This journal has at intervals had occasion to deal with the figures which the enemy have from time to time published regarding the casualties said by them to have been inflicted upon the British mercantile marine, by the German blockade, and upon the R.A.F. with-something more than scepticism, namely, complete disbelief. That has '82 been justified by comparison of British figures with those put out by the Germans. The former may be sometimes late, in order not give valuable information to the enemy, but when they are published they are at Toast definite, and not subject to the manifold variations with which the Germans mani-plate their statistical versions of the activities of their submarines and aeroplanes. It now apparent from what appeared in the enemy news service yesterday that the fititious claims of the German propaganda machine, have in themselves been based, at least. so fair as niveraft are concerned, upon untrue stories as success told by German pilots themselves. That was regarded as a probability some' months ago when it was: suggested in these columns that the individual desire for the Iron Cross, that holy symbol which has become so infamous in Nazi hands, has caused many a German fying femeer' to make claims which were not justi= fed.
That is now tacitly admitted in the following enemy dispatch regarding new regula~ tions requiring definite proof of alleged German air victories Berlin, May 6—(Transocean)—New regulations for claiming alr victories and the des. {ruetion and sinking of ships have been lasted by the Coln.C. of the German alr force, twas Tearnt from authoritative quarters.
According to these restlations, forms_on which fyers are to make their reports con-{ain more than 20 questions. On these forms, any success must be very carefully recorded and proved.
"For recognition -of effective destructions carried out, the testimony of at lerist one un~ impeachable witness" oF" confirmation by photograph is necessary.
Back of one's own lines. the Anding of the wreckage of fallen alreratt is required. Enemy material moy be destroyed only when further use is. impossible.
"The new regulations draw the commanders' attention to the Importance of absolute de-endability of all reports on planes shot down specially as these are basis for the award of high orders.—Transocean. a well known fact that legislation does not anticipate possible offences but is designed to rectify known abuses. Laws and reulations are not passed in expectation of criminality but for correction of its exist fence, and the conclusion to be drawn from the formulation of these new German re~ ulations is that German airmen have been uly in the past of exaggerating their prow ess, thereby depriving Dr. Goebbels of the chance of more artistic ying, and, consequently, more convincing than anything he has been' able to produce up to the present. What is to be deduced from the above is that the German authorities have been willing to accept any old story from any pilot who returned to his base, and the pilots have taken full advantage' of the fact. It is an admission that at the very least German statistics have been founded on untruth, The British system of recording RAF. suiecesses fu shooting down enemy aeroplanes: is already well known. The. pilot claiming fo have shot down an enemy machine makes his report on returning to his base. That has to be corroborated by two inde-Pendent witnesses from other machines. Should that not be available the pilot does not receive the credit he claims. That accounts for the constant phiase added to the definite figures of casualties inflicted on the enemy that "doubtless a number of other machines failed to return to their bases." It will be noticed that these regulations also' refer to the sinking of ships from the and the conclusion to be drawn is the same.
an admission on the part of the German authorities that they are not now convinced that their men have always been telling the truth. It is not to be assumed that the It auth show themselves now to be the lily-white defenders of veracity, but rather that they feel that their control of lying cannot be complete if every man in the ranks is to add his small contribution. It may be a little difficult for the operators of 'a system of lying to insist upon truth from the ordinary aviator, but the Germans have} admitted its necessity, and, therefore, the complete unreliability of all the statistics they have issued,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.