THE FORETASTE

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 82, 7 April 1943, Page 2

THE FORETASTE

TVyTR. CHURCHILL'S phrase, "the soft under-belly of the Axis," will "*■ have heen recalled by many on reading the news that a great force of Flying Fortresses has attacked Naples in daylight. One of the main objects of the Allied offensive in North Africa has been the acquisition of aerodromes, for use first in protecting shipping when the Mediterranean can be reopened,, and secondly.in attacking Italy. The big raid on Naples, the heaviest it • has suffered, is an indication that this important objective has been partly achieved, for the Fortresses' raid was based on North Africa. There is no need to emphasise the enormous economy of effort which has now been made possible. In the past, when we have read of R.A.F. raids on Italian industrial cities, the wonder has been that so few planes were lost in a long flight requiring two crossings of the Alps. Those 'raids were not, and could hot be, comparable' with the great onslaught of the American bombers, which is only a beginning. Moreover, 'although/ their psychological effect was not negligible, it was certainly much less than that of the appearance in daylight of nearly a hundred bombers in fifteen minutes. In recent weeks the Italian people have been warned of hard blows to come, but no-verbal or printed warning can be adequate to prepare men and women for such an assault as the Neapolitans have suffered. Mussolini, when he thought he was on the winning side, sought a part for Italian airmen in bombing London. If the Italian people approved that flamboyant gesture, they will think differently of it to-day. As experience has shown, it is impossible to bomb legitimate military targets without killing civilians, and there will be no gratification among Allied peoples at the bombing of Naples. But a great deal more happened on Monday, and if first reports are confirmed, it was far more important. The Allied air forces struck a damaging blow at the Luftwaffe itself. According to an estimate described as conservative, at least one hundred German planes, .were destroyed, in the air or on the ground, in 24 hours. This brilliant ■ achievement was due Jto the discovery of. hundreds of planes parked on-three-aerodromes in Sicily. It is seldom that the Germans are caught napping; in this case it is suggested that they were taking an .unavoidable risk. ; Whatever the explanation,' the Allied pilots grasped the opportunity with both hands. It has long been expected that in ' the battle : for Tunisia there would be a fierce struggle for air mastery, and that that struggle might even decide the fate of more ..than Tunisia. If so, the Allies have splendidly won the first round. The Germans will replace their losses, perhaps without much difficulty, but their plans' for aiding their land forces may be temporarily disrupted. Monday's events afford us a glimpse of the great power which the Allies are at length bringing to bear against the Axis, and they afford the Axis peoples a foretaste of what is being prepared for them.