Balance of Trade

Britain's speedy Mosquito bombers slashed at German targets for the eighth straight night. U.S. Marauders, 200 at a clip, pounded the French invasion coast. R.A.F. heavy bombers threw a knockout punch at Stettin, paralyzing harbor operations in that important Baltic port. U.S. Fortresses and Liberators left Ludwigshafen in leaping flames, shot down 42 Nazi fighters.

Even the embattled Russians noted the rising tempo, the multiplying effect of air war in the west. A Moscow radio commentator said that the impact was apparent on the Eastern Front, and added: "The British and American air forces are giving German war industries no rest. The initial German successes in Russia were largely due to superior weight of arms. But now it is a different story."

Year's Lessons. A year of coordinated British and U.S. bombardment had taught many lessons, established many prophetic facts:

P:No matter how severe the damage, no enemy city should be left in peace for long. Thus the Germans must keep strong defensive forces even at such knocked-about cities as Hamburg, Bremen, Emden, Wilhelmshaven.

P:R.A.F. bombardiers, equipped with new sights, now actually prefer clouds over the target, operate in weather considered impossible a year ago.

P:U.S. heavies have completely mastered cloud bombing: the crews have not seen a direct visual target in their bomb sights for two months.

P:Despite the fine work and growing effectiveness of the U.S. Eighth Air Force, the bombing of Germany up to now has been mainly an R.A.F. show. The U.S. bomber command, short of aircraft and crews during 1943, could hit hard but not often enough. R.A.F. bombers dropped six out of every seven tons of bombs on Germany. In 1944, the U.S. effort will be immensely bigger.

For the Future. Germany has long regarded war strictly as an export business. Now the trade balance has turned the other way. The heavy imports the Germans are getting by air may go a long way to persuade them that war, after all, is not a paying business.

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