The Plight of the Luftwaffe
Air Marshal Coningham did not mince his words when he spoke to correspondents at his advanced headquarters in Sicily last Sunday. He spoke of the Luftwaffe as a " beaten force," as one that had been "knocked out," and had completely lost its fighting spirit. While he was primarily discussing the position in the Mediterranean, what is true of that area is indicative of the situation as a whole, though from all accounts the morale of enemy fighters in the north is still high enough to make them formidable opponents
in day and night engagements and it would be well to heed Mr. Morrison's reminder that enemy bombers are still capable of dealing savage blows at this country. But it is significant that when the preliminary stages of the attack on Sicily were concluded, when the air-fields had been smashed and most of the enemy aeroplanes put out of action, the Germans were unable to bring in reserves to cope with the invasion. The reason was that the reserves did not exist. The strength of the Germans in the air has been dis- sipated by the necessity of defending vast areas from one end *of Europe to the other. They have had active fronts in Russia and in the Mediterranean, in both of which the wastage has been con- tinuous. They have had to provide fighter forces for all the coun- tries within range from Great Britain, including the industrial centres of Germany, repeatedly pounded by our bombers; and the American Liberators have proved' capable of penetrating into Rumania and Austria. Now we are watching the beginning of intensive bombardments of the air-fields of Northern France, where the Allied attackers have met in many cases with less fighter opposition than they would have wished, since they desire nothing so much as to engage the enemy and destroy him. The reversal of fortune is complete, with the Luftwaffe declining and the Allied air strength mounting day by day.
