Air Force the Official Service Journal - Air Force Historical Studies ...

YOUR ENEMY
.ruxil i.rrv Lmding ,trip' .md di'per,al arcas thut
the cncmv h~ls been compcllcd to usc for tlu-.c
purposcs his autobahns or snper-higll\\'an,
Yet the I luu Hvcr's fighting spirit i~ notches
highcr tl i.m th;lt of the Ccrm.m ground soldier,
and here are souic of the reasons:
Cernl;ln flvcrs still [ivc in comp.ir.rtivc comfort.
\ lost of tlum nCHT h;I\C knowu the grilll-
IlCSS of t lic f ron t liuc , \ I.mv Ccr m.m pilots even
110\\" cO!lSi(ler fhing ;111 c'(citing "sport."
I.uf tw.ulc persounel h;ls been cncollLlgcd hv
pronu-cs of jet .urcr.rft. Some crack fighter u n itx
have bccu witlulr.uvn for couvcrviou to jd pLrues,
and tile high couuu.md sees to it lhn t nuunr-, tdl
of jet "successes,"
Ccrm.in prop~lg;mda rcm.rins good enough for
the gullihle to ;\eccpt the mvtl: of inviucihil itv.
The a t titnclc is "\\'e shan win because \\'C
11111S t."
C.\f" crews feel they m uxt fight wit]: dcxpcratinn
to S;I\e their country's neck, yet thcv arc
made to believe that their' strength i's heing' care-
[ullv preserved.
As long ;IS the Ilun can m.unt.tin such fighting
spirit and can, as he did five tillles in one
week. run from 100 to 4:;0 fighter sorties ag;limt
our bombe-rs, the air war will be hard, The enemy
is hurt, but he is not down, ,
RHIP. Ccnu.ru soldiers below the rank of major are forbidden
to touch Allied pamphlets dropped from the all.
Violators are punished severely.
Parachutes and Cables. Both Ccnu.uis and Japs have devised
Il'ays to put wires or cables in the nir as ha/,ards to our
aircraft.
The Germans have a shell wh ich , fired from the ground,
opens at about 8,000 feet and bloxxoms into a pur.rchutc,
from wh ich is suspended one or more thin steel wires which
may foul propellers, wings or control surfaces of low and
mcdium-fiving aircraft. Explosi"e charges are attached to
some of the parachutes, Another apparent purpose of parachutes
of this kind is to impede the vision of bombers secking
a target.
The );Ip method is to drop from airplanes I:;O-foot lengths
of th in , t\\i,ted steel cable. j\t one end of the cable is
attached a one-pound bom b nucl, at the other end, two smal]
parachutes to keep the cable HTtical as it drops.
The bom b, cable and parachutes arc packed in a can 7 hy
31'2 inches, convtructcd in two hulvc«, hinged across the
bol tom. The lxnu b is a cylinder of cast steel, 2 1 2 by 2
inches, filled with explosive. The hill' functions on impact
from am' direction.
As th~ c.m drops, it flies open and releases the cable and
parachutes. Bcsides the danger of the boiul: cxploding upon
contact with our bombers, the c.i blc pre,ents a definite fouling
hazard.
DECEMBER,1944
-"t
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Army Game. Om forces in France h.ivc fonnd that a Ccrman
rifleman sometimes uses lin) cOlmeeting foxholes, only
one of which is visible to au approaching force. After firing
from the visible foxhole, the rifleman crawls to the hole
which is concealed from view. \Vhen an Allicd soldier opens
up on foxhole 1\0. I, the German returns fire from foxhole
l\o. 2.
The Spectators Were Tearful. Thc Japs lx-licvc that the life
of a young, poorly trained boy in a flimsy aircraft is a small
price to pay for destruction of a U. S. heavy bomber and ;}
skilled crcvv. "{uxp irutioual" radio hroaclcasts seck hoy voluutccrs
\I'illing to die hy crash ing into our aircraft in mid-air.
The [aps in.rkc national heroes of these suicide pilots.
Tokvo r.ulio rcccutlv told the storv of one of them, and
hroaclcast a tLlmcril;tiou of a speech he li.rd dcl ivcrcd at a
"Youth All Rise to Action" rally a fl.'\\' m o n t lrx hdOle hi,
death. The radio said the youti1 \\'~IS one of three "body
crashing heroes" who had downed B-20s OIL'! Northern
K\'I1Shu. (This was untrue. One B-20 h.id been lost bv [ap
suicide tactics, but not on thnt mission, Fd,)
Other yo\lllg [ups arc praised heclllSe they take off their
par.ichutcs while engaging in com hat. This is presented as
being heroic and in significlllt contrast to .\llied pilot'>.
Increased emphasis is being pbeed upon the training of
air-minded Jap bovs. One (by recenth', the J;\PS held h{
"air rallies" for youths. These are recruiting drives for hOI'
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