Victory Through Air Power Page #3

One was to kill off his army...

in order to lay hands

on the source of his power.

The other

was to sink his navy...

and force a blockade

and starve him into submission.

Along comes the airplane,

and an entirely new method...

of defeating the enemy

becomes possible.

We can carry the war now...

over the heads

of his army and navy...

strike directly

at the source of his power-

his war industries-

and by destroying

these war industries...

automatically disarm and

paralyze his fighting forces.

This new kind of warfare-

a strategy

based on air power-

was clearly foreseen

more than 20 years ago...

by such great airmen

as General Douhet in Europe...

and our own General Mitchell

here in America.

Time and again they warned

that this new military force-

swifter and more deadly

than any in the past...

equally devastating

on land or at sea-

would revolutionize warfare...

and make the old style

surface strategy impossible.

But their warnings

were dismissed...

as fantastic and visionary.

The military men of

the old school were unwilling...

to recognize this fundamental

change in war-making.

They stubbornly continued...

to pour the resources

of their nations...

into weapons that had already

outlived their usefulness.

As for the airplane...

they accepted it,

but just as another weapon.

Just another means

to bolster up...

their old methods

of surface warfare.

At the start of this war...

Europe was prepared to fight

along the same old lines.

England, with its undisputed

controI of the seas...

was supposed to take care

of sea warfare.

And France,

with its great army...

of land warfare.

France ended the last war

victoriously in the trenches...

so the naturaI tendency...

was to build bigger

and better trenches...

culminating in

that super-colossaI trench...

the trench deluxe,

the Maginot Line.

In these fantastic

underground fortresses...

were stored enough supplies

to withstand a siege of years.

The military leaders

assured the French people...

that this mighty wall

of steeI and concrete...

made France impregnable.

Those who dared criticize

this plan of defense...

were sharply reminded that

the French generaI's staff...

was the greatest on earth.

In the meantime, Hitler

was scheming a conquest...

based on lightning speed

and surprise.

His long-range artillery

took wings.

Air power became

the spearhead of attack...

blasting clear a path

for his ground forces.

Under this shield

of air power...

the Nazi hordes

poured into France.

The mighty Maginot Line

proved no barrier...

against this new kind

of warfare.

Only when it was too late...

did the people of France

realize...

that their whole

plan of defense was futile.

These huge land fortresses-

representing

a great nationaI effort-

stand only as grim monuments

to outmoded military thinking.

And what about

the mighty floating fortresses

that Britain relied on

for controI of the seas?

When Hitler

hurled his blitzkrieg...

across the water gap

into Norway...

the British navy

was confident...

that he had

made a fataI mistake.

By cutting

Hitler's supply lines...

they expected

to trap his forces...

behind a navaI blockade.

But, like the French army...

the British navy

underestimated...

the tremendous

war potentiaI of air power.

Planes from

British aircraft carriers...

took to the air,

but they proved no match...

for the land-based aviation

of the Nazis.

Britain's

own land-based planes...

lacked the range

to come to the rescue.

So the world's mightiest navy,

utterly helpIess...

was forced to retire

to the protection...

of the RoyaI Air Force...

driven back

not by another navy...

but by this totally new

military force-air power.

Hitler planted

a string of air bases...

along the Norwegian coast...

and, with air power...

took over controI

of the seas in this area.

Ignoring

the floating fortresses-

as completely as he'd ignored

the land fortresses of France-

he was able

to move his supplies...

across this water gap

unmolested.

Over 300,000 British troops

cornered-

doomed men facing surrender

or annihilation...

under the merciless pounding

of Hitler's aeriaI spearhead.

But in contrast to Norway...

Dunkirk was

within easy reach...

of Britain's

land-based fighter planes.

For the first time...

Hitler's flying spearhead

met reaI air opposition.

The RoyaI Air Force...

gained mastery of the skies

in this area...

through a screen of wings

from shore to shore...

and under this shield

of superior air power...

300,000 men were

safely evacuated in four days.

The British braced themselves

for immediate invasion.

After Dunkirk, Hitler realized

he would have to strike...

with an air force many times

greater than the British.

So, for two months,

the invasion waited...

while he equipped

a chain of air bases...

to place

his short-range aviation...

within striking distance

of the target.

And then Hitler received

his first major setback.

He sent over

his aeriaI spearhead-

wave after wave of planes.

But the Luftwaffe...

built primarily to clear

a path for ground forces...

proved no match

for the RoyaI Air Force...

built for war in the air.

Outnumbered three to one...

the Spitfires rode the taiI

of the enemy...

firing eight guns

to the Germans' one.

The superior quality

of British men and machines...

overwhelmed German quantity-

blasted 2,400 planes

out of the sky...

and broke the spearhead

of the German offensive.

In winning

the Battle of Britain...

the gallant

RoyaI Air Force established...

a new military truth

in the history of war-making-

that as long as a nation

controls its own skies...

it cannot be invaded.

Hitler's

invasion plan shattered...

he decided

to suffocate England...

by cutting

her lines of supply.

In the Mediterranean,

during the era of sea power...

controI had always centered

around the navaI strongholds...

of Gibraltar, Malta,

Alexandria, and Haifa.

In the new era of air power...

the island of Crete

was destined to become...

the commanding center

of the eastern half...

of the Mediterranean.

Recognizing

the importance of Crete...

Hitler-with his spearhead

of short-range aviation-

pushed step by step

through the Balkans...

and amassed his strength

for an aeriaI invasion.

The British had neglected

to provide Crete...

with an aeriaI defense...

and were confident they could

defend it with their navy.

The world witnessed

the first clear-cut dueI...

between sea power

and air power.

The Luftwaffe went to work,

sinking ships...

destroying

ground installations...

seizing airfields

with parachute troops...

and finally, landing

an army of occupation...

in gliders

and transport planes.

The first territory

to be conquered...

entirely through air power...

another upset in war-making.

For more than two years...

we had front-row seats...

to watch this revolution

in war-making...

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