VALUE OF AIR POWER.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 60, Issue 250, 30 July 1940, Page 5

VALUE OF AIR POWER.

BRITAIN’S GROWING SUPREMACY

HASTENING HOUR OF VICTORY.

LONDON, 1 July 28

There is a growing insistence, in the press comment on the vital work of air power in hastening the hour of victory over Nazi terrorism.

The air correspondents of the Sunday newspapers dwell on the gradual swing over of the scales of production in Britain’s favour, and full confidence; is expressed' that the ' British lead in quality will be maintained. The “'Sunday Times” devotes a leading article to the subject under the heading “Air Power Will Win.” Observing how war news is now air news, the “Sunday Times” states: “Nor do appearances belie facts. At any moment some new German stroke may bring armies or navies into prominence', but to-day neither onq- nor the other can avail without air power.

“Franco lost her fine armies because she had no adequate air force. .Poland failed, too, before her.- We ourselves were kept out of Holland and Southern Norway, in spite, of our great naval superiority, by reason of Germany’s superiority in tfie air. ‘‘Furthermore, as the' war proceeds, it is to air power that we must look for the means'of taking the offensive. Therefore, the need for bhilding many more aircraft than Germany is disputed by no one. ‘.‘Production, however, is only one part of the problem. The other is-the best use of aircraft. Some uses are marked, and inescapable, but there are others about which the balance of political and even of expert opinion may vary considerably. “Britain stands in a better posture than her enemy for securing the best use of her available air resources because of tho organisation of her air defences being based on the recognition of three independent but co-operative arms. In Germany, for instance, where socially and politically the tradition of the Army dominates, the Air Force has been the least valued, above all, for the purposes of Army co-operation. “No Siege of Britain.’’ “In Britain, which was the first country to place its Air Ministry on a separate footing from tho War Office, the Air Force, which is indispensable as an adjunct both to the Army 'and Navy, is in its main use an independent striking arm in which capacity it is essential that it should be allowed to develop freely strategy and tactics of its own. “To-day, with the British Navy and the German Army each supreme in its own sphere., yet neither able to penetrate the enemy’s territory, this British conception may well offer the best way round the deadlock. We ought boldly to develop it. “The daily and nightly offensives which' the Royal Air Force conducts against enemy objectives point mainly towards supremacy in the air and. victory in the war. When we have magnified . oup.’ effort as many times as we can the war will end with Germany’s prostration.” Mr J. L. Garyin in the “Sunday Observer,” writes :“They speak of. the siege of Britain. Let us distinguish. We are assailed, we are not shut up. Neither are we invested. Our beleaguered island is a fortress with a- difference. Its maritime connections are open as wide as they ever were 1 . Its shipping and sea power range the oceans. After more than 10 months’ war our mercantile tonnage is larger than ever". The Navy, in all its annals, never held a mow potent- command. The military forces of the Empire can •be carried surely from every part, or to any part-. Without ceasing, supplies from every continent from round the globe come to this island. “We are fighting this war, near and far, not as a surrounded fortress, blit as an historic world Power which has Britain as its maim base. If Britain is besieged in the ordinary sense 1 of being surrounded, she would be unready, her world communications would be cut off. .Bv that fact the whole Empire would be broken. Instead, we detain both l>y sea and air the widest powers of attack and counter-attack. This both Germany and Italy know to their cost. While wte hold out at home, we can cr/sato now military power, able to take a strong offensive overseas in a wider battle for the Empire. “These truths apply directly to. the immense theatres of the Mediterranean, North Africa, and beyond. These should be our arenas of initiative and attack,”