1940-11-15 — Page 62

THE CHINA MAIL FRIDAY SUPPLEMENT, NOVEMBER 15, 1940.

The Strength & Weakness Of The French Air Force

LET us go back in thought to the month of August 1939. Public opinion was then trying to foresee how the Allied armies would react when faced by the German forces. People said: the week point will be the French Air Force.

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or

to

1937, First, in 1936. and

the traditions will enable France strength and the weakness of the always try to find scapegoats. The French Air Force.

fault, it was said, lies with the credits granted for the Air Force redeem the mistakes and the er Ministers of Air

including were less than £50,000,000. These rors of the old and incapable men the author of this article and credits represented 18 per cent of who directed her military policy. with the Popular Front.

the whole eredits allotted to Na- Everywhere where it was In

tional Defence. During this same (World copyright 1940 by "China The truth is otherwise. At the period, the credits granted to the Mail" and Cooperation. Re- action in more or less normal con-

whole production in ditions. the French Air

were between Force root of our inferiority in the air, British Air Force

part strictly forbidden). showed itself superior to the Ger- there is an error of military con- two and three times higher, and | Events have not confirmed this man Air Force. This superiority ception. We did not have more those granted to the German Air forecast. It is not the

five times German arose from two causes: the worth 'planes, just as we did not have Force were probably 'planes which have conquered of the men and the quality of the more tanks, because for too long higher. It was only in 1938 and France, it is the mechanised and material.

a period our important military. 1939 that the credits granted to Armoured divisions. It is not the

leaders believed neither in The the French Air Ministry were Weakness of the French Air Force

Air, Force nor in tanks.

increased and brought up to which has astonished the world,

will bel about £200,000,000. It But the weakness of the French

seen how unjust it would be to fand forces.

hold the Air Ministers of 1936 and 1937 responsible for a state of affairs against which they them- selves unremittingly protested.

The worth of the men is unden- jable On the whole. French áir- men had a better moulding and The obvious proof of this error better training than the German of conception is provided by the Firmen, We must praise not only insufficiency of French anti-air-

technical craft defence. The weaknesses of our strategie their courage but their

This anti-aircraft and tactical conceptions, the end military value. The crews defence (and in particular anti- archaic character of our

were excellent, the young oflleers ents, the insufficiency of train- did wonders. If we except ing and above all the Jack of High Command (which was dis- ereptive_imagination on the part tinctly beneath its task) the chiefs, of our General Staffs have been from General Tetu down to brought to light on land, rather squadron leaders, were well up to than in the air.

their job.

arma-

Following this general observa- tion. we must explain the

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115

Fking forward to a cheerful even- my with the radio ?

cdo yun lop into a chair 100 worn. out to enjoy your rest-?" And finct vos exelf during to the music ? -Phe- iselright!. Do you know what

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Sul. it's

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APBO

the

the

Similarly, the material in ser- vice at the beginning of the war was of good quality. The Potez 63 and the Morane 405, without mentioning the American mach-

work. ines. did excellent

More easily manoeuvrable than German planes, they enabled our airmen to carry out their missions. So much for the qualities. But let us consider the defects,

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By M. Pierre Cot

the aircraft artillery) was the province not of the Air Ministry, but of the Ministry of War.

The French Air Force suffered Trom insufficiency in two dirce

tions.

It our chiefs of the General Staff

Air had believed in the

Force, they would have taken measures to defend their troops and territory against aerial attack by the

Secondly, at the end of 1936. the French Air Ministry created groups of Air Infantry (parachu- fists). These troops, admirubly trained by a most competent of cer: played successful part in the manoeuvres of 1937. In spite of this, in 1939 the credits neces- sary for their maintenance' were withdrawn, the greatest of Our military feaders having said that these were merely circus stunts! The German use of parachutists has proved what the conceptions of our important military leaders were worth where the Air Force was concerned.

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In reality, with

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New!

Tho

PENCIL YOU CAN

SHARPEN WITH YOUR THUMB! Just press the top of this new Eversharp Repeating Pencil and out comes a new point of just the right writing length. And when one lead is used, just press the top with your thumb and a new lead shoots into place! Feeds lead continuously.

Fill It Only Twice a Year! The new Eversharp Repeating insufficient Pencil holds a six months means, the French Air Ministry supply of leads for an average enemy. They failed to do this built up a good Air Force.. It writer. Just lift the top and because they did not believe in was not the fault of the Air Min- drop them in. the Air Force. Further; in Dec- istry, nor that of its leaders, if ember 1936, the Air Ministry sub- the Ministry of National Defence mitted to the Higher War Com- and War, on the one hand, and omittee a plan providing that the the Chief of the General Staff, on The only lauừ tint in this pencil- the airfields were not sufficiently anti-aircraft defence services the other hand, refused from 1936 it dis aur mechanical Dentis

doubled. The Com, to 1938 to believe in the Air and Emoother. mittee considered that there was Force, from 1936 to 1939 to make no need to take this plan into

#sufficient effort in anti-aircraft consideration.

defence, and from 1938 to 1940 to believe in parachute troops

First, the insufficiency of French anti-aircraft defence. Most

| protected against enemy air at

tack. The same state of things applied in the case of French fac- tories, towns, bridges and railway

stations. We lacked anti-aircraft artillery.

should be

But let us leave anti-aircraft defence and come to the Air Force properly so called.

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All French authorities bear their This resulted in two weaknesses

part of responsibility in the French for our Air Force: at the airfields.

debacle. But the heaviest res- we lost far too many 'planes ou

ponsibility remains that of milit the ground and in the land battles

ary chiefs who were too old, who against the armoured units or the

It was not until 1938, that is to prepared for a war on the lines of German columns our Air Force,

the French 1918, instead of boldly adopting hindered-by-the-excellent German say, too late, that

General Staff appears" ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄to' have those modern armaments, the defence, could not take part as realised the importance of the Air acroplane and the tank, où which effectively as did the German Air

Force. Up to this time, it had our enemies built up their Army Force against our own troops,

invariably preferred to devote to and based their strategy. the land forces and to the Maginot Secondly, our Air Force was a Line the credits voted by Parlia- Let us hope that in the future, great deal smaller than the Ger- ment. The following facts show chiefs who are young and worthy

Air

Force. Undoubtedly this..

of the French people and French France had the right to count on the support of the R.A.F. This (1) The French Air Force was support was given generously. It created in April 1933. Before this exceeded the anticipations of the date, France had only a coopera- Cieneral Staffs, and all Frenchmen tive air arm, an auxiliary force at- are grateful for the admirable tached to the land forces, The efforts of the British airmen in creation of the Air Force was de- defending French towns and cided upon against the advice of French troops. But in the whole the Chief of the General Staff, French military machine, the Air who was then General Weygand. Force, like the tanks, represented too small a part

man

Let us seek the causes of this double inferiority.

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(2) In June 1936, the plan for organising the Air Force, drawn up by the military authorit les, provided for a force of 1,000 first-line 'planes with 20 per cent. in reserve, making а total. of As always in France, an effort 1,200 machines. This plan Was has been made to fix the respon- only carried out to half its ex- sibility politically. The French tent. By August of that year, in

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reply to the German effort, we had adopted a 'plan for 1,500 first-line planes with 40 per cent. in reserve, that is a total of 2,400 'planes to be built in three years. In addition, in December 1936, the Ministry of Air laid a proj posal before the Higher War Com- mittee, to double this 'plan (and to double, the anti-aircraft artil- lery). By a decision of January 1937, the Higher War Committee refused to consider this increase of the Air Force. It was pot un- |til the spring of 1938 that

scheme could be taken up again.

the

(3) In August 1937, the Min- istry of Air had its requests for credits cut by 20 per cent, by the Ministry of Finance,

"We" could quote other instances. But these are 'sufficient to show thet up to 1938 nothing copsid erable or in carnest was under- taken to reply to the German air effort, and that, despite the efforts and the requests of the Air Ministry.

Two. observations will comploto this Impression:

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