RAIDS ON EUROPE

New Zealand Herald, Volume 80, Issue 24631, 9 July 1943, Page 4

RAIDS ON EUROPE

DPSSELDOBF DAMAGE AMERICANS' OPERATIONS (Reed. 7.15 p.m.) LONDON, July 8 Mustangs, Typhoons and Spitfires carried out offensive patrols and sweeps over Northern France and the Low Countries yesterday. Two of our aircraft are missing. Royal Air Force photographs show that large areas of Dusseldorf have been destroyed by fire and high explosives. Pictures taken after the blitz of about a month ago, when nearly 2000 tons of bombs were dropped, show that the administrative centre of the German steel manufacturing industry has been destroyed There is widespread destruction in the town's main industrial areas to the east and south. The 42 severely damaged buildings include a heavy armament works, which once employed 36,000 workers, and warehouses and store sheds in the clock area. The city's main station, gasworks and municipal power station were also hit. In the first year's operations in Kurope the United States Eighth Air Force carried out 68 daylight missions, dropped 11,423 tons of bombs, destroyed 1199 planes, probably destroyed 525 and damaged 501 for the loss of 276 heavy bombers. The American losses averaged 3.91 per cent in 7076 sorties. The Secretary of State for Air. Sir Archibald Sinclair, informed the House of Commons that 276 British and 92 American bombers were lost over Germany and Northern France during June.

ALLIED AIR SUPREMACY SPECTRE BEFORE AXIS Washington, j»iy 7 Air experts agree that the odds in air operations have shifted overwhelmingly in favour of the Allies since United States expansion became effective. Summing up developments, General H. H. Arnold, Chief of the United States Army Air Force, in an interview to-day said: "Our strength is increasing faster than the enemy can build up to meet us. He cannot possibly meet us 011 even terms unless he inflicts losses on ns at the rate of four to one. "Instead of that, the overall picture shows that we are get ting two of his planes for every one we have lost and in some cases we are inflicting losses of four to one. That is the European picture and the campaign against .Japan adds up about the same," Experts say that General Arnold's statement, reveals that Axis air forces are bringing down only one-eighth of the number of the Allied planes necessary for them to avoid ultimate crushing by sheer weight of numbers. This is quite apart from the damage to German plane factories. The odds in the Pacific are better than in Europe, because Japanese production is far below the German. Japan, however, is better situated in respect to distance. The Allies have to go much further to reach vital targets than they do in Europe. The New York Times says that as an indication of Japan's severe air losses the Tokio radio announced that the three-year training period of air cadets had been halved. The entrance age for the army and air training schools has been reduced from 15 to 34. BRIEF ENEMY RAID {Reed. 5.35 p.m.) LONDON, July 7 Two enemy fighters made a brief appearance over East Anglian coastal districts this evening. One was destroyed. Only slight damage was done by machine-gun fire and no one was injured. The Home Secretary, Mr. Herbert Morrison, said in the House of Commons to-day that steps were being taken to bring impVovements into the air-raid warnings system in England, It was impossible to say more without giving useful information to the enemy, but new steps would involve an appreciable decentralisation in the method of giving warnings, and the work was now in hand.

MUSICIANS' WAR REFUSAL TO MAKE RECORDS LONDON, July 7 British dance band and orchestra leaders and highly-paid instrumentalists have joined in the war which American musicians are waging against recorded music. They announce that they will refuse to record for film, radio and gramophone companies in Britain unless there is a guarantee that their recordings will not be exported to and used in the United States. British composers, copyists and arrangers have also decided to refuse to allow their work to be exported to America until the musicians there are satisfied that they had won their battle against the extensive use of "canned" music. Recordings are alleged to have thrown thousands of American musicians out of work. No gramophone records have been produced in the United States since August, 1942, and there has been a general boycott of film and radio recording.