HIS is the cradle of future air attacks.
Probably more than any other station in England, it will be responsible for the striking power of raids which the R.A.F. promises will exceed anything the Luftwaffe has yet turned loose over England. This is the receiving station for American bombers, writes Edward Beattie, United Press Staff Correspondent, This station, however, is not yet in operation, Stirling. Halifax. Manchesters, and all the older types of aeroplanes which have already boosted the pace of the RAF. offensive by 100 per cent, or more, fly off each night from other aerodromes in other parts of the country. So will American "Flying Fortresses" and Liberators when they are first thrown into the attack. But they all will be products. one way or another, of this station.
"Flying Fortresses"
Twenty "Flying Fortresses,"—B-17-C's—representing the entire first order from the United States are already in England Most of them have already passed through here for tuning, repainting and for a few modifications, So have the Martins, Marylands. Douglas DB-7s, Sikorsky's and the Chesapeake scout bombers. Most. of them. could be put in the air tomorrow and will take their places in offensive attacks soon. racy Marylands and alongside the spidery-looking British Lysander. are a couple of compact tough-looking Chesapeakes with their bomb racks open as though waiting to be filled.
But the "Fortress ames" are the pets of this station and everyone is looking forward to the day when the "Fortress 2-178" begin their sweep over the western horizon. There are a couple of Fortresses outside, standing long and sleek and already camouflaged in R.A.F. green, brown and blue, There are others inside, still in gleaming alloy where the skin shows through the dirt that they have collected during the long rip across the ocean. Mechanics are caring for them and the pilots who have already flown. them over England take time off to comment.
"The fellows who have flown these planes can not speak tho well for them," said one pilot, This place, too, is where the Pratt-Whitney and the Wright-Allison motors, which the United States is sending to England, are inspected, assembled and periodically reconditioned in brand new efficient machine shops. United States mechanics will be helping in that job soon.
This station has very big, complex buildings and there are planes everywhere—enough of an air force to make any small power green with envy. The planes are stored inside hangars or in scattered fields, and probably have more bomb-carrying potentialities than I ever saw in one fast, and the more we the better, mày everything one could ask for, büt if "we had several hundred, on boy, would they be useful"—United Press.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.