BRITAIN’S AIR STRENGTH

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20914, 20 September 1939, Page 6

BRITAIN’S AIR STRENGTH

Germany, which after the Great War admitted it was impossible to keep pace with the British production of aircraft, may have occasion to tell an even more gloomy story before the present war is ended. This knowledge on the part of the Nazis lends further strength to the belief that Germany counted either upon dealing a sudden fatal blow to the Allies or upon avoiding a trial of strength with them. But the challenge has been accepted, and the issue will depend largely upon the ability of the Allies to outmatch Germany in the production of the engines of war. Britain in the production of aeroplanes is rapidly working up to an output of thousands instead of hundreds of machines a month, and France also has made remarkable progress since the reorganisation of her internal economy a year ago. British production is already four times as great as in the early months of last year, and the limit has not yet been reached by any means. New factories are beginning to produce aeroplanes while others are being constructed, and the resources of finance and material are almost unlimited. As with aeroplanes, so with warships and land armaments. The staggering outputs of the later years of the Great War are being repeated. The true position, if it becomes known, must have a profound effect upon the morale of the enemy. Germany’s knowledge of the production and performance of British and French aircraft has possibly had some effect in persuading Herr Hitler not to order air raids upon British and French territory, apart from the limitvd operations on the Western Front and minor skirmishes among naval machines. So great is the British output that even comparatively heavy losses in combat will not materially slow down the mounting total of fighting planes. If Germany does eventually decide to challenge the British air strength in direct conflict she will find that her vaunted superiority, which has been used very effectively as a means of coercion, does not in fact exist. In building and manning more and more fast fighting craft lies Britain’s chief hope of avoiding the horrors of unrestricted raids on the civilian population.