In the Middle of the Night

Twelve days had passed since British bombers tore the German night, ten since U.S. bombers flew in sunlight to Le Bourget (see cols, 1 & 2). Bad weather, the one defense which works against an air offensive, had given both the Germans and the Allied bombing fleets a valuable respite.

When the weather broke, day bombers and night bombers took wing from Britain. In their longest flight of the war from British bases, U.S. Fortresses flew 1,700 miles to Trondheim and back, left that Norwegian port's submarine and warship nests in flames. The same day, in evidence of the Eighth Air Force's growing might, another U.S. formation raided Heroeya, 70 miles southwest of Oslo, and destroyed an aluminum plant.

That night the R.A.F. loosed the heaviest air raid in history. Upon Germany's northern port of Hamburg, 2,300 tons of bombs fell. Lost: twelve bombers, a low price to pay for the ruin reported by the Germans. London heard a Nazi broadcaster the next morning: "The view over the Alster [famed lake at Hamburg's center] was a terrible sight today. Smoke rose from all burning houses. The tower of the town hall stood in flames. Every minute delayed-action bombs exploded. The Opera House has been burned out and all world-famous entertainment places destroyed. It is now 8 a.m., and smoke is so black over the city that it is almost as dark as in the middle of the night." The British, hearing these propaganda words, could guess what happened to Hamburg's harbor and manufacturing areas.

Next day U.S. bombers followed the R.A.F. over Hamburg, also bombed shipyards at Kiel, aircraft and other war factories in two Baltic towns near ravaged Rostock. That night the R.A.F. gave Essen its biggest raid (2,000 tons) and U.S. bombers were again awing during the following day.

More to Come. So far, such bomb loads have been carried only into northern and eastern Germany from Britain. As the Allies move into southern Europe, no part of Germany need be spared. North Italian airdromes, bombed last week, may soon be bases for the bombing of Germany. Already R.A.F. Lancasters are shuttling from Britain to North Africa and back (they bombed Friedrichshafen in southern Germany last month, Bologna and Leghorn in northern Italy last week). From north & south, Allied air power is mounting.

Disarmament to Come. The Luftwaffe cannot match that air power with enough to halt the Allied bombardment. Jane's All the World's Aircraft, published last week in London, foresaw "the mathematical certainty" that as Luftwaffe power declines and Allied power increases, Germany will be disarmed in the air. Ahead of the Germans is the bitter realization that the Allied air forces, not the Luftwaffe, have grasped the true meaning and use of air power.

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