AIR SURPRISES FOR GERMANS

Southland Times, Issue 25513, 6 November 1944, Page 5

AIR SURPRISES FOR GERMANS

Bomber Command’s Hitting Power

(8.0.W.) RUGBY, November 4. “We have given the enemy surprises in the air and there will be more to come. So we must expect the Germans in their turn to produce new weapons which will, militarily, be less futile than flying bombs,” declared the Secretary for Air, Sir Archibald Sinclair, speaking at Hull. He said that the whole operational strength of the Luftwaffe’s long-range bomber force was now only a quarter of what it was in June 1940, whereas Bomber Command could now drop nearly 20 times the tonnage it could then. In addition the United States Army Air Forces in Britain and Italy were now dropping as much as Bomber Command. Sir Archibald Sinclair said that in the past six months Bomber Command had dropped as big a tonnage of bombs as it had in all the previous months of the war put together. In October Bomber command and U.S.A.A.F. working from Britain dropped 100,000 tons, which was far greater than the entire weight of bombs, including flying bombs, Germany had dropped on Britain in the whole course of the war. Bomber Command in 24 hours had dropped more than twice the tonnage the Germans had. dropped on Britain

during the four and a-half months since they first launched flying bombs. Yet in October Bomber Commands rate loss in night attacks on Germany was less than one-eighth of what it was in June, and was encouragingly low even in daylight attacks.