THE CONTEST IN THE AIR

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 302, 22 December 1939, Page 6

THE CONTEST IN THE AIR

A NEW phase of the air warfare has developed, it having arisen out of the indiscriminate sowing of bombs bv Gcrmai seacraft and aeroplanes. The new phase consists of the decision of the Royal Air Force to patrol the German coastal regions with the object of locating German seagoing craft. Such ar extension of patrol work to the coast of Germany will assist tin \avy in meeting by anticipation the minelaying operations pl their opponents. It was in the interests of Germany to frustrate, such an ex tension of the patrol work of the R.A.E., and there does appeal to.have been a determined effort made by the German air lore* to prevent the patrols returning to their base. The -ffort was however, only partially successful. The German authorities report that the British air palro comprised 44 machines. but this pardonable exaggeration onlj does the German authorities greater barm. if such a iargi enemy force appeared over Germany, how comes it that the- de fenders v.ere so searee” t'n ol the enigmas of the present, war is the sparse use o the air arm by Germany. The German aviators played a vert important part in the attack on Poland, but- it is now suspcctei that the casualty rate was much higher than was reported al tin time. This may be one of the causes, hut the shortage o machines should not be a contributing factor at the moment. I he Italian periodical Ala d'Halia. in its issue of last, .lune reckoned the strength of the Germtii air fleet at 4401) machines of which 3000 were firs! line, and added that by the end of th< year the number could probably he raised to 6000. At the saint time it reckoned the yearly productive capacity of German in dustry at. 5000 machines, a figure that, under war conditions, l>\ introducing a three-shift system for the workers in the aircraft industry, could be tripled—that is. raised to 15,000 machines It ibis Italian estimate is only approximately correct, the ail defences of the, German coast, are woefully below requirements from the German standpoint. and below what could be provided. I he Heligoland Bight is a natural rendezvous for German naval units operating in the .North Stea. het al this important point only 24 Messerschmitt aeroplanes were, able to oppose the British a 'iliei planes. In this encounter the bombers appeal Io iiave proved themselves to be superior to the fighter planes i"r 12 oi tne lai ter w ere seen to have been shot down, representing 50 per eent. of the defending air force. The British report a hiss of seven bombers. It is significant that the same per rentage of losses, namely :>0 per eent., has been suffered bv the ’■ermau air "aiders of the I nited Kingdom. The two facts taker together, point in the direction of British machines and aviators oeing superior to those of Germany. I be absence of an adventurous air campaign by Germany 'ie\erfhe,ess. cannot be attributed to a shortage of aeroplanes oi of pilots It may be due to a consciousness of a marked in teriorily, which if is desired to hide until better aeroplanes have neon constrnefed. and it. might be due to a desire to conserve oil fuel supplies in order to permit of large-scale air attacks being made in conjunction with a forward movement on land.