GOOD EFFECT

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 31, 5 August 1940, Page 6

GOOD EFFECT

RAIDING OF GERMANY

STRAIN ON MORALE

MUCH DAMAGE DONE

(From "The Post's" Representative.)

LONDON, June 25,

Whatever the effect of the R.A.F.'s pamphlet raids over Germany before the blitzkrieg began on May 10, there is no doubt that recent day and night raiding with the real thing, in which fleets of aircraft numbering well over 100 have taken part at one time, have caused widespread destruction both of material and morale. '

Reports coming from many sources, in addition to those supplied by the pilots themselves, have proved this conclusively. It is, of course, realised that the pilots are not the best judges in many cases of the effect of the bombs they drop. German searchlights are designed as much to dazzle the men of the R.A.F. as to pick out the aircraft for anti-aircraft batteries. Certain targets leave the pilots in no doubt as to the efficiency of the bomb aimer. These include oil depots, oil refineries, and munition dumps, graphically described by the men of the R.A.F. as "self-illuminating targets." _ There has been obvious success in the past few weeks during attacks on such targets. Marshalling yards, too, have come in for a good deal of undivided attention, particularly in Western Germany and the Netherlands. Factories in the Ruhr and at Hamburg, Bremen, and other important centres have been badly damaged. SECURING INFORMATION. Naturally the R.A.F. are interested and anxious to learn of the effect of their bombs, and the Germans are equally anxious not to give any information away in their newspapers. British newspapers also are careful not to disclose the effect of enemy bombs in England. Both countries have so far indicated that the enemy has been successful in killing only a stray rabbit, a cow, or some chickens. Nevertheless, the R.A.F. have secured definite information, and it is known that, in the Ruhr district particularly, their bombing has had very considerable effect. Great damage has been done, and on many nights work has ' been cancelled owing to the frequency of the air raids. This has meant a loss of production, and in some places all work has actually been stopped for a week at a time.

The result has been deep concern among the German population which has hitherto been assured that the German air defences are impregnable, and could never be pierced. This concern has not been lessened by the rigid Nazi policy of suppressing news of raids, and rumour has magnified both the raids and their effect.

There has been so much explanation that bombs fell only on "hospitals, creches, maternity homes, and nonmilitary targets" that one R.A.F. officer was recently heard to remark: "Germany must be extraordinarily well equipped with hospitals and non-mili-tery targets.''

One interesting item of news announced by the German radio was that "two enemy aircraft were shot down by. night fighters." It is known that the Germans never intended to use their fighters for night patrol work, partly owing to the danger of landing in the dark at high speed. If the announcement be true, then, in addition to the material and morale damage inflicted on Germany, a useful positive military result has been achieved in diverting German fighter aircraft from their normal routine.

There is every indication that, with an armistice signed with France, Germany is preparing to unleash her air force upon Britain. Broadcasts have stated that Germany has always wanted to keep the war "clean" but, now that Mr. Churchill has proved a "dirty" fighter and has bombed German hospitals, Britain must expect a taste of her own medicine. An oversight apparently led the announcer to neglect mentioning that Nazi airmen had bombed women and children refugees, and had machine-gunned them on the roads, and also that Red Cross ships are always fair game to the Nazi airmen. ; MUCH RESTS WITH CIVILIANS. | For some time past, it has been the policy in Britain to warn the civil population that bombers will get through in certain numbers, and that damage from bombs must be expected. At the same time, the fullest information is given about the types of aircraft used by the Nazis, their bombs, and their bombing methods. In this way it is hoped to brace the civilians against their coming trial. The Nazis have found that the noise of air raids has a demoralising effect. One of their pleasantries is the introduction of the "whistling" or "screaming" bomb. The noise is caused by fitting small hollow tubes or "organ pipes" of sheet metal to the fins of the bombs. Men who experienced them in France said that their effect was to make people believe that "their name was written personally on each jbomb by Hitler himself." It is being constantly emphasised that too great attention should not be paid to noise during raids. It seems not unlikely that, in the air raids to come, the ability of civilians to mainain morale will have an important effect on the result of the war