VOLUME GROWS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24912, 11 May 1942, Page 8

VOLUME GROWS

THE AIR OFFENSIVE REAL SECOND FRONT The present Royal Air Force offensive against Germany and occupied Europe, implementing the Air Minister's promise of March 4, is much more than a' new phase of the constant aerial struggle that has been going on since September, 1939, says the Sydney Morning Herald's military correspondent. The sustained and heavy attacks have opened up a second front in Western Europe in a very real sense, and this fact remains whatever may eventuate ,in regard to a second . front achieved bv amphibious action. While such aerial assault cannot of itself win the war, there can be no question of the importance of the contribution it can make toward that end if it be skilfully directed and carried out with sufficient force and continuity. Far from being hastily improvised in reply to Russias call for aggressive action against Germany in the west, the present offensive is the result of long-ranged plans to which the Air Ministry unswervingly adhered throughout the difficult formative periods, notwithstanding much criticism. Day of Destiny After the Battle of Britain the world saw how much it owed to the determination with which the Air Ministry persisted in its plans to evolve heavilyarmed eight-gunned fighter aeroplanes. The decision to accept Mitchell's Spitfire and Camm's Hurricane marked a day of destiny in British history. It may well be that the later resolve to build up a force of heavy bombers, capable of attacking the farthest points in Europe, is" now going to justify itself in the wider Battle of Europe, although the policy was carried out only in the face of criticism that at times threatened to be overwhelming. It was no easy task to evolve prototypes and to construct the necessary number of great bombers at a time of such rapid changes in air warfare, and when the public were clamouring for immediate results as against the preparation for a long-range plan. Britain's New Bombers Consequently, it says much for the Ministry that, qualitatively, the types represent the last word in bombing -■lactice, while, quantitatively, the requisite numbers are now available for crushing, concerted blows against o Reich and German - occupied Europe. Britain concentrated upon the heaviest of bombers, the Sterlings, which came into service last April, the Halifaxes, and the Manchesters, and the Whitneys, and now the latest Avro Lancasters, first used against Augsburg. A steadily increasing leaven of such gigantic machines was introduced into the bombing forces, with far more than commensurate gains in bomb-load and striking force. At the same time America was convinced of the role to be played by such types. The first B-17-E took the air on September 6, with its unequalled power turrets. This latest form of Boeing Flying Fortress, and the Liberator (the Consolidated B-24) are now being produced in great quantity, and have bene adopted as the principal types in the big-bomber programme of the United States. Rostock Only the Beginning These modern bombers are faster, more heavily armed, more manoeuvrable, and much longer ranged than thsir predecessors. They can carry up to six tons of bombs, including single bombs of well over two tons weight and infinitely more destructive than the 1941 types. A mixed bombing fleet of 300 machines is thus a tremendously greater striking force than an equally Targe assembly of a year ago; and the time is fast coming when a single operating unit will be able to drop 1000 tons of bombs over targets anywhere in Germany or the adjacent occupied territories. This implies more devastating aerial warfare than anything hitherto conceived. Rostock was only a beginning.