SEA AND AIR

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20185, 1 March 1940, Page 6

SEA AND AIR

ALLIES GAINING SIX MONTHS OF WAR GERMAN ILLEGALITIES LONG-TERM PLANNING ATTACKS ON NEUTRALS (Elec. Tel. Copyright—United Press Assn.! (British Official Wireless.) Reed. 1 p.m. RUGBY, Feb. 29. On Sunday Britain will have been at war with Germany for six months. The first few days even saw dramatic events on sea and in .the 'air and it lias been in those two elements that in the intervening months' struggle has been mainly pursued. The speech delivered by the First Lord of the Admiralty, Mr. Winston Churchill, on the navy estimates on Tuesday showed how successfully the Royal Navy has coped with the situation, the only surprises in which have been new illegalities practised by the enemy. The activities of the German and the British air forces have followed different lines. Increasingly the German air effort is directed against British and neutral shipping with results which drew from the Prime Minister, Mr. Neville Chamberlain, the remark that such practices were “not war but murder.”

The Royal Air Force, on the other hand, has maintained patrol work in the North Sea and reconnaissance activities directed against enemy naval and military objectives. The British long-distance reeonnaisiance flights into the German Reich lately have included Austria ana Bohemia again. Long-Tern Plan As with the magnetic mine—now known to be in secret preparation for years to attack Britain’s lifeline—Germany's air attacks on shipping are apparently part of a longterm plan, the essence of which seems to be to strike at Britain in a way in which Germany cannot well be -truck back at in return, and to regain from measures which would incite immediate and overwhelming jounter-attacks. It is considered in London that Lord Chatfield’s recent assertion that Britain's air strength would be brought into plnv at the right instant nav well have dispelled any German hope of success in such a plan. The (rowing ascendancy of the Allies in he air, backed by the great Dominion air training scheme, is bringn.g nearer the time when that dec'aration may be put to the proof. Well-informed commentators note hat. after a short period of comparative immunity from loss, there recently has been a rise in the casualties inflicted on raiding German aircraft. As new defensive measures become effective the loss factor suffered by Germany may be expected to increase. Fighters of R.A.F. It is interesting to note that an analysis of German aircraft known to have been shot down in raids on Britain shows that by far the largest proportion fell to the guns of Royal Air Force, fighters. The majority came down in the sea off the British coasts —only four on British soil. Several are now definitely known to have fallen in neutral countries after engagement with the • British air defences. Experts in Britain emphasise that the air war is being fought on the drawing boards and in the design shops no less than in the sky. In this respect the Allies have greater facilities for the manufacture and purchase of advanced types. Also, since Britain and France started serious air rearmament long after Germany’s bombing fleets were already built, what they lacked in numbers at the outbreak of the war they gained in modernity of design, but design marches on. Already crack fighters and bombers in the service of both sides are rendered obsolescent by newer types of stocks. Details of new British types may not be disclosed, but it is no secret that the demand for still higher speeds, greater fire power and increased range has been most successfully met in both defence and counteroffensive aircraft.

It is true that Germany, faced with the growing obsolescence of thousands of aircraft which so far have been used only as threats, in making strenuous efforts to keep abreast of the progress in design. New Heinkels, said to be fitted with a new type of Daimler-Benz motors of a total output of 4500 horse-power, giving a top speed of 350 miles an hour, are spoken of. But it is confidently stated by British experts that just as the Vickers-Spitfires and Hawker-Hurri-canes have mastered the existing Heinkels and Dorniers, British designers will have an answer to any new German types, Thus the second six months of the war are likely to prove even more favourable to the Allier in the air than the six months now ending.