SMASHED PLANTS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 60, 11 March 1944, Page 5

SMASHED PLANTS

TELLING EFFECTS

Long-Term, Assessment Of Strategic Bombing N.Z. Press Association—Copyright LONDON, Mar. 10. The day-to-day accounts of the offensive against Germany rrom the air are impressive, but a long-term view shows how steady is the cumulative effect of the Allied blows. The tank industry, for example, is hard hit by the Royal Air Force Bomber Command, and it is failing to make good the battle losses in armour.

The industrial areas against which the Bomber Command has been aiming include factories producing almost every essential weapon of war, and much of the weight of the offensive has fallen on those producing tanks. The damage inflicted by these raids has been a big factor in reducing the production of tanks. Production in one factory, for example, has been shown by photographs to be almost at a standstill since the plant was attacked at the end of last year.

In February the United States Eighth Army Air Force dropped 24,000 tons of bombs, mainly on Luftwaffe targets. Twenty attacks were made on major aircraft factories during the month and 22 on Luftwaffe airfields. Photographs again showed that some plants were completely knocked out and others suffered very heavy damage. While the bombers were crippling Germany's capacity to replace fighters, they also continued to take heavy toll of fighters in the air. By smashing tanks, aircraft and other weapons before they can be sent into battle, strategic bombing is saving the lives of thousands of our men and having a great effect on Germany's strategy.

All this means a terrific amount of labour by the ground crews. During February they had to contend with Arctic conditions, working in piercing winds on fields covered at times by heavy snow. As one officer said, there was no glamour for them, but without them the bombers would be grounded.