French and German pilots dog-fought over the congealed Western Front last week; Belgian and Dutch pilots chased belligerents out of their skies; a German scout tried for a look at the Firth of Forth and got his tail stung for his pains. But the 16th war week’s biggest air battle was an Anglo-Nazi wrangle over what happened last fortnight when a large force of Vickers Wellington bombers was tackled by Messerschmitt fighters based on Helgoland. Britain continued to claim that she lost only seven and downed twelve (out of perhaps 36) Messerschmitts; that the virtue of close formation bomber flying was proved to the hilt; that Germany’s new Me-110s, twin-motored and twin-cannoned, with top speed of 379 m.p.h., are good but not irresistible.
Exasperated by such belittling, and badly in need of some victory talk in the face of Germany’s naval reverses last fortnight, Air Marshal Hermann Göring last week caused Lieut. Colonel Karl Schumacher, in command of the wing assigned to protect Germany’s northwest sea approaches, to appear in the theatre hall of the Propaganda Ministry at Berlin. To assembled correspondents, Colonel Schumacher—43, heavy and bald—declared that he was surprised the British would attempt raiding on a clear day. He saluted British gallantry and skill, but explained that his men’s only problem had been to break up the bomber formations by diving on them, then shooting rear machine-gunners before proceeding to cut down the Vickers Wellingtons one after another. One of Colonel Schumacher’s young men was credited with getting three British in ten minutes.
The fast new twin-motored Messerschmitts were described not only as potent fighters but as ships capable of protecting bombing missions beyond the ordinary range of German pursuits. The whole Helgoland performance, said the Germans, proved the futility of attempting to bomb without fighter escorts—a notable admission since the Germans have used no escorts in their bombing of British Fleet bases.
Between the British admission of seven casualties and the German claim of 35-40 there was room for large doses of skepticism. Neutral judgment awarded a definite edge to the Germans, whose unveiling of the potent Me-110 was taken to presage a further extension of Germany’s attack on Britain’s trade and food supply. Having failed with submarines and mines, logical next step might be to bomb Britain’s docks. Suitable preparation of world opinion for such action—which would inevitably cost gallons of civilian blood—would be the release of aerial photographs emphasizing military objectives in British ports. Such photographs were lately released in quantity by German censors (see cut). As though anticipating raids by Nazi bombers guarded by Me-110s, Britain last week announced she was coming up with a new all-metal, two-seater Boulton-Paul intercepter plane, faster and more potent than her Hurricanes and Spitfires.
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