BATTLE OF BRITAIN

Grey River Argus, 5 December 1940, Page 7

BATTLE OF BRITAIN

PHASES OF AIR WAR U.S.A. Military Expert FORECASTS BRITISH VICTORY LAus. & N.Z. Cable Assn.]. (Received December 4, 9.10 p.m.) WASHINGTON, December 3. A United States official observer, General Chaney, has returned fiom Britain. He reported: “The air battles in September were as decisive as Waterloo. Britain will not lose the war unless she is careless or is overconfident.”

General Chaney described the air battles of August and September as being as decisive as Marathon or Waterloo. “I do not believe Britain will lose the war, unless she becomes careless or over-confident,” he said. “The German planes are good, but the present German fortress warfare will never bring Britain to her knees. The United States observers have gained secret technical information worth a hundred million dollars.” General Chaney expressed the opinion that Britain needs at least one hundred destroyers, merchantmen, aircraft, and munitions from the United States, and also bases from Eire. ■ (Received December 5 12.50 a.m.) I MONTREAL, December 4. 1 General Chaney said: “The air battles in Britain have been dividable into three phases. Firstly came those that began on August 8. These featured wave after wave of German I bombers, escorted by fighters. These attacked shipping and aerodromes, but they spared the port facilities that could be used for the invasion of Britain. The second phase began on August 18 and finished on September 15. This was a destructive phase, but the German losses were immense. The third phase has been that of concentrated attacks. These are now continuing. Britain was overwhelmingly victorious in the first and second phases. This largely was due to ground detection facilitating the British fighter planes in their work and permitting the archies to shoot down one-seventh of the total German casualties.

General Chaney said that in his opinion the quality of the German petrol is high, while in some of their features the German engines are superior to those of Britain and America. On the contrary, the German bombsight is not so good as that used by the British. He also was of opinion that the German Messerschmitt planes were not capable of further improvement, due to inherent limitations.

He said: "The American planes are inferior in armament, compared to the British and German planes.” * He added: “I am optimistic as to the outcome of the war as far as Britain is concerned.”