THE AIR WAR

Evening Post, Volume CXXXII, Issue 43, 19 August 1941, Page 6

THE AIR WAR

RISE OF R.A.F. POWER

N.Z. OFFICER'S VIEWS

'BOOT ON OTHER FOOT'

Group Captain J. L. Findlay has re- | turned to New Zealand after spending lover two years with the Coastal Comjinand in England. After many years !of service with the R.N.Z.A.F. he went |to England about 18 months before !the war started to acquire experience, and after gaining considerable insight into methods adopted under actual warfare in modern conditions is to give the local authorities the benefit of the knowledge he has acquired. "The Royal Air Force," he said "is I putting a tremendous number of machines into the battle —as many as the Germans have ever put over England. What is more, they go for spe-cially-selected targets, and the pros and cons of every raid are carefully worked out before the machines are dispatched. Germany is now being bombed from both sides. That is why England has been so free of raids in recent months. AMERICAN MACHINES. "With the new long-range bombers, now coming across from America in shoals, as well as being turned out in England, Britain can look forward to striking . further . and further into enemy territory. Among the Royal Air Force pilots the American ma- j chines are very highly thought of.! They have got the range and the speed, and all the pilots I have spoken to who have been flying them say they are very fond of them. Previously, it has been the limited range of the aircraft at our disposal which has been the retarding factor."

Group Captain Findlay said that the Air Force was maintaining a wonderfully high standard in its recruits, ana the New Zealanders who had come to his notice had been well up to it. A great number of exceptionally fine young men were coming from all parts

S. P. Andrew & Sons Photo,

Group Captain J. L. Findlay. of the Empire. The machines they flew were also, he said, just a step ahead of those of the enemy. "On the other hand," he cautioned, "people are inclined to underestimate the ability of the Hun. There is nothing wrong with the Hun pilots. Their morale is high, as far as we can iy, and those we captured were full of bluff and bravado. Nevertheless, I know that they will be bested." "INNATE ANGER." Of the morale of the people of England, Group Captain Findlay was emphatic. "The British morale is absolutely amazing," he said. "With the bombing they have undergone, all they feel is a sort of innate anger, and no saying, 'We have had enough.' They ar^ determined to stick to it, knowing that the time has now come when the Germans will get back more than they have given. Our air losses, lately, have been high, but that is through two causes. Firstly, there are far more planes engaged, and secondly, we arej fighting over hostile territory. The boot is on the other foot." A respite of something like seven months had given the British people a chance to make terrific progress in I preparations for withstanding air raids, and one of the extraordinary features of the war had been the A.R.P. organisation in England. Whereas, at the beginning, shelters had been inadequate, now they resembled underground hotels. Such were the counterstrokes from Britain, however, that evidence had been received to show that the German civilian morale had j detei'iorated considerably. I

As the machines of the Coastal Command increased in range and hitting power, said Group Captain Findlay, the areas free of submarine attack were extended. No submarine could make a successful attack on shipping protected by an efficient air patrol, and such was the extent of the patrol today that ships were being guarded by aircraft hundreds of miles from land. This was contributing in no small measure to the reduction of British losses through U-boat activities.