The Wanganui Chronicle. MONDAY, JANUARY 13, 1941. THE AVIATION SITUATION .

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 85, Issue 10, 13 January 1941, Page 4

The Wanganui Chronicle. MONDAY, JANUARY 13, 1941. THE AVIATION SITUATION .

r JX)O much significance should not be attached to the fact that Italy is withdrawing her bombers and fighters from the attack on England, and is also securing air aid from Germany. While it is encouraging to see these shifts of aid because they indicate that neither end of the Axis is wholly adequate to fulfil ils own allotted tasks, it is obvious enough that in a war such as is being waged now, shifting commitments must occur ■necessitating a redisposition of Axis forces. The concentrated bombing of various towns and districts has been the latest technique adopted by Germany, and it is clear, on the evidence of these air raids, that military objectives are not sought; the attack is against the civilian morale. The measure of advantage to be gained by coneentrating upon military objectives is so great that it would be unwise to assume that the present-time indiscriminate bombing raids are the outcome of pure Teutonic bad temper, and it would be more sensible to assume that such methods are the best that the German air force can devise to enable the maximum of the advantage open to them to be exploited. The ground fire against raiders has increased in efficiency, thereby adding to the danger of flying at normal altitudes. In order to reduce the danger from anti-aircraft fire it became necessary to design aeroplanes with a higher ceiling. The Germans succeeded in this and at the same time gained an advantage in this respect over the British fighter planes. This fact probably accounts, in part at least, for the lower casualties suffered by the German raiders over Britain. It may also account for the relatively higher casualty rate of the Italian planes over Britain, as presumably these would not be as efficient as the latest German machines. If this assumption is correct, the withdrawal of the Italian aeroplanes to Italy for the Mediterranean service could be understood. But there is an added reason to existing ones why this transfer should be made. Throughout the war the most efficient aeroplanes, particularly the fighters, have been concentrated in the United Kingdom to defend the essential key position of the British Empire. In the Mediterranean area the Italians have had to meet aeroplanes of lesser efficiency than have opposed them in the Middle East. Now, however, the British have put into commission a new fighter aeroplane whose ceiling is higher than the best German raiders, and the advantage has again swung to the side of the defence. It has been noticable of late that the raiders engaged over Britain appear to have been less numerous and this may mean that the raiders are again finding their operations to be more costly in casualties.' If this is so then it would be wise for the Axis Powers to remove its air strength to an area where the fighter opposition would be less effective, namely to the Mediterranean, for the same policy which Britain is pursuing, that of striking at the weakest spots, is equally valid for the Axis Powers.

The problem which such a change of enemy aviation concentration presents to the British command is to get a sufficient number of fighter planes to the Middle East to cope with the increase in enemy air strength there, while at the same time not weakening the defensive strength of the United Kingdom. The increase in the number of fighter planes in the Near East will depend upon the number of such aeroplanes that are available and upon shipping facilities, for by reason of their short flight range the fighter cannot, like the bomber, make journey on its own power. At the moment the Mediterranean sea route is relatively safe for shipping, which condition it is obviously in the Axis interests to terminate as soon as possible. The Axis, therefore, appears to have worked upon a sound policy in concentrating its air strength, German and Italian, against the United Kingdom in recent months in order to exploit to the full the technical advantage enjoyed through possessing aeroplanes capable of a higher ceiling than the British, and it is also working upon an equally sound line of action in removing the attack to an area in which the British are more vulnerable now that the margin of air advantage in the Battle for Britain is being reduced and may soon disappear if the answer to the night bomber is found. The comforting aspect of the Axis moves, from the British viewpoint, is that Germany decided it desirable to enlist Italian aid and that the Italians, with their strong distaste for foreign aid in their establishment of the new Roman Empire, have not considered themselves, to be sufficiently strong to deal with the British air strength which is now in the Middle East.