BOMBER COMMAND

New Zealand Herald, Volume 78, Issue 24132, 26 November 1941, Page 10

BOMBER COMMAND

STRIKING AT ENEMY i STEADILY GROWING POWER ROAD TO AIR SUPREMACY The true worth of aircraft whose names are household words throughout the Empire, and of the men who fly them, is made clear in "Bomber Command," an Air Ministry booklet which has just reached New Zealand. It is the story of Britain's bombers from the beginning of the war to the middle of this year, a story in which New Zealand has a vital interest, because of the hundreds of young men from the Dominion who now help to man the day and night raiders of the Royal Air Force. « The amazing effect of even the earliest British air raids on Italy—and they were light affairs compared with those now being delivered —is described in the booklet. It says that evidence of the panic caused in northern Italy by the raids is overwhelming. Reaction of People "The first time Turin was attacked, the population rushed for the scanty, ill-constructed shelters, only to find them packed with the crews of the anti-aircraft guns and searchlights appointed to conduct the defence," it continues. "A'number of their officers were subsequently shot for cowardice. By the end of August there was real panic in Genoa. Its poorer citizens fled daily, raid or no raid, at four in the afternoon to tunnels, where 'thev remained until the following morning. Tbe richer citizens of that "and other towns soon had to be prevented by the police from using their cars during air raids, for they fled in such numbers as to cause serious congestion on the roads and in the' country villages." A recovery of Italian morale, when there was a lull in raids, is recorded, but by the middle of last November the Romans were suffering from nerves, although no bombs had* fallen nearer than Naples. "Nor were Roman nerves ! improved by a mistake made by the anti-aircraft defences which, under the i impression that a practice air raid was » the real thing, opened fire with every- | thing they had, brought down at least ' two Italian bombers, and damaged a number of houses," states the booklet. The German People Of the sudden attack on Naples on October 31 last year, the booklet says: "The same symptoms of panic were immediately apparent. The inhabitants nicknamed the British pilots "milords' and could be heard imploring them not to return, or if they must, to drop their bombs in the sea. The landing of our parachute troops near Mount Vulture in southern Italy on February 10, 1941, added to the general disquiet." No parallel conduct in Germany is recorded. The booklet compares the psychology of the German population during various stages with that of the British people during similar periods, and says the Germans found courage and the strength to endure from observing the nature of our attacks. Many a tribute was paid to the accuracy of British bombing. It was said on all sides that the British only attacked military objectives, and that anyone not living in tbeir neighbourhood was not in danger. Last winter, however, there was a decline in morale due to the slow progress of the shelter reconstruction programme, and the third stage of Britain's attack, from last December onward, has created a feeling of nervousness and apprehension among the populations of the large , industrial centres of Germany. v Confidence in Future

"To sum up—that German morale has suffered is without question, that it will go on to suffer is quite certain, that it is fast cracking under the strain is, however, not yet true," it is stated. "What the future holds no one can -foretell. But it must not be forgotten that the attacks delivered by Bomber Command are steadily increasing in weight and severity." "The story of Bomber Command has been told in brief up to July, 1941," says the booklet. "There, for the moment, it must end, at a point in time when in reality it has only just begun. We can look with confidence to the prospect before us, to the Stirlings, the Halifaxes, the Manchesters, the Fort-

resses and the rest, of which there arc great expectations. "These aircraft are to deliver the overwhelming onslaught which will bring the enemy to his knees, and then lay him prostrate in the dust of his own ruined cities. When that day comes, as come it will, the Battles and Blenheims, the Whitleys, the Wellingtons and the Hampdens must not be forgotten. It is the purpose of this record to keep them in mind. Long-term Policy

"They have carried the weight of our bombing attacks for the first year and a-half of war, and they are still playing a very important part. They have proved themselves to be stout aircraft stoutly flown by a force which, beginning as a sturdy adolescent, is now on the threshold of manhood. , "Its history is the story of a force built up slowly from sound principles resolutely applied. Let there be no mistake. The policy of the Royal Air Force is a long-term policy. Long before this war' began those in authority, when faced with the rapidly-growing numbers of the Luftwaffe, decided that, to seek parity in mere numbers, even if this could be done quickly, was wrong and dangerous. It was a short cut not to victory, but to defeat. "That is why our bombers were built to fly long distances with heavy loads in almost any kind of weather.

That is why they were given a heavy defensive armament. That is why their crews were trained to be self-sufficient, to rely on their own skill to get them to the target and back again, to take, as it were, their operations room, where all the thinking and planning is done, into the aircraft with them. Value ol Policy

"The decision to concentrate on quality, not quantity, was bold, but who shall say that it was wrong? It meant that for long months this country had a bombing force very inferior in numbers to that of the enemy. It meant that during that time the blows it could strike, though persistently and scientifically delivered, could not have the weight of those dealt by the enemy. But it meant, too, that, once the industries of Great Britain and America got into their full stride, once the huge air training schemes developing in Canada, Australia, South Africa and elsewhere began to produce results, nothing could .prevent the achievement of air supremacy and therefore of victory.

"That day is approaching," Bomber Command says. "This is not a boast or a vain prophecy. The figures for the weight of high-explosive and incendiary bombs dropped on Germany, on German shipping, on German-occupied territory, are proof that this is so." The policy adopted is warmly praised by the booklet. It says that it is a policy well in keeping with our national character, a blend of courage and caution. "It needed both to pursue it steadily from the start, front the moment when, on September 12, 1938, Goering trumpeted the might of the Luftwaffe to the Nazis assembled at Nuremberg, to the moment when, an hour before dawn on February 11, 1941, the bright radiance of the landing beam turned for an instant a dark shadow into a shape of ebony and silver, as the first Stirling back from Germany touched down," says th® booklet.