The Waikato Times THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1940 RUTHLESS BOMBING

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21216, 12 September 1940, Page 6

The Waikato Times THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1940 RUTHLESS BOMBING

War in its most ghastly form, with murderous attacks upon women and children in their homes and upon the nations’ most sacred treasures, has been chosen by Germany as the method by which it is hoped to reach a decision. It is a sign of German panic. This is not the first time that the fear of defeat has caused German forces to resort to tactics which could be expected only from barbarians. Goering, who is said to be personally directing the present aerial onslaught on London from France, takes his place beside those other Huns who have earned the contempt and disgust of the civilised world. He calls these attacks “ reprisals ” for British attacks on Berlin, but there is more in it than that. It is, always has been, a German method to attempt to win wars by sheer “ frightfulness.” So much is admitted officially by Germans. While Germany was pounding a dozen other nations into submission by methods of gross cruelty, Germans at home applauded the prowess of their army and air force. But for the first time the war has come home to Germany itself, and a taste of the shocks of war has caused the Germans to realise what the rest of western Europe has been made to suffer. The game of altering the map has assumed a terrifying aspect. Germany at least realises that perhaps after all the enemy might be too powerful if the growing war machine is permitted to reach full stature. So any excuse has been seized to increase the terror of the German onslaught in the hope that Britain will collapse from the sheer horror of the attack. “ One of us will collapse, Hitler said, and he was right. Free Britons are prepared to match their nerves against those of dragooned Nazis. Certain features of the aerial attack demand attention. If Germany intends to reach a quick decision by ruthless bombing, why has the rest of England been left more or less unmolested while hundreds of planes have been concentrating on London ? Is Germany incapable of attacks on a wider scale ? Every bomber sent across the Channel must, to ensure a reasonable chance of success, be accompanied by many fighters. Germany is known to possess a large number of machines, but it is not improbable that she is now employing the maximum number that can be handled without undue risk. Hitler’s need for a quick decision is now desperate, and it is unlikely that he would be content to employ less than his maximum strength. Raiding by night now seems to be the settled policy. Always when an attack is made in daylight the Nazis suffer heavily. Detection and countering of night attackers is extraordinarily difficult, but on the other hand the chances of night fliers locating and damaging vital military objectives are much more remote, so that even if the civilian population is caused to suffer the nation’s military resources escape comparatively lightly. Ability to stand the strain will now be one of the chief factors in the struggle, and in that respect the people of London and of the whole of Britain have evoked the admiration of the world. Every bomb that crashes on a revered spot in the heart of the Empire means an addition to the store of determination that the murderers and spoilers shall be made to pay the penalty.