The Work of the Air Force

Southland Times, Issue 23946, 12 October 1939, Page 4

The Work of the Air Force

OIR KINGSLEY WOOD’S statefl ment in the House of Commons, summarized in a British Official Wireless message this morning, was an impressive tribute to the efficiency of the Royal Air Force in war conditions. In every field of its activities the Air Force has shown a decided superiority over the enemy. . It has carried out leaflet “raids” over Berlin and even more remote parts of Germany; it has made a spectacular raid .on German battleships; the results of its reconnaissance work on the Western Front have exceeded all expectations; and it has played an important part in convoying ships to British ports. The magnitude of the anti-submarine and convoy work is indicated by the fact, quoted in Sir Kingsley’s statement, that in the first four weeks of the war the coastal command of the Air Force flew 1,000,000 miles and provided air escorts for more than 100 convoys. Britain’s air exploits over German soil are familiar to all: splendid results have been obtained with very slight losses of aircraft and men. On the other hand, the German Air Force has achieved nothing so far as Britain and France are concerned. Attacks on British naval squadrons have been entirely unsuccessful and the few German aircraft which have reached the coasts of Britain have been unable to do any damage. It is true, of course, that the wider questions of aerial warfare remain unsettled. Neither side has launched, or suffered, a major air attack. The Nazis so far have refrained from attacking western cities, probably because they have been • afraid of jeopardizing the success of their peace drive and because they hesitate to initiate a method of warfare that will lead to immediate reprisals and turn world opinion even more decisively against them.

Growing Superiority

But there is no longer reason to fear that their challenge, when it comes, will be beyond the powers of resistance of the British and French Air Forces. Production of aeroplanes in Britain is now being expanded on a wartime scale. It exceeded 1000 a month before the war started; and Sir Kingsley Wood has stated that in due course the rate of production will be more than twice the present figure. The French aircraft industry, also, has an enormous capacity for expansion. Britain and France are outbuilding Germany today, and their relative superiority is increasing with every week. More encouraging still, the evidence so far indicates that British aircraft at least are better designed and superior, in quality to the enemy types. And British pilots since the outbreak of war have more than upheld their reputation as the world’s best. Some astonishing individual exploits have been reported in cable messages. According to the Secretary for Air, there is an ample supply of volunteer recruits (10,000 were accepted in the first fortnight of the war) and the new Empire training scheme should ensure that it is always maintained. In the near future plans are to be completed for an expansion of aircraft production in Australia, New Zealand and Canada, and for the use of Canada as a training ground for Air Force recruits from all three Dominions. There is every indication that before long the British Empire will possess an Air Force as markedly superior to those of other nations as her navy is superior today to all foreign fleets.