON M. SHEPARD.

VCII. AIjlVIu H99cIN
by NELSON M. SHEPARD.
The present helpless condition OF
the once vaunted German Luft-
waf3e is due to vanishing aircraft
production and drastic fuel ration
ing, Gen. Henry H. Arnold asserted
late yesterday. adding the same
fate is In store for the Japanese
air force rs we penetrate the Pacific
inner defenses.
While Japan now Is able to 'Iay
low" for short periods and recuper-
ate Its aerial combat losses, the
Army Air Forces chief warned that
strategic bombing Of supporting in
duAtry will duplicate what has been
done in Germany.
Time will come" he told q press
conference. when we'll attack the
Japanese inside their inner defenses
and they will lose the production
battle and that means the fnal
battle.
Then they. too, will have to send
their planes out to meet us. That
is exactly what we want. We forced
the Germans to do this and the
results are obvious enough today"
Discusses LuftwafYe Failure.
Gen. Arnold's reasons for the
desperate plight of the German air
force against Allied air mastery over
Europe, apparently served as COM
plete answer to all the disputed
questions centered on the Luft-
watfe's failure or inability to op-
pose the concentrated Normandy
invasion forces That was the pic
ture of an aviaEor's dream target"
he said.
He stressed these two chief rea-
sons:
Allied bombing has cut Ger
man gasoline production to about 80
per cent of normal production,
forcing the enemy to ration insuf1i-
cient fuel supplies.
German aircraft production, as q
result of bombing of factories in
Germany and in occupied territory,
has been reduced to about one-
third OF planned production.
Many Missions Unopposed.
Because Of these two factors, Gen.
Arnold said. many bombing mis-
Sions against Germany are unop-
posed by enemy fighters.
Even critical targets in the heart
OF Germany, he added, are defended
by not more than 100 fighters, COM
pared with previous opposition from
as many as 600
Yet he warned that Allied plane
losses from antiaircraft fire is still
heavy and despite our air superior
itv, there is rough shedding ahead,
with fair number of German fight-
ers encountered from time to time"
Gen. Arnold, who had accom-
panied Gen. George c. Marshall,
Army chief of staff, on his recent
visit to Normandy and Italy, gave
his impressions of the German and
Japanese air forces during a TO
minute discussion that ranged far
and wide.
OToatcSt target MlSSS0.
The Luftwaffe's weakness was
demonstrated, he declared, by the
fact that it chose to ignore the
greatest target in aviation history"
the naval concentration in the
Channel and subsequent congestion
Of men and supplies on beschheads.
Asked whether he considered the
destruction of aircraft factories or
of refineries the more important in
the effect on the Nazi military ma
chine. he pointed out that destruc-
ton OF plane factories affected only
the enemy air force. whereas the
oil supply affects everything that
moves on wheels"
I'VE now believe German con-
sumption of gasoline is far in excess
Of her current production" Gen.
Arnold added She's using her re-
serves and will soon be in bad
way"
Sums Up Luftwaffe Condition.
Gen. Arnold summed up his be-
lief about the condition of the Luft-
waite in these words:
The German air force is now
faced with a dangerous and an all
important decision. Will they fight
against our heavy bombers, knowing
full we'll they'll be blasted out of
the skies with heavy casualties, or
will they let us go in unopposed to
capture what We will? Either de-
cision leads to disaster.
"Or will they hold the remnants
of their air force for future emer-
gency use, even though it is being
whitfield down bit by bit every day?"
he continued. "Or are they just
mainting a skeleton force of their
air force in Germany to bolster the
morale of the people in the home
land? German morale certainly
must be affected by the sight of
thousands of enemy aircraft attack
ing them day after day"
Gen. Arnold disclosed for the first
time the extent of the damage
caused by the last air raid on Ber-
lin-June 2l We put 1000 planes
in the sky and the amount of their
destruction topped any previous
demolition records" he said. I'VE
really messed up the city badly"
Factories heretofore unhit were
bombed; three railroad stations were
hit as well as several important gov
ernment buildings. Berlin today is
pretty well destroyed" he added
mo less than 4G to so per cent of
the central portion is a mass of
ruins. 1t was a clear day and we
were able to spot our exact destruc-
ton efforts"
Discusses Robot Bomb.
Gen. Arnold did not shrug off the
German pilotless planes or bombs
but he made it clear that the Army
Air Forces, after years of expert
mentation, had chosen precision
bombing in preference
The Germans, however, without
control of the air, use the flying
bomb as a next-best procedure to a
depleted Luftwaffe," he reminded
LAS long as we have large preci-
sion bombing force we don't need