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Aviation History
1943
1943 - 1681.PDF
AIRCRAFT ENGINEER FIRST AERONAUTICAL WZEKLY IN THE WORLD • FOUNDED 1909 Editor C. M. POULSEN Managing Editor G. GEOFFREY SMITH, M.B.E. Chief Photograp,,^ JOHN YOXALL Editorial, Advertising and Publishing ©ffices: DORSET HOUSE, STAMFORD STREET, LONDON, S.E.I Telegrams : Truditur, Sedist, London. COVENTRY : 8-10, CORPORATION ST. Telegrams: Autocar, Coventry. Telephone: Coventry 52 10. BIRMINGHAM, 2 : GUILDHALL BUILDINGS, NAVIGATION ST. Telegrams: Autopress, Birmingham. Telephone: Midland 297 1 (5 lines). Telephone: Waterloo 3333 (35 lines). MANCHESTER, 3 : GLASGOW, C.2 : 260, DEANSGATE. 26B, RENPIELDST. Telegrams: 11 iff e, Manchester. Telegrams : Ilifte, Glasgow. Telephone : Biackfriars 4412. Telephone : Central 4857. No. 1801. Vol. XLIV. Registered at the G.P.O. as a Newspaper. July 1st, 1943. Ihe Outlook Thur:days, One Shilling. Decisive FactorsT HE present war has turned out very different from the last one. Very seldom does one war follow the lines of its predecessor. Sometimes an experi- ment which has proved successful is copied, and the success of choosing Marshal Foch as Generalissimo of the combined French and British Armies on the Conti- ntent has formed a precedent for uniting British and other Allied contingents under one leader in various theatres of war with the happiest results. The chief novelty in organisation adopted in the present war has been, not the uniting of Allied troops, but the placing of all three Services under one Com- mander-in-Chief. The nationality of the leader chosen has been a minor point, and in all cases the individual chosen has been the man who seemed most fitted to hold the position. The novelty lay in placing the selected leader in supreme command of all sea, land and air forces in the area with which he had to deal. In two cases the Commander-in-Chief has been a sailor, namely, a Dutch Admiral in the South-West Pacific in the early stages of Japan's advance, and a British Admiral in Ceylon. In all other cases the supreme authority has been invested in a soldier, and the instances of General (now Field Marshal) Wavell, General MacArthur and General Eisenhower will readily occur to the mind. None of these three soldiers has attempted to interfere with the details of the naval work of the Admirals who have nominally served under him, but the main point is that unity of command over all three Services has been accepted as a principle. Inter-Service jealousy is a very undesirable thing, which has sometimes hampered warlike operations in the past. In this war no signs of it have been apparent, and the accepted practice of unity of command has probably been partly responsible for its absence—though we prefer to believe that patriotism and enthusiasm for the cause, combined with the wider outlook of modem officers and men, have had even more to do with it. On all battle fronts the sailors, soldiers and airmen have pulled together, helping each other and full of admira- tion for the work of the others. Only on the top rungs of the official ladders have signs of jealously occasionally made their appearance. Controversies have sometimes started about what is the "decisive factor" in war. Whenever a new weapon is discovered, enthusiasts always appear who proclaim that it is the decisive factor. Probably in the dim dawn of history the tribe which first learnt to ride horses proclaimed hotly that mounted cavalry would always be the decisive factor. In more recent times the same claim was made by some for the torpedo (and Hitler still banks on it). Now it is being made for aircraft. Words of WisdomI N such discussions it is important to keep clear in the mind the distinction between what is indispensable and what is decisive. In a tank, for example, there are doubtless many minute parts, each of which is indis- pensible, but none of which could be called decisive in battle. Likewise in war, espeqially in the amphibious style of war which Britain and America must now wage, many arms are indispensable, but only a proper co- ordination of them all can be decisive. It is reported from North-West Africa that General Spaatz, who commands the Air Forces there, has made a speech in which he is said to have expounded the theory that air power is the decisive factor in war. He may hold that theory, but he is evidently no fanatic, for, speaking of Pantellaria, he is reported to have remarked that it would be unwise to imagine that any
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