BRITISH AIR STRATEGY

Southland Times, Issue 24352, 5 February 1941, Page 5

BRITISH AIR STRATEGY

General Purpose Of Attacks “ACHILLES HEEL” OF GERMANY (British Official Wireless) (Received February 4, 7.30 p.m.) RUGBY, February 3. “So far German air defences have caused R.A.F. bombers no undue worry,” said a high Air Force officer, in London, when referring to the recent speech of Marshal Milch, Inspector General of the German Air I’ orce. The officer said that Marshal Milch had found it necessary to explain to the German public that, so far from being able to give immunity from British bombers, night raiders were very difficult to find. Speaking of the damage done by R.A.F. attacks, the officer said that pilots’ reports contained accurate accounts, which were supported in the second place by subsequent photos, and third, by information received from independent sources. He instanced the raid on Mannheim in December in which information received established that some nine direct hits were obtained on railways causing damage that it took three weeks to repair, and that 248 industrial premises were destroyed, besides considerable damage to an inland port. The German railways were strained to capacity, and any loss of time would never be made up.

Although the weather interfered

with a great many raids, the programmes of all attacks conformed to a general plan, which was to concentrate the greatest force at weak spots in the German war economy. Many targets were selected by the Ministry of Economic Warfare, and at present the Achilles Heel of Nazi war economy was synthetic oil production.

The officer stated that there was no doubt in his mind or in the mind of the Commander-in-Chief of the Bomber Command that the present inactivity of the Luftwaffe over Britain was entirely due to unusually bad weather conditions, which were spread over the whole of north-eastern Europe.