AIR SUPREMACY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23721, 30 July 1940, Page 8

AIR SUPREMACY

DECISIVE FACTOR MEANS FOR OFFENSIVE SWING TO BRITAIN By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright British Wireless LONDON, July 28 There is a growing insistence in press comment on the vital work of air power in hastening the hour of victory over Nazi terrorism. Air correspondents 'in Sunday newspapers dwell on the gradual swing over of the scales of production in Britain's favour and full confidence is expressed that the British lead in quality will be maintained. In a loading articlo under the heading "Air Power Will Win," tlio Sunday Times observes that war news is now air news. "Nor do appearances belie the facts," it adds. "Any moment some new German stroke may bring the armies or the navies into prominence, but to-day neither one nor the othercan avail without air power. Best Use of Aircraft "Franco lost her fine armies because she had no adequate air force. Poland failed, too, before France. Wo ourselves were kept out of Holland and southern Norway in spito of our real naval superiority, because of Germany's superiority in the air. "Furthermore, as tho war proceeds, it is to air power that we must look - for the means of taking the offensive. The need for building many more aircraft than Germany possesses is disputed by no onei Production, however, is only one part of the problem; the other is the best use for aircraft. Some uses are marked and inescapable, but there are others about which the balance of political, oven of expert, opinion may vary considerably. Differing Strategies "Britain stands in a better posture than her enemy for securing the best use of her available air resources because tho organisation of her air defence is based on recognition of three independent, but co-operative, arms. "In Germany, where, socially and politically, the tradition of tho army dominates, the air foixe has been valued above all for purposes of army co-operation. "In Britain, which was tho first country to place its Air Ministry on a separate..footing from the War Office, the Air Force, while indispensable as an adjunct to both the Army and the Navy, is in its main use an independent striking arm, in which capacity it is essential that it should bo allowed to develop freely a strategy and tactics of its own. Ending Deadlock "To-day, with the British Navy and the German Army each supremo in its own sphere, yet neither able to penetrate the enemy's territory, the British conception may well offer the best way round the deadlock. . "Wo ought boldly to develop it. Ihe daily and nightly offensives which the Royal Air Force conducts against enemy objectives point toward supremacy iji the air and victory in the war. When we have magnified our effort many times, as wo can and ought to, the war will end with Germany's prostration. WESTERN HEMISPHERE GERMANY'S CHALLENGE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT ALERT LONDON, July 20 Germany's rejection of the United States suggestion that she keep her hands off the territories of conquered peoples in the Western Hemisphere, is interpreted by the United States Government as dialectical preparation for an ultimate physical challenge, says the Washington correspondent of tho Times. This challenge is expected to take the form of asserting sovereignty over, or an attempted seizure of, such possessions. Washington recognises that the immediacy of the challenge is related directly to the issue of an impending invasion of England, but the reality of tlie threat is attested by' ample _ evidence. ill the possession of the State Department. "Clearly much more is involved than the demand that France and Holland should surrender to Germany their West Indian territories," says the correspondent. "Official circles are reticent, but Edward Tomlinsou, writing in the New York Herald-Tribune, declares that tho Nazi plan of domination extends beyond the old world to Africa, the Near East, French and British possessions, to Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, Paraguay, and portion of Southern Brazil.

"The Germans believe that this region is, or soon will be, ripe for warlikb conquest or economic control, or both. It is against this threat that the United States is now increasing her armaments and seeking a more solid basis of agreement with tho nntions sharing the peril."