GERMANY GUARDS AIR SECRETS

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 162, 5 April 1938, Page 11

GERMANY GUARDS AIR SECRETS

Contrast To Britain

The intense secrecy in which the German authorities still find it desirable to enshroud the development of the air weapon in Germany is revealed on perusal of the annual “Handbook on Aviation,” published in Berlin and Munich recently. . The reserve shown on the German side is comparable with that practised during the Great War. It is all the more striking when in the same book the most detailed figures of the British organisation are to be found. There are five sections in the handbook. The second —Distribution of the Air Force —contains three pages devoted to Great Britain. Every detail is given regarding the subdivisions of the Royal Air Force, the number of machines in a squadron, the number of squadrons in a wing, and the number and exact geographical position of every command, together with its type and beadquarters. On turning to the German particulars under the same heading, the reader merely finds that “the German air arm comprises aviators organised in squadrons, groups and wings.”

No indication whatever is given as to the method of grouping, the numbers of the various units or their stations, and the whole of the German entry in this section takes up less than a quarter of a page. Section 3—Effectives —contains full particulars of the number of British aeroplanes of the first line and. reserve respectively, together with the exact numbers of each type, at home, abroad and attached to the Fleet. It is added that by the end of 1937 the number of first-line machines was expected to be 2050, and that the reserves would be doubled.

The corresponding section in the German entry is left a complete blank. In the section on types of machines used the particulars given in resvect of Britain comprise 13 groups, detailing types, manufacturers and horse-power of the aeroplanes used for each branch. The German part of this section consists of two words: "In preparation.’’