AIR RAIDERS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23616, 28 March 1940, Page 11

AIR RAIDERS

DANGER TO BRITISH 6ITUATI ON REALISED DEFENDERS' DIFFICULTIES By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright British Wireless LONDON, March '2G Authoritative quarters describe the recent German raid on Scapa Flow as "a well-timed operation favoured by some good luck." Arriving as daylight was fading the raiders were able to make use of such light as remained to carry out the raid, and to rely upon the gathering darkness to conceal their flight home. The technique adopted was that of successive waves, making sudden dives from about 8000 ft. Such small damage as was done is thought to have been caused by the first flight, as the remaining waves met with a reception from anti-aircraft defences which clearly put them off their aim. Air Defences Not Invulnerable The difliculty of the British fighters in making contact with the bombers in darkness is pointed out. Unless searchlights pick up the raidors a mere knifeedge view is presented, which is extremely difficult for the fighter pilot to see. It is thought that this explains why Royal Air Force reconnaissance aircraft have flown a great many times over Germany without being found by defending , aeroplanes. In the case of the Sylt raid the Nazis relied almost entirely on ground defences, making little or no attempt to fight the bombers in the air. The only British aircraft brought down on that occasion fell a victim to the anti-aircraft guns. Informed aviation quarters take the opportunity of warning the British p\iblio that if large-scale Nazi air attacks are made many enemy aircraft must be expected to get through. There is no inclination on the part of the authorities in Britain, as there is in Germany, to persuade the public that air defences are invulnerable. Retaliation Against Raiders There is confidence in the belief that a free British public will preserve its morale, should cvilian bombing occur., much better than a population long subjected to an authoritarian regime. The Royal Air Force may be expected to deal faithfully with a high percentage of raiding aircraft, and it is not doubted that the British people will steel themselves to endure any frightfulncss which the Nazis may deem it expedient to perpetuate, in the certain knowledge that retaliation will be swift and sure.

CZECHS' SURRENDER SIGNING OF THE TREATY DR. HACHA OVERCOME PARIS, March 20 Discounting a message sent to Hitler | a "few days ago by the President of Czecho-Slovakia, Dr. Emil Hacha, extolling the "glorious German arms," the Czech Minister to Paris, M. Osusky, revealed some secret history of the surrender of Czecho-Slovakia's independence last March. Dr. Hacha sent his message on the first anniversary of the surrender. Before he signed the fateful document placing his country under Germany's "protection," Field-Marshal Goering had to convince him that Hitler was not trying to murder him, said M. Osusky. Dr. Hacha fainted when Hitler presented the document for his signature. Hitler summoned a doctor, who ordered an injection, but Dr. Hacha, fearing it was a plot to poison him, refused at first to have it. Goering then bared his arm, stepped up and took an injection first. Dr. Hacha was elected President when Dr. Bones resigned after the Munich agreement in October, 1938. PROFITEERING CHARGE . GERMANS IN AMERICA NEW YORK. March 26 A Federal Grand Jury to-day indicted the Bausch and Lomb Optical. Company, of Rochester, Carl Zeiss, of Jena, Germany, and the New York subsidiary, Carl Zeiss Incorporated, on charges of monopolising world trade in military and optical instruments, thereby violating the Sherman Act. It is alleged that a secret agreement in 1921 divided the world market and resulted in Bausch and Lomb charging the United States Army and Navy unreasonably for military optical equipment.