| Show EUROPE GIRDS FOR BOMBING RAIDS ALL L europe has glued its attention to the far east to shanghai and the other great chinese metropolises ses now forming targets for deadly japanese bombs europeans are watching the ruthless attacks upon civilian populations and the wanton destruction of homes and public buildings occupied by non combatants n something of the manner af f the football scout watching mis his weeks game to perfect the defenses of his own team for the big game that looms in the future the world war gave europe and particularly england a glimpse of what might be expected in a lew few years after aerial bombing had perfected the efficiency lacking in its 4 infancy air bombers extend the theater ot of war into the civilian populations ions of the great cities reduce to a mockery the territorial boundaries on a continent p peopled by many small nations and threaten when coupled with other 1 agencies igen cies of modern warfare to wipe out european civilization there are few qualified authorities who believe that bombing expeditions ions on large cities could bring an entire nation to surrender by shattering its morale and upsetting the structure of government the cities of shanghai and madrid still stand if their heads be bloody alter after months of ruthless coldly planned attacks from the air but there Is always the possibility that the next time may be different and tor for this reason the race among european J nations to build air forces and defenses against air forces of their enemies has been heightened of recent days to a fever feve r pitch britons excel bechn technically there are perhaps military airplanes owned by the nations of europe today and more thousands are being turned out every month the some same nations are pressing plans of defense to completion among both military and civilian branches of the population with a speed born bom of genuine tear fear england not soon destined to forget the terrifying zeppelin and gotha good offense Is best defense against aerial attack nations believe race Is on to build planes train airmen raids which drove london into a state of panic in 1917 Is one ot of the foremost in building her air defenses and realizes that the best defense is a good offense as they often say in football circles her first line strength at home with the fleet and abroad numbers about 2 2000 planes and her reserves called the best in europe raise the total to for a time england had difficulties in production but is now building about planes a month and 7 r 7 74 w g i s r A i A th wa v 4 V wi atess fly 4 tf t af v 4 i yi y i i i 44 AC r ay A y i t french aviation forces developed this new type blimp the detachable fuselage can float boat to the ground by parachute in the event of damage to its gasbag gas bag production is on the upswing indicating that perhaps these difficulties have been straightened out technically ni cally her air force is head and shoulders above the rest of the continent her airplanes are far better than any ot of those operated or under construction by any other european power her spitfire planes do miles an hour and she has bombers capable ot of nearly measures taken to defend england from air raids exemplify almost every precaution known upon the continent london is the heart ot of the empire and from the air its most vulnerable point there persons live within an area of 2000 square miles En glands ring of volunteer observers to warn in case of air raids extends out into france and belgium and is backed up by naval patrols in the channel this serves to give london an hours warning to mobilize her defenses if a raid is coming were the lookouts stationed at the mouth of the thames there would be but 10 or 15 minutes to prepare A few flying ships are based along the coast for purposes ot of these are supplemented ted by a volunteer observers corps of workers and other civilians equipped with airplane detecting instruments instruments all file reports with a central office to chart the course of invaders nets hang from balloons the first stationary line of defense is the outer artillery ring of guns and searchlights inside this is a fighting zone in which squadrons leave their airdromes aird romes within 90 seconds of receiving an alarm searchlights and a few fighting planes which constantly patrol the city point their way to the enemy most sensational of all londona Lon dons defensive measures is its next line the mobile balloon barrage steel cables are hung in the air like a net from a series of blimps offering both a psychological and a physical obstacle to the invading airman the last line of active defense is a string of three or four inch guns and searchlights across th the e city of london itself the rome home office has undertaken to unite the people in passive de binse finse schemes one almed aimed chiefly to allay the tears fears of air raids is to provide persons with free gas masks now being manufactured at the rate of to a week booklets issued by the government teach citizens to organ organize i neighborhoods for practice in ae the issuance of gas masks and otherwise reduce the holocaust of wholesale air raids firefighting fire fighting squads are being readied to m minimize destruction st by incendiary bombs other groups are being organized zd to repair damaged public utilities and clean areas left contaminated after gas attacks civilians are also being instructed in ways of making at least one room of each house architects are also being advised to include shelters in all new buildings the subways were looked to for shelter in the world war but officials today warn that they are more likely to be traps than shelters being not far enough underground russia supreme numerically numerically russia has the most powerful air force in the world she owns about first line planes and about 1500 to 2000 other planes mostly training ships her aerial personnel of including or pilots is well organized and effective but not well equipped russia is said to have no more than or first class planes imitative of american and french planes the others aie are obsolescent despite their recent successes in spain however russia has the benefit of capable foreign designers engineers foremen metallurgists and mechanics and has shown marked imitative ability she is willing to spend money and her labor is cheap she builds foreign airplane engines under license and of recent months her airplane production has speeded to the point where it is the greatest in europe despite the tact fact that civilian pilots were trained last year that gliding and parachute jumping are now popular sports and that russians are the most air minded people on earth the program is just getting under way the reds expect to have pilots a production of planes a year and a fleet of giant ships dussias Rus sias chief weakness is that she depends too much upon foreign assistance having few skilled mechanical people of her own and as yet having failed to produce a good engine italis air force Is flashy dussias Rus sias soldiers children and civilians are being trained in defense against aerial and chemical warfare with school and factory drills her antiaircraft anti aircraft guns are well developed as those of her neighbors but great flying distances and snow cov ered mountains are a real protection against invading planes italy has some 2250 first line planes in operating squadrons with another 1500 in reserve her aerial exploits such as general balbos armada and the more recent performances for mances in ethiopia have gained her fame but her air force still tails falls to measure up to that of some of her competitors in quality she has failed to develop a good air cooled engine shortage of fuel supply has been a real obstacle to italian aerial development and has prevented her fliers filers from obtaining sufficient flying time to qualify them they are said to have an average of but 70 hours in the air lack of raw materials te as demonstrated when sanctions were applied in the ethiopian war renders her incapable of sustained high speed production although she is now building planes at the rate of a month for protecting italian citizens in the larger cities II 11 duce has chosen to depend chiefly upon rapid evacuation in the case of air raids leaving only those absolutely necessary to government and to war industry remaining Ina ining in the industrial centers of the po valley to the north within three or four years he expects romes first subway to be completed it will also be used as an auxiliary air raid shelter A royal decree has made it compulsory that an all new buildings be supplied at the builders expense with a standard underground shelter which it afe al X I 1 V 1 I V ne f 0 m A 1 0 pov e 0 Z ltv y a mr f ff ia atit arl yi ii y t U ag awa gex A squadron ot of german bombing planes flies over the peaceful city of nuremberg Is claimed adds no more than two per cent to the cost germany is the great mystery among european powers in the air her extremely rapid growth coupled with the obvious friendship between the reich and italy Is said to have britain quaking no one can be sure but it is a good guess that germanys germanas Germ anys first line planes are more than 2000 in number her fine factories can turn out new ones as fast as those of any other nation on the continent it they can obtain enough raw materials and right now she is believed to be producing between and a month french prestige tige slips germanys germanas Germ anys aerial forces are under command separate from the army air minister wilhelm goering has developed his command so rapidly that tor for the time being it probably is not well organized but some day soon it will be in good working order her air defenses are under the same command and are probably the best coordinated co in europe her antiaircraft anti aircraft artillery line boasts guns and new ones are being completed at the rate of one battery a day cheap civilian gas masks are being rapidly distributed among the populace shelters are being constructed france has slipped from her onetime position is s the tha leading air force of europe she has now on 1 y 41 4 about 2000 front line planes ing those within her borders with the fleet and abroad and 1000 training and reserve planes about two thirds of all french planes are obsolescent sole scent and production of late has been halted to t virtual stand c K 4 I 1 Z X j U an english army airman in parachute maneuvers above benlow enlow II still by internal economic and political strife there are plenty ot of good pilots the air force is competent pe tent technically and the french have produced good motors much of frances aerial defense is centered in paris as might be expected this city is particularly fortunate in that thousands of cellars made famous by les miser ables have been inspected and pronounced excellent air raid shelters capable of giving refuge to persons other precautions searchlights guns civilian drills and education are being undertaken antiaircraft anti aircraft guns are said to be eight times as efficient today as they were in the time of the world war and with the wholesale defense measures both active and passive e it Is hardly probable that Eu ropes next war will be won in the air it just means that th greatest human suffering will not necessarily take place upon aba tb fields of battle 0 D western News caBer union J |
