THE CHINA MAIL, FEBRUARY 22, 1940
Will There Be A
Blitzkrieg?
The Germans are supremely con- fident of victory.
They hope to win, they say, by a blitzkrieg, a lightning war. When they are asked how they can impose a lightning war on us, they reply by using every instrument of war at one moment, in one vast offensive.
They did not seize the chance to launch a lightning war at the opening of the struggle. But lightning war does not mean a type of attack which develops on the instant war breaks out. It can begin any day.
Further the Germans say the fact that they have launched a naval war which they are carrying on with all their might does not interfere with their conception of a lightning war.
The tip-and-run war at seg is neces- sary to them in any case. For the destruction of British ships at the outset of the war is more valuable to the Germans than destruction later The more British vessels they
on.
·By
George Malcolm Thomson
They have had their money's worth out of the bomber. It did them good service in peace. But now war has come. And in war the fighter rides the skies while the bomber shirks the battle and skulks in the clouds.
The bomber is built to carry a con- siderable weight of petrol and bombs, In order to bear a heavier burden than A bigger the fighter, it must have wing-spread, And so it must be slower.
The fighter carries machine-guns and not bombs. It carries less petrol in its tanks. For while the bomber is built for flights of, maybe fifteen hours, many fighters are designed to stay not much more than one hour in the air. So the bomber has fallen far short of expectations. I believe that on all the British and German bomber ex- peditions since war began where the bombers have reached their objectives the loss of machines has been 50 per cent.
Here I am speaking of bombers alone. For, of course, there have been fighter raids too.
Now a rate of casualties of 50 per cent. means that bomber pilots will not be ordered to attack heavily-de- fended positions. It is too much to. expect of them. The strain of facing a toll of 50 per cent. on each raid is too severe.
Thoughtless people may say that battalions at the front in the last war suffered losses of 50 per cent, without
sink now the stronger will their posi- being destroyed as fighting units. But
tion be when the lightning war arrives.
moment for
the
Ger- When that time comes, the mans déclare that they will be using their air weapon for the first time. So far they have used it in a sporadic way only. If they use it, we shall discover what it is worth.
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force.
But already we know that the Ger- mans made mistakes before war broke out, in building up their air They acted on a wrong principle.
They built few fighters, But they built many bombers. Their air arm consisted mostly of bombers.
The bomber was the instrument they relied on to strike terror into the hearts of their enemies. By the.
their bombing mere threat to send machines into the sky the Nazis won important victories.
STATEMENT ON COAL SITUATION
London, To-day. A statement on the coal position was made in the House of Commons yesterday by Capt. Euan Wallace, Min- ister of Transport.
Capt. Wallace said the protracted spell of bad weather, including par- ticularly heavy falls of snow and the prevalence of fog and other wintry conditions at sea, which were the counterpart in Britain of the unpre- cedented ice-bound conditions which had prevailed throughout Europe, had created an increased demand for coal while at the same time interfering with transport.
such cases are not comparable with a 50 per cent. loss on every bombing raid. The battalion was not expected to suffer such losses on every fighting day. After a major battle it withdrawn from the line or sent to a
quiet sector.
was
The balloon barrage is also a terror to raiding bombers. These balloon de- fences are a complete success. They have brought down more airplanes
But if
than the anti-aircraft guns. the public judges those guns by their failure to produce casualties among the mistake. enemy, the public makes a The men of the fighter patrols realise fully the value of the guns to Britain's defences.
strong enough to give us the upper hand in a defensive war. And that is the type of war we should conduct If the time comes for a German attack involving the simultaneous use of all their weapons.
PROSPECT
Page
OF VICTORY
Fourth article of the series.
In previous articles Mr. Thom- son discussed"
(1) the war leaders, man- power and supplies;
(2) the possible fields for new
Hitler Invasions;
*
(3) the war at sea and Hitler's attack on our shipping.
The last war was A war of ex- haustion. There was little tactics about it and no strategy, Armies sat down, In trenches and battered one another with steel. Generals piled up man- power for mass attacks on fortified positions. They could not think of anything else to do.
In particular, they entirely failed to devise any new weapon, or system which would overcome the problems set by siege warfare.
But the last war was an exception. There is no reason to suppose that we are facing a war of exhaustion this that time. The trouble is, however, the politicians and the generals were thinking in terms of 1916. They talk of wearing the enemy down, of tiring him out..
But this war will not be fought out It will to the point of exhaustion. conform to the pattern of so many of our wars. It will end in negotiation: Certainly, before that day can come, the Germans will probably have tried ---and failed-to break our front on land. They will have hit out here and there. They will have been compelled to recognise that their sea war has that falled to give the results, and their air weapon has been kept too long in the hangars.
When that day comes, with the re- cognition of failure I will expect to see changes in the German Govern- ment, the emergence of peacefully minded men, the departure of the men who hate Britain.
*
Q
10
And peace will be made, I believe, on the basis of recognising the right of Britain and France to a real measure of security, backed by guarantees that On that day the battle will be de- can be relied on. cided. If our defences are as strong We are entitled to expect tranquillity
will. and frontiers that as I believe them to be, the Germans in Europe,
the freedom in may even give to the peoples
seek happiness and will be defeated. emerge triumphant from the combat which they may and still be beaten through the losses contentment in their legitimate pur-
sults. they have sustained in the process of winning the engagement.
They
Frontiers may not be the same as- I do not believe that the Germans they were. Where the boundary posts
શ second would be able, to develop
will stand depends on how long the lightning war after the-first had failed
-war lasts and how far it spreads. But in its purpose.
boundary posts move back and forth, while these things are eternal PEACE, SECURITY, AND FREEDOM. (World Copyright.)
The failure of the bomber is not the only surprise of the war in the air.
to be a The airplane has proved much more hardy weapon than had
It can take a great a been supposed. deal of punishment without being put out of action.
This is true in particular of British machines. We put better materials and better workmanship into our air fleet, We reap the reward of a tougher, and more lasting product,
Now In estimating Britain's chances in air warfare, the personality of the
Air Minister must be considered. Sir
Kingsley Wood commands the confi- donce of the public. He is believed what we need most of all.
to have energy and drive.
That is
Yet in spite of Sir Kingslegood's high standing with the people there is a persisting anxiety about the Air Ministry. Questions are asked about the output of our factories. About spare parts and repairs.
But if there is some doubt about the effectiveness of the Air Ministry in securing the production we require, the French, on the other hand, are praised for increasing their output.
They have made a real success: of their aircraft construction. I am told by students of airpower that their output was 30 a month before the war and is now 450 a month- and no nonsense about it!
J
Arrangements had been made to accelerate the movements of coal, and he hoped that the situa- In areas where there.
had tion been a shortage of coal, would
- If you take the estimate provided soon be relieved, but Additional supplies of coal to by responsible American newspapers, augment the London and south of then you put the British output England supplies were being arrang- at a total of 1250 machines a month: ed, and an increase of 70,000 tons That would be: «: very pleasing: ›› re- per week; in÷diving 143 "trains per wéék, “would thus reach the south:
Palonge of Chir" coat would necem sitate a considerable réduction of the passenger service on the main rail- | way lines between: Newcastle・・ and' London-Reuter, 145 Steve
sult.
["Let me say: at once that I do not accept the American figure, but if the total is anywhere near that mark, the position: is very satisfactory Indeed.
Properly balanced between bombers: and fighters, our outputs should be
✡
Would there, then, attack by the Allies?
war of exhaustion? how will peace come?
The
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