Aug. 15.
Tuesday's battle in the air over Britain with an even bigger bag of enemy planes than on any day since the Germans opened their systematic air attack against the British Isles, indicates that, the alr Blitzkrieg has definitely begun, It is to be expected, therefore, that the Germans will in the days to come throw even more machines into the struggle than they have up to the present, for Tuesday was only the third day of mass attacks against British cities and shipping. On balance the struggle has been by no means unfavourable to Britain, and her airmen have been inflicting very satisfactory damage upon the enemy. Up to Tuesday night 523. enemy aeroplanes had been destroyed over Britain since the first mass attack on June 18, while during the first three days of the present battle 189 were accounted for, the British losses amounting to 80 fighters. This last figure does not include bombers, for they would not be used, in fighting of German attack, but rather for bombing well into the interior of Germany, and it is clear from the communiques which have been issued that casualties in these raids have been small. On Tuesday it is! stated that the Germans used no fewer than '500 machines, and that the British shot down 69. The loss to the Germans of 14 per cent. of their attacking force is a considerable blow, and indicates that the longer they keep' up these attacks the heavier will be the price they will pay.
Some misapprehension seems to have been. created by the news that German machines, were able to fly far over Great Britain. That} should cause no surprise whatever. Tt was! never thought that the British "defences: would be able to keep the enemy out of the air above the islands, for, if it had been, there would have been few or no air raid shelters which have been so extensively [supplied throughout the country.
Indeed the various leaders have all along emphasized. that a proportion of the enemy machines would penetrate the defences, but there is. nothing in the news to suggest that that proportion is unwarrantably high. The main objectives of the attackers have been south coast ports, including Portsmouth, the South~ ampton area, and the Thames Estuary. Determined attempts have been made by the enemy to destroy these ports, and the British Government admits that some damage has been done. It naturally will not reveal its extent, but the amount of interference to which the enemy was sub-Jected by the defending aeroplanes suggests that it does not come up to German expecta tions.
While all this is going on it must not be forgotten that Great Britain is not purely the defensive in this struggle. Every night extensive raids are carried out over Ger~ many, and from the meagre reports which. have come to hand considerable and wide~ spread damage has been done. British losses. in these raids have been remarkably slight, indeed completely insignificant compared. with the military results which have been obtained. It is noteworthy that up to the present no air attack appears to have been made upon London, the very heart of the British resistance. That is in all probability' due to the fact that the Germans realize that should that occur the British can and would retaliate in kind. Whether Britain has secured superiority in the air or not is beside the point in view of the fact that she is) demonstrating her ability to defend herself and carry the war into the enemy's territory. That superiority will eventually come cannot for one moment be doubted, and it is being brought nearer by the heavier losses on balance which have been inflicted by the enemy. That is all the more important when it is remembered that compared with the fliers the machines are of much less im= portance, and it is not only the loss of machines, but the infinitely more serious loss. of men which must in time have the effect of slowing down the German effort. It has to be admitted, however, that many serious days will have to pass before the outcome of this fight is decided, yet up to the present there is no ground ' for despondency but rather for quiet confidence that the enemy will be vanquished.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.