The Waikato Times WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1942 AERIAL WAR DEVELOPING

Waikato Times, Volume 131, Issue 21835, 16 September 1942, Page 2

The Waikato Times WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1942 AERIAL WAR DEVELOPING

Aerial warfare on an unprecedented scale is expected in Western Europe by an American correspondent, who believes the great clash may be decisive. It is at least certain that from the Allied side attacks of unexampled violence will be developed. Whether Germany will be able to match that strength will depend on the force she is able to release from the Russian front. Probably when winter paralyses activity in Russia the Luftwaffe will be able to turn attention to the west, but from Germany’s point of view it seems to be too late to hope to keep pace with the great and growing aerial strength of Britain and the United States. Germany may raid Britain on as heavier scale because it seems almost impossible to prevent bombers “getting through,” but the attack in the other direction will be greater still. In the past the weight of Allied raids on Germany has been concentrated into periods when the moon was near the full. It has been notable lately, however, that some of the heaviest raids have been made when the moon has been at its minimum, and the attacks have lacked nothing in efficiency and accuracy. Therefore, except in periods of the worst weather, the raids may be continuous. What that means, Germany is already beginning to learn. The main industrial targets are not being allowed time to recover from one blow before another falls. And Germany knows that the weight of the attacks is still far from its maximum; that the United States Air Force is only beginning to make itself felt. It has always been maintained that aerial attack alone will never win a war. The experience of Malta, for instance, lends support to that claim. But nevertheless the bomber is a comparai tively new weapon and its full potentiality has not yet been exploited. Germany in the next few months will be the subject of the test of the effectiveness of thp air weapon. Britain and the United States | from the west and Russia from the east are developing an aerial j offensive of previously unheard-of power. Germany will be comI pelled to strike back to the limit of her ability. This aerial clash may not of itself be decisive but, coupled with land and sea warfare, it will eventually impose an intolerable strain on the German nation. JAPANESE JUNGLE TACTICS War correspondents who have watched the progress of the fighting with the Japanese in the South-west Pacific are emphatic that the Allies’ counter to the enemy’s infiltration methods involves a drastic change in the orthodox conception of battle tactics. The idea is not now new, of course. The campaign in Malaya indicated that the Japanese had mastered jungle tactics to a marked degree. Similar tactics have been employed in other wars. The surprise was that the Japanese should be so adept at the game. Success in this case depends upon individual soldiers and small groups who employ native cunning in hunting down and killing the quarry. The method is not new to colonial soldiers, and if they are given the equipment they will eventually master the Japanese. Equipment is of outstanding importance. The Japanese fight . in extremely light kit, and every bushman knows the advantage thereby gained. If the Allied soldier is compelled to carry a load of bulky equipment he will always be heavily handicapped. He should be relieved of all unnecessary burdens and communications should be developed to keep him supplied. A man cannot fight successfully and be his own pack mule at the same time. The Japanese have the advantage of working to a plan that has long been prepared and rehearsed. In orthodox fighting the Allies will beat them. Therefore they will fight when and where they choose so long as that choice is left to them. The Allies must beat them at their own tactics, and training must be conditioned accordingly. Initiative and animal cunning must receive the emphasis.