Manawatu Evening Standard. MONDAY, MAY 12, 1941. NEMESIS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXI, Issue 137, 12 May 1941, Page 6

Manawatu Evening Standard. MONDAY, MAY 12, 1941. NEMESIS.

For some mouths bow the Nazi night bomber has mostly hud it all his own way. Early in the Battle for Britain the Germans sent their bombers by day with an escort of fighting' machines, but the magnificent fighting spirit of the Royal Air Force, combined with the splendid planes at their disposal, inflicted terjible punishment on the Nazis and took severe toll. The Luftwaffe had not developed night flying as the R.A.E. had done with remarkable success, but Goering realised that if his aerial armada was to achieve some measure of success after his self-glorification the Nazi airmen must be trained for night operations. The costly daylight- raids mostly ceased and then came the night bombers, but they either lacked the intensive training of the R.A.E. or were instructed to drop their bombs without recourse to military targets and hasten back to their aerodromes. No doubt many of these earlier forays across Britain were designed with a twofold purpose —to gain proficiency iu bombing and to inflict some haphazard damage upon the British peo.ple. The sequel is well-known. Quickly the Luftwaffe developed its night bomber squadrons and terrible havoc has been done over British cities and to war objectives, especially the shipping areas. But the Nazi, trained to strike hard anywhere, has also struck grievous blows against British civilians. The Royal Air Force had this new menace to combat and its scientific staff nobly responded to the task. Success has come rather slowly —to many people it has been impatiently slow—but evidence has been accumulating that the immunity of the night bomber has been surely decreasing. In the first four months of 1941 the Nazis lost 107 night raiders, but in May, with eleven days’ figures available, 127 have fallen victims to our night fighters, who rank among the greatest airmen of all lime, and to anti-aircraft defences. Theirs is a task which requires the highest perfection in manhood, a clear brain, quickness of eye, coolness of temperament, and superb courage and aircraftsinanship. The record total fell to the R.A.F. on Saturday night last when 83 German machines were sent to their doom. On the previous Wednesday 24 enemy bombers were fated not to recross the Channel. This, however, is not The full story, for many more were damaged and if they succeeded in returning to their! aerodromes would be unserviceable for some time. The Luftwaffe, too, has suffered severe losses in personnel. The 294 machines destroyed since the year commenced would carry a crew of four and thus no fewer than 1100 valuable trained personnel have been lost to the Nazi air force. The German night bomber will continue to bring death and disaster to British cities and towns, but the new instruments at the

disposal of the ll.A.F.’s intrepid night fliers are ensuring- that a steadily growing toll will be taken of the wreckers and destroyers of innocent human lives. Much more yet remains to be achieved, however, to keep Britain reasonably safe from the Germans.