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Aviation History
1942
1942 - 2087.PDF
AIRCRAFT ENGINEER FIRST AERONAUTICAL WEEKLY IN THE WORLD ; FOUNDED WO9 Editor C. M. POULSEN Managing Editor G. GEOFFREY SMITH, M.B.E. Chief Photographer JOHN YOXALL Editorial, Advertising and Publishing Offices: DORSET HOUSE, STAMFORD STREET, LONDON, S.E.I Telegrams ; Truditur, Sedist, London. COVENTRY : 8-10, CORPORATION ST., Telegrams: Autocar, Coventry. Telephone: Coventry 5 2 10. BIRMINGHAM, 2 : GUILDHALL BUILDINGS, NAVIGATION ST. Telegrams: Autoprcss, Birmingham. Telephone: Midland 297 1 (5 lines). Telephone: Waterloo 3333 (35 lines). MANCHESTER, 3 : GLASGOW, C.2 t 260, DEANSGATE, 26B, R E N Fl E LD ST.. Telegrams : lliffe, Manchester. Telegrams : lllffe, Glasgow. Telephone : Blackfriars 4412. Telephone: Central 4857. SUBSCRIPTION RATES : Home and Abroad : Year, £3 10. 6 months, £1 10 6. 3 months, 15s. 3d. Registered at the G.P.O. as a Newspaper. No. 1763. Vol. XLII. October 8th, 1942- The Outlooks Thursdays, One Shilling. German Moral "r* I "*HE direct destructive effect of the enemy air raids did not correspond with the resources ex pended for this purpose. On the other hand, the indirect effect, namely, falling off in production of war industries, and also the breaking down of the moral resistance of the nation, cannot be too seriously esti mated." These words were written by a German, General Grosskreutz, in 1928, and they refer to the operations of the Independent Air Force in the last year of the last war. Yet in 1918 British and French bombers only dropped 7,117 bombs on German territory, and com pared with the monsters used to-day they were trifling crackers, more suitable for Guy Fawkes Day than for V serious.war. The conclusion would seem to be that the present policy of Bomber Command ought to reduce German civilian moral to a state of pulp in a very short time. There are many people in this country who eagerly expect that it will. It is a bad and often dangerous thing for civilians of a nation at war to become obsessed with an idea which will sooner or later produce disappointment and reac tion. It was most probably for that reason that the Foreign Secretary, Mr.. Eden, said last week that it was a mistake to speak of our bombing offensive as if its object were to frighten the German. The object was not to frighten him but to paralyse him, and make him mcapable of further harm. Perhaps it was the same desire to throw cold water on recklessly optimistic hopes which prompted the diplo matic correspondent of The Times to give prominence a few days later to the report of a neutral who had just visited Germany and the occupied parts of Russia. This person, described as a man of wide political experience, said that on the whole the German people are deter mined to fight through to the end, and that many still believed in victory. The force of the R.A.F. raids, said this neutral, is commonly discussed, and it is recognised that Germany has only had a foretaste of what is to come. Yet the spirit of the German people is still good, though the sheer physical strain of long months of over work is making itself felt. The spirit of the German army was also stated to be good. This report goes to confirm the wisdom of the Govern ment and the Air Ministry in adopting the policy of striking at the material fabric of German war produc tion, and never attempting to find a short cut to victory by "striking at nerve centres"—as the phrase used to run in the inter-war years. For some reason or other the German people are evidently prepared to endure more now than they were in 1918. Naturally in a place which has been raided as Cologne and other cities have been, the inhabitants are filled with dismay, and there has been an exodus from such places of all who were able to quit. But there is no sign that a breakdown of German moral will force Hitler to sue for peace. So long as his armies will fight as desperately as they are now fighting in Russia, it would be folly for us to expect any such ending to the war. Hitler now spends little time or trouble in trying to stimulate German civilians. He spoke in Berlin last week, mentioning that it was a year since he had last spoken there. His speech was largely a recital of German victories, and he allowed that to produce its own effect. He can rely confidently on civilian moral until his armies are beaten. It will be wise for the British people to cling to Mr. Eden's words, and to think only of paralysing the enemy. The chances of doing any good by frightening him are remote. f
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