RAPID DEVELOPMENT

Evening Star, Issue 23717, 26 October 1940, Page 11

RAPID DEVELOPMENT

R.A.F.'S FIGHTING EFFICIENCY BLEAK PROSPECTS FOR NAZIS LONDON, October 25. (Received October 26, at 8 a.m.) Air Marshal Sir Phillip Joubert, broadcasting, predicted a swift advance in the deadliness of British planes and early increases in their numbers. Spitfires and Hurricanes were being made faster and their armament was being improved, but the new types on the stocks would be as great an advance on them as the Spitfires were on the earlier types. Defiants would again be used for night fighting, for which they were originally intended, and would soon be harrying the German night raiders. “ One of the most satisfactory features is the increase in our bombing effort,” said the Air Marshal. “ Recently we were able to strike in one night at Berlin, the Ruhr, the invasion ports, and also the big industrial cities in Northern Italy. These attacks achieved important successes. “We can hope henceforth steadily to increase the pressure against Germany and Italy, and by spring, when the flow of American planes has become a flood, we will return to Germany with seven-fold interest all the bombing we have been forced to endure.” The accuracy of German night bombing was certain to deteriorate when visibility was bad. Accurate shellfire was upsetting the morale of the pilots and bomb-aimers. This particularly applied at present because of the great height at which the German bombers were forced to fly. It was known that they had to operate over London at a height of at least 14,000 ft, and were forced most of the time to take violent evasive action. i SOURCES OF ENEMY POWER OBJECTIVES OF BRITISH OFFENSIVE RELATION BETWEEN ECONOMIC AND AIR WAR (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, October 25. (Received October 26, at 1 p.m.) Speaking at the Oxford University Liberal Club, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Economic Warfare (Mr D. M. Foot) explained the close relationship between the economic warfare and aerial bombardment. Both were directed at the destruction of the sources of enemy power, and the hiihistry advised the Air Ministry oh the targets which it was most .useful to bomb. Mr Foot outlined how 90 per cent, of Germany’s synthetic oil capacity had been bombed. Eighty per cent, of her crude oil refining capacity had also been bombed and was either out of action or was working under great difficulties. Her aircraft industry had also received attention, and there was reason to believe that the number of new aircraft coming forward had been considerably reduced. German transport had been systematically attacked, and all this bombing was part of a carefully-planned scheme designed to inflict the greatest damage to and disorganisation of Germany’s war industries and supply system. If our bomber crews were to drop their bombs indiscriminately or from such a great height as to make accuracy almost impossible we would be defeating our own ends. By our control of raw materials at the source by naval patrols and by aerial bombardment we were striking continuously at the Nazi industrial and economic machine. JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES NEW ZEALAND BAN AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT INTERESTED SYDNEY, October 26. (Received October 26, at 1.30 p.m.) "’The Federal Government will obtain from the New Zealand Government a statement of its reasons for banning Jehovah’s Witnesses, and will reconsider the position of the sect in Australia. The Attorney-General (Mr Hughes) said; ” I noted the New Zealand action, and. will raise the matter with Cabinet at the first opportunity. Ido not know what the position in New Zealand is, but under our Constitution everybody is guaranteed by our fundamental laws freedom of religious belief.”