SIGNPOST TO VICTORY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 21604, 5 January 1945, Page 2

SIGNPOST TO VICTORY

The return of a number of young men from Canada, after partial training for service with the British air forces in the European theatre, is perhaps the most reliable sign of the war’s trend. Disappointed by the collapse of their prospects of early action against the enemy, the men home from Canada represent part of the unrequirecl surplus of the Empire’s volunteers for service in the vital struggle for air supremacy. It is not so far a cry back to 1940, when the first. New Zealanders were selected for schools in Canada which were the beginning of the Empire air scheme. But from the standpoint of a belligerent nation caught in 1940 without substantial air strength, it was a long cry forward to 1945. It is indeed difficult to reconstruct the frame- of mind in which this country, together with the other Allied Powers then fighting Germany, looked forward from the first war Christmas. There was, in those days, the feeling that time was on the side of the Allies, but only a few were able to comprehend how much time must pass before Germany herself faced a superiority of air-power. When leaders in Britain spoke of what they hoped to do in 1941, should do in 1942, and certainly would do by 1943, the general public found it impossible to envisage an extension of the war be-, yond those years. It was almost impossible to grasp, at that time, the significance of the plans then being made to develop a heavy bomber aircraft to carry the destruction of war to German cities. It seemed that these long-range plans could never come to fruition.

Yet to-day we are reaping the fruits of that long-range planning. The indomitable spirit of resistance to Germany has perhaps ’no better illustration. Overwhelming air-power is now directed against Germany, and the British Commonwealth has trained all the men it expects to require to finish the war in the European air. Three great factors have counted in building up this situation. The first was the bold range of planning which produced first the invincible Spitfire for fighter defence and laid the foundation of the four-engined bomber .production which reached its peak ill 1943. The second was the steadfast courage of the British people, and more particularly of Londoners, In the face of the tragic events of the first two war years. The third was the willingness of young men of every race and creed in the Britisli Commonwealth to accept the challenge of air combat. New Zealand men have borne a full and distinguished share in this latter effort.

Now comes this period of partial relaxation. Those who foresaw the extension of the war to a five-year span, and laid the firm foundations of British air-power in the light of their greater knowledge, now tell us that air superiority is secure—that no more trained' men are called for in the European sphere. That assurance is surely a signpost to the war’s end, more certain than the fluctuating fortunes of the day-by-day fighting on the Western Front.