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Aviation History
1944
1944 - 1729.PDF
AIRCRAFT ENGINEER FIRST AERONAUTICAL WEEKLY IN THE WORLD .• FOUNDED 1909 Editor C. M. POULSEN Managing Editor GEOFFREY SMITH, M.B.E. Chief Photographer JOHN YOXALL jfcr Editorial, Advertising and Publishing Offices 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 2971 (5 lines). DORSET HOUSE, STAMFORD STREET, LONDON, S.E.1 Telephone: Waterloo 3333 (35 lines). MANCHESTER, 3 : GLASGOW, C.l : 260, DEANSGATE. 26B, RENFIELD ST. Telegrams: lliffe, Manchester. Telegrams: lliffe, Glasgow, Telephone : Blackfriars 4412. Telephone: Central 4857. Registered at the G.P.O. as a Newspaper. No. 1861. Vol. XLVI. c August 24th, 1944 Thursdays, One Shilling. IFe Outlook The Under-belly Again G ENERAL MAITLAND WILSON has taken some of us by surprise. That there would be an Allied landing on the squth coast of France sooner or later was a safe guess for everyone; but there seemed good reason for thinking that it would not take place until General Alexander had broken through the Gothic Line in Italy and got astride the Grande Corniche road which runs along the coast through San Remo and Ventimiglia into France. The Supreme Commander in ""the Mediterranean has not waited for that to happen. The preliminary concentration of bombing attentions on the communications along the south coast of France prepared the mind of everybody for a definite move in the near future. The German High Command must have sensed it, but, judging by the event, they found themselves in no position to take any measures to avert the blow. Had the Luftwaffe been but a respectable shadow of its former self, an air attack on the landing forces would surely have been made. But of air oppo sition there was literally none until the Allies were well ashore; and then the efforts of the German airmen were almost microscopic. It is now a platitude to remark that an army unsup ported by an efficient air component is (except in very hilly country) defeated before a single shot is fired. At the moment it looks as if the Allies have before them little but a trek (partly perhaps by train) up the Rh6ne valley into the heart of France. One would like to know what Marshal Kesselring thinks about it all. He has only been fighting a holding and delaying battle in Italy, and he must always have ifad his eyes turned to possible bolt-holes when his situation became desperate. A withdrawal into France ' must surely have been one of the ideas in his mind. That bolt-hole has now been plugged. He could not count on escape for his whole force through the Brenner Pass, for it is narrow, and the railways leading up to it have been under air bombardment for a long time past. There remains the road into Yugoslavia. The possi bilities connected with that route have doubtless been carefully discussed by Mr. Churchill and Marshal Tito in their recent meeting in Italy. It h also significant that the formation of a special Balkan Air Force from the squadrons in the Mediterranean has recently been announced. There emerges a very distinct possibility that Kesselring's forces in northern Italy have now been caught in a trap, and have to face the prospect of com plete elimination. A Great Air Victory N EVER, perhaps, has the value of air supremacy been more emphatically demonstrated than in the great sweep of American armour round from Brittany to the outskirts of Paris. It is all the more remarkable because practically no air combats or bomb ing attacks were included in the manoeuvre. Air supremacy worked silently, as does the Navy, and pro duced the most astonishing and gratifying results. Enthusiasts have told the world that air power smashed Poland and France, because the Stukas were prompt to attack any strong points which delayed the advance of the German tanks ; that air power drove the British out of Norway ; that air power made possible Auchinleck's retreat to Alamein; that air power cleared the way for the armies in Tunisia; in addition to giving yeoman help to the Allies in Sicily and Italy. But never has air power achieved greater results than when it con ferred on the American armour absolute freedom to dash about France at its will. The Americans were not only free from bombing from above; they were practically unopposed on the ground, for the simple B
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