Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1945-10-11
PAUL
N1ALLON
Behind
The News

WASHINGTON, Oct. lO-The
w official story of how We
won the war. out today IN the
form of Gen. MarShall'S report
VIII light sparks of indignation
within his war department
sparks yet invisible 10 the pub
lie perhaps but likely TO spread
TO cleansing proportions. (Flre
cleans Welll
You may see plainly behind
this report the whole trouble
with that greatest branch of
Government greatest men
and money. If YOU can read
between the lines with a studied
eve YOU can also see why the
Joint chiefs of staff hid since
April the demand OF fighting
generals for a single defense
department.
The Marshall report simply
negiects 10 notice the part the
air corps played-the decisive
part, which an outsider may
discern with the naked eye if he
has read the news accounts OF
the war.
WHEN the chief of staff does
w mention the air force IT is
always as If il was a step &C
CeSSory 10 the victory. The
general or whoever composed
the document for him is still
back in the days when the effec-
tiveneSs of air bombing, was
undetermined. when it had
never won a war.
Since then it has indisputably
won the war against Japan and
the results in Germany have
been checked on the ground, not
from high altitude photographs.
The decisive nature Of air.
power has been established as
provable new principle Of
warfare.
The German generals are
generally accepted by military
men as a smart lot.
They have-or had - un-
bound imaginations on the mill
tary art up to the point of the
greater conception such as over
all strategy.
The Germans make only the
big mistakes Invading Russia,
not invading England
They know what broke their
backs and they all put some
phase OF air power, first, sec
ond or-third on their lists along
with the stupidity of Hitler
strategy.
In interviews afterward, they
broke down and wanted 10 talk
about their trade, as people in
tcrested in their own specialties
will.
THE interviews with generals
Il Jodl, RunStedt, Thomas
Halden, Won PAIL and ever
Hjalmar SchaCht, the economiS
(probably the best mind in Ger
many all attributed German
defeat TO "bombardment of fac
tories and next boSnbardmen
Of transport (Thomas), al
superiority" Won PahD. bomb
ing the d eciSive factor
(SchaCht) air destruction q
the German fuel structur,
through strategic bombing o
oil won the war in Italy (Ger
tman air general theTe1
The Germans, it develop.
now. moved very few of theil
industrial plants underground
because they did not have In,
men and materials for such eX
tensive new construction.
They depended on rebuild
ing as their main hope agains
bombing, and as our air stra
tegy (Gen. SpaatZ, coming heaC
Of army air. detected that dc
ciSion, our bo.nberS started
coming back as soon as the de
Stroyed factory was about hal
rebuilt
THE only tribute TO the All
Il corps / noticed PARTICULAR!
i'm the Marshall report was thelr
rescue of the ground forces a
Salcrno.
He left me with the impress
sion he thought the strategic
bombing Of Germany was
holding movement until tn,
ground forces could invade.
With such ill-logic. he nigh
have called MacArthur's ardu
Gus island hopping and thu
whole war against Japan as
holding movement for tn,
atomic bomb.
The significance is this;
Marshall in this report rep
reSents the old school tie II
the army a grey tie He is O
! the conservative type OF oide
generals.
In the past era Of ditcl
warfare, artillery barrages an,
cavalry, his mind was formed
like those of many anothe
among tho Joint chiefs of staff
They do not grasp the stra
trCic significance of most re
cent events. Il hear General
Eisenhower and Macarthur
do
THE air corps is composed
L mainly Of young men VIII
know the new fighting becauS'
they gained their mental.
formative experience in thi