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Aviation History
1943
1943 - 1555.PDF
and AIRCRAFT ENGINEER FIRST AERONAUTICAL WEEKLY IN THE WORLD •• FOUNDED 1909 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 52 10. Telephone: Waterloo 3333 (35 lines). BIRMINGHAM, 2 : GUILDHALL BUILDINGS, NAVIGATION ST. Telegrams: Autopress. Birmingham. Telephone: Midland 297 1 (S lines). MANCHESTER. 3 : 260, DE ANSG ATE Telegrams : lliffe, Manchester. Telephone : Blackfriars 4412. GLASGOW, C.2 : 26B, RENFIELD ST. Telegrams: lliffe, Glasgow. Telephone: Central 4857. No. 1799. Vol. XLIII. c Registered at the G.P.O. as a Newspaper. June 17th, 1943. We Outlook Thursdays, One Shilling. Mr. Churchill's Smoke ScreenN OBODY could have expected the Prime Minister to give the House of Commons any precise details of what are the plans of the United Nations for the next stage of discomfiting the Axis, and he fulfilled expectations by delivering an interesting discourse wru'eh resembled the smoke screen spread around the move- ments of a naval force" to hide its movements from the enemy. Mr. Churchill, however, could never be platitudinous, even if he were to try to be so. His speech contained many remarks which were interesting, and at least one that is puzzling. His words were: "In the summer of last year, as Minister of Defence, I set on foot a policy of increasing our bomber effort, which, of course, entailed certain sacrifices in other directions. All that is now coming into hand." Only those within the inner circle can understand what those words mean. To the outside observer the diffi- culty is to see what sacrifices were entailed. On every hand our weapon power is obviously on the increase both in quality and quantity. Certainly there has been no diminution of air help for the Navy and the sea effort. In the very next sentence of his speech the Prime Minister mentioned how the "V.L.R." (i.e., the very long-range air power) has been thrown effectively into the struggle against the U-boats. He also reiterated the principle that '' we British must continue to place the anti-U-boat war first, because it is only by conquer- ing the U-boat that we can live and act." The sacrifices were evidently made in some other direction, which it would have been indiscreet to indicate to the enemy. Another of Mr. Churchill's remarks about the anti-U- boat struggle promotes reflection. He said that it was around the convoys that U-boats can best be destroyed. No doubt he would agree that it would be preferable to destroy them in their shipyards or their repair bases, but it is evident that the mighty efforts of Bomber Com- mand against the yards in Hamburg and elsewhere and the bases of Lorient and St. Nazaire have not prevented great numbers of German submarines from being at sea. Mr. Churchill remarked in his speech that there were now so many U-boats employed that it was almost im- possible (for a convoy) not to run into one or other of the great streams of them. One knows that the concrete pens in which the boats are assembled or repaired are practically bomb-proof, but it is certainly disappointing to find that the destruction of harbour facilities and the interference with the living accommodation of the workers have not had the effect of reducing the number of U-boats at sea to more reasonable proportions. Never- theless, the fight against them is going well, and the Prime Minister expressed his confidence, in deliberately restrained words, that the U-boat war will not stand between the United Nations and their final victory. The Bomber OffensiveT HE British bomber offensive is avowedly a long- term policy, much like the naval blockade. Neither is expected to give quick returns. Not long ago a German newspaper admitted that British bombing had forced Germany to draw upon her strategic reserve of weapons, which must be enormous. In the final fight for Tunisia the Axis forces ran short of supplies, but that was due to interference by the Royal Navy and by British and American aircraft on the last stage of the supply line, the sea crossing from Sicily to Africa. As with U-boats, more immediate advantage can be gained by blows delivered just behind the battle front than at any earlier section of the supply line.
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