NAZI STRATEGY

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 4487, 1 October 1940, Page 4

NAZI STRATEGY

INEFFECTIVE IN BRITAIN INTERNAL CONFUSION The Nazi method -of carrying out aerial bombardments over -a wide area by single machines, _ or small formations, undoubtedly imposes _ a severe strain on the civil population and necessarily causes damage, but, by its very nature, military gains are small. In a large area such as London which, as a centre of population, has grown up gradually and absorbed what once were satelite towns and villages, “military targets” in _ the broadest sense of the term, are inevitably scattered throughout residential and commercial areas. Consequently, of the number of bombs indiscriminately dropped some are bound to I,and on suck places as gasworks and factories as well as hospitals and railway stations!. The greatest number have burst on what forms the highest proportion of target surface —- roads and streets —and these, of course, cause damage of varying degree to surrounding buildings, the vast majority of which, when hit. sustain damage, which, from a military point of view, is not commensurate with the cost incurred in hitting them .

It is probably for this reason that the German High Command—-know-ing its pilots are unlikely to reach that high degree of individual efficiency and courage which distinguishes .Royal Air Force pilots and crows and enables them to deliver, one after another, successful attacks on genuine military objectives—regarded, and probably still regards, night air operations .as■militarily Siuett'ectivo. The German technique is a crushing blow delivered by mass formations. and the German High Command has shown by its two efforts tjliat it would, if it could, apply this method to mass daylight attacks. Roth these endeavours, however. have been signally .defeated by the Royal Air Force.

The attack on civilian morale, is. however, a well tried weapon in the political armoury of the Nazi. Hitherto disruption from within has been found to be sufficiently effective, especially if accompanied by some measure of physical brutality, the latter being increased proportionately to the inability of "ideological'” subsersion to bring .about a requisite state of internal confusion. _ln applying their methods to Britain the Nazisi found hut poor soil for their seeds of discord.