Victory Through Air Power (1943) Movie Script
Today,
a war is very different...
than the last European war was.
Now air power is the dominant
feature of military operations.
Air power can fly directly
into the vital centers...
of an opposing state
and neutralize them.
It can destroy the cities.
It can wreck the aqueducts.
It can knock out
the lines of communication.
It can destroy
the food supplies...
and make the people
helpless to resist.
For 3,500 years,
man has had the desire to fly.
And yet it was
only 40 years ago...
this ambition was realized-
an accomplishment that
was to change the destiny...
of the entire world.
Two brothers,
Orville and Wilbur Wright-
bicycle builders
from Dayton, Ohio-
on the morning
of December 17...
set up on the sands of
Kitty Hawk, North Carolina...
their first heavier-than-air
flying machine.
Powered by
a four-cylinder motor...
developing
almost twelve horsepower...
with two bicycle chain-driven
propellers...
turning at nearly
340 revolutions per minute.
The machine,
complete with pilot...
weighed almost 750 pounds.
In order
to launch the plane...
a monoraiI track was designed.
The biplane "A"runs on
the wooden raiI "B"...
and anchor wire "C"
holds the plane back...
to enable the motor
to develop sufficient power...
for the takeoff.
Everything is in readiness.
The small crowd of witnesses
looks on hopefully.
Orville Wright
is at the controls.
One, two, three...
Go!
The motor races.
It's a tense moment.
Wilbur steadies the wing.
The plane strains
at the anchor cable.
Orville's hand
grips the controI.
The wire is released!
For twelve seconds...
the Wright plane
plows through the air...
in unmistakable power-driven,
man-carrying flight.
Twelve seconds.
TotaI distance-120 feet.
Man has conquered the air.
The five witnesses
of this epoch-making flight...
were too startled,
too thrilled to cheer.
Success! Four flights
Thursday morning...
starting from leveI,
average speed 31 miles.
Inform press. Home Christmas.
Orville Wright.
Man's first flight.
Yet this epoch-making feat...
failed to impress
a disinterested public.
The only part
of this stirring message...
that seemed newsworthy was...
"The Wright Brothers
to be home for Christmas. "
In spite of the public's
lack of enthusiasm...
the Wrights persisted.
Then one day, they made
a revolutionary flight.
For the first time,
they were able...
to turn the plane around
in midair...
and fly in
the opposite direction.
The daring Brazilian sportsman
Alberto Santos-Dumont...
made the first
officially recorded...
European airplane flight.
Soon, many other
intrepid airmen...
were flying
in triplanes, biplanes...
monoplanes and multiplanes.
Fantastic in appearance,
but they all flew.
Back in America...
Gee willikers!
It says here
the Army plans an Air Corps.
"The flying machine
must make...
"an endurance flight
of one hour...
"carry pilot
and one passenger...
"attain a speed
of 40 miles an hour...
'traveI ten miles
and land undamaged. "
Well, doggone.
41 enthusiastic
airplane builders...
submitted bids
of somewhat varied amounts.
I'll build a plane
for a million dollars.
I'll build it
for a thousand.
- Mine'll cost 10 million.
- $3,000.
- $1,230.
- $10,000.
My plane'll cost only $510.
And one shrewd bidder...
guaranteed to build a plane
for $45 a pound.
However, when
the government demanded...
a 10% forfeit be posted...
all but three of
these enthusiastic bidders...
hastily withdrew.
The contract was let
to the Wright Brothers...
for one military airplane.
Six months later,
at Fort Meyer...
delivery was made
to the United States Army.
This was the modest beginning
of our Air Force.
It was only 33 years ago...
that Louis Blriot took off
from the coast of France...
and, without instruments,
made the 21-mile flight...
across the English ChanneI.
Only a few realized
the significance...
of this great flight.
England was no longer isolated
from the rest of Europe...
by an impassable body
of water.
A ChanneI flight
that was to one day...
prove of even
greater significance...
was accomplished by
the Honorable C.S. Rolls.
In his own words...
Departing from England...
the flight across the ChanneI
was quite uneventfuI.
Reaching the other side
and being recognized.
Dropped greetings.
And without stopping...
returned home
safely without mishap.
In the meantime,
back in America...
aviation saw
another great advancement.
Eugene Ely
made the first takeoff...
from the deck
of the U.S.S. Birmingham.
Two months later,
Ely reversed this feat...
by landing on
the U.S.S. Pennsylvania.
This was the birth
of the aircraft carrier.
In 1911, the first experiments
with seaplanes began.
Canoe-like pontoons
were added to a land plane.
Straining for the takeoff,
the motor raced.
At 31 miles an hour...
the plane sped across
the surface of the lake...
and slid up on the bank.
It was not untiI Glenn Curtiss
added a more powerfuI motor...
that experiments with seaplanes
were a success.
That same year
also witnessed...
the first
transcontinentaI flight.
Racing against
a 30-day time limit...
for a $50,000 prize...
Calbraith P. Rodgers
took off from Long Island...
accompanied by a speciaI train
carrying spare parts.
The flight consisted
of 69 short hops...
and 15 crashes.
Over rivers and mountains...
against insurmountable odds...
bucking strong winds
and treacherous air currents...
losing precious moments...
with indomitable courage
and the will to win...
the daring flyer
crashed on and on.
Forty-nine days later
at Pasadena...
Rodgers arrived
with only one strut...
and part of the taiI intact
from the originaI plane.
Just barely missing
the prize by 19 days...
this modest hero confidently
predicted that someday...
somebody would fly
across the country in 30 days.
And so,
for the next few years...
the flying machine continued
to thrill the public...
but was regarded as a novelty
with no practicaI uses.
The airplane,
at the tender age of ten...
went off to war.
At first,
aircraft was considered...
to have very little
military value...
except for
observation purposes.
A spirit of
sportsmanship existed...
between the rivaI pilots.
As they would pass
each other...
on their daily flights
over the lines...
they would wave
a friendly greeting...
and sometimes take pictures
of one another...
which led to
an unusuaI development.
Sacr bleu!
This is outrage!
And so, the next day...
Oof!
The following day...
being a hothead
as well as a squarehead...
Fritz took a potshot at Pierre.
Oh!
Duels with pistols,
shotguns, and rifles...
led to the installation
of the machine gun...
successfuI
but for one small detaiI-
The propeller got in the way.
Then science developed
the synchronizing device...
to allow the bullets
to pass between...
the rapidly revolving blades
of the propeller.
The airplane became
a formidable weapon of war.
The merciless pressure
of warfare...
developed highly specialized
types of planes.
The dropping of grenades
and hand bombs...
led to a new and terrible
instrument of war-the bomber.
The terrific competition
of aeriaI combat...
compelled the rapid improvement
of aircraft.
More than 20,000 conflicts
were fought in the air.
The forced development
of aircraft...
in these four years of war...
would have taken 20 years
to accomplish in peacetime.
Yet the war ended before
the world fully realized...
the military potentiaI
of air power.
As a war-weary public
transferred its interest...
to peacetime activities...
the airplane again
had to struggle for existence.
The "Fly with Me"
gypsy flyer...
barnstormed
all over the country.
While people still regarded
the airplane...
as an exciting novelty...
farsighted airmen
were compelling the public...
to look upon aviation
with a new respect.
The U.S. Navy NC-4 flew
from Newfoundland to England...
via the Azores.
The first nonstop
transatlantic flight...
was made by Alcock and Brown
from Newfoundland to Ireland.
First solo flight
across the Atlantic-
Charles A. Lindbergh,
New York to Paris.
First round-the-world flight-
U.S. Army planes
circled the globe.
Flying time-15 days, 11 hours.
Post and Gatty-
4 days, 10 hours.
Howard Hughes-
2 days, 23 hours.
Altitude flights developed
superchargers and deicers.
Air races improved design
and advanced speed.
Power diving
at 620 miles per hour...
tested durability
and construction of planes.
The first air maiI service
in 1918...
grew in a short time
to major airlines...
with regularly scheduled
transcontinentaI...
and then transoceanic
passenger and freight service.
Aviation was progressing
at a tremendous pace.
Time was being compressed,
distance shrunk...
range lengthened,
and load capacity increased.
The airplane-
now flying all over the world-
was the only weapon of war...
to develop such great
usefulness in peacetime.
Jeepers!
President Roosevelt
wants 50,000 planes a year.
Backed by 25 years
of constant pioneering...
American aviation
met the challenge.
Remember,
the experiment of 1914...
had become
a devastating force.
From the mile-a-minute plane
of World War I...
we're starting today
with planes...
flying more than
six miles a minute.
During the last war...
firepower was increased
from one brick per minute...
to 2,400 bullets per minute.
Today we're starting
with 9,600 bullets per minute.
During World War I...
aeriaI grenades
and 25-pound hand bombs...
grew to two-ton bomb loads.
Today we're starting
with ten-ton bomb loads...
of the most
devastating explosives...
ever conceived by science.
Today the historic flight
of C.S. Rolls...
is repeated daily...
by Rolls-Royce-powered
pursuit and bomber planes.
Departing from England...
the flight across the ChanneI
was quite uneventfuI.
Reaching the other side
and being recognized.
Dropped greetings.
And without stopping...
returned home
safely without mishap.
In one single night...
the bomb load
dropped on Cologne...
was 20 times greater
than the totaI amount...
used in the last war
by the United States.
Today, only
a brief 40 years later...
The Wright Brothers'
first flight of 120 feet...
could be made
with 92 feet to spare...
on the wing of the B-19.
Yet this huge 82-ton
experimentaI bomber-
designed seven years ago-
is only a forerunner
of what can be done.
The amazing advancement
in military aviation...
is due to the vision
and persistence...
of pioneer airmen,
among whom...
Major Alexander P. de Seversky
is an outstanding figure.
He literally
grew up with aviation.
His father
was the first Russian...
to privately own and fly
an airplane.
At ten,
his military education began.
He graduated from the ImperiaI
Russian NavaI Academy...
as a lieutenant and saw
service with the fleet in 1914.
With a firm belief
in the future of aviation...
he became
a full-fledged pilot...
in both Army
and NavaI aviation...
and was assigned to flying duty
with the Baltic fleet.
While on
a night bombing mission...
he was shot down...
and suffered the loss of
his right leg-
an invalid at 22.
Ignoring his handicap and
determined to fight again...
he returned to the front as
Chief of Pursuit Aviation...
in the Baltic,
with the rank of commander.
He fought
57 aeriaI combats...
became the leading ace
of the navaI air forces...
and was awarded
the highest honors...
his country could bestow.
In 1918,
he came to America...
and later served
as aeronauticaI engineer...
and test pilot for
the United States government.
He became a friend,
advisor, and disciple...
of GeneraI Billy Mitchell.
Having become a citizen...
in 1928 he was
commissioned a major...
in the United States Air Corps.
He invented the first
fully automatic bombsight...
and many other instruments
and devices...
all contributing
to the greater efficiency...
of military aviation.
He designed, built, tested...
and himself
flew his new planes.
Among them,
an all-metaI amphibian plane-
in which he set a world speed
record that still stands-
the first low-wing all-metaI
basic training plane...
and the first all-metaI
single-seater fighter plane...
of cantilever construction...
adopted by
the United States Army.
In 1937...
to prove long range could be
built into pursuit planes...
he set a new nonstop record
from New York to Havana.
In an Army pursuit ship
of his own design...
he was the first officially to
cross the country east-west...
with a record
of 10 hours, 5 minutes.
His planes
won the Bendix race...
three successive years.
In 1940, he was presented
the Harmon Trophy...
by President Roosevelt...
for being the Outstanding
Airman of the Year.
With his background
as a combat pilot...
aeronauticaI designer,
engineer, manufacturer...
and military strategist...
Major Seversky's advanced
viewpoint and opinions...
are of vitaI importance
to every citizen.
Under the pressure of war...
the science of aviation
is making terrific strides.
As soon as the airplanes-
which are already...
on the drafting boards of
all the warring nations-
take to the air, there will
not be a single spot...
on the face of the earth
immune from overhead attack.
The enormous flying range...
and destructive power of
these planes will transform...
the entire surface of our planet
into a battlefield.
The distinction between soldiers
and civilians will be erased.
And I believe that
it is only a matter of time...
before we here in America...
will suffer our share
of civilian casualties.
And so warfare becomes
everybody's business.
All of us must understand
the strategy of war.
No longer should it be a mystery
open only to military minds.
The strategy of war is simply
a plan to defeat the enemy.
In wars of the past, there were
only two ways to do it.
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...
yet we failed to understand
the lessons of air power.
In the Pacific,
we left the skies unprotected.
With our battle fleet
in PearI Harbor...
as our first line of defense...
we were prepared for
traditionaI navaI warfare...
but again the first blow
came from the air.
In one hour
and twenty minutes...
a mighty battle fleet
was put out of action...
by a mere 150 planes.
True, PearI Harbor
was a sneak attack.
But three days later...
two of the mightiest warships
of the British navy-
"Prince of Wales"
and "Repulse"-
fully alert, dared to venture
within striking range...
of enemy land-based bomber
and torpedo planes.
The tragic sinking
of these two mighty warships...
was finaI proof that navies...
can no longer carry a war
to the enemy whose shores...
are adequately defended
by land-based aviation.
Our naval defense
of the Pacific crumpled...
under the blows of air power.
Japan's lightning drive...
was nothing
but a faithful imitation...
of the German blitzkrieg.
They employed
exactly the same tactics.
Having practically
no air opposition...
Japan's
spearhead of air power...
cleared the path
for its land and sea forces...
and drove us out
of one island after another...
until most of the Pacific
was lost.
Only then did
the earthbound mind grasp...
the main lesson of this war-
that no battle can be won
on the surface of the earth...
without first gaining complete
control of the sky above.
We were so impressed
with the use to which...
the enemy put the weapons
of land, sea, and air...
that we ourselves adopted
the very same tactics.
Aviation was recognized
as a full-fledged member...
of our fighting team.
It was to provide a roof
for our army and navy...
and act as a spearhead
of our offensive.
Now we were confident...
that we could beat the enemy
at his own game.
The reasoning
seemed logical enough-
if we have the same
kind of weapons as the enemy-
only more of them-
how can we lose?
With our abundant resources,
wealth of manpower...
and tremendous
industrial capacity...
why, we can
build the biggest army...
the biggest navy,
and the biggest air force.
And with
this super-colossal team...
we'll smother the enemy
with the sheer weight...
of our men and machines.
The success of this procedure
depends on two things-
first, we must produce
a vast amount of weapons...
of endless variety.
And second, we must deliver
this maze of equipment...
to battlefronts that are spread
all over the face of the earth.
Already nearly 100 million tons
of vital supplies...
are required every month,
month after month...
and if we step up the offensive,
this tonnage will grow.
Now, can we produce
and keep on producing...
and if we can,
can we deliver...
and keep on
delivering all this?
Regardless of the courage
and gallantry of our men...
on the battlefront...
regardless of the sacrifice
and effort on the home front...
as long as we follow
this course...
victory or defeat...
hangs on the fate
of our line of supply.
With this surface
struggle embracing the globe...
the problem of transportation
becomes the deciding issue.
To grasp
what we're up against...
let's spread this problem
before us.
In the west...
the battlefront stretched
over Europe and Africa.
The main theaters of war
are the Russian front...
extending from Murmansk
to the Black Sea...
the near-east,
and Mediterranean fronts.
In the east, from the Arctic
to the South Pacific.
Between these two theaters
of conflict...
thousands of miles away
lies the arsenaI of democracy.
This highly mechanized war...
has placed tremendous demands
on our production capacity...
which is rapidly
approaching its peak.
Ever mounting numbers
of tanks, guns, planes...
roll off production lines.
This vitaI equipment
for the distant fronts...
is rushed
across the continent...
but finally jams up
in the bottleneck of shipping.
This lifeblood of vitaI
war supplies must be pumped...
through the arteries
of our transport lines...
over distances that actually
girdle the globe.
To illustrate...
when a supply ship
from San Francisco...
moves over the trackless
miles of ocean...
and delivers
its cargo at Suez...
it can return
over the same route...
or traveI the rest of the way
around the world.
In either case...
as far as the distance
in wartime is concerned...
it's a tossup,
and the ship is lucky...
if it can deliver
more than two loads a year.
Wartime distances
and peacetime distances...
are entirely different.
For example, from
San Francisco to Melbourne...
in peacetime is 6,700 miles.
But in wartime,
with enemy controI...
jutting out
its sphere of domination...
the distance
is almost doubled...
and the enemy has twice as long
to attack our shipping.
But his supply lines,
being interior lines...
have not
changed from peacetime.
To deliver supplies
to the Russian front...
our navies must convoy ships
over 4,000 perilous miles...
to Murmansk, and from there...
more than 1,000 miles
overland to the battlefront.
By contrast, the Nazis can rush
supplies to the same front...
in a few days
by direct overland transport.
Geographically,
the Axis has a great advantage.
They operate with short
interior lines of supply...
whereas we're compelled to use
long exterior lines...
a 50,000-mile battlefront...
every mile threatened by
the deadliest menace of all...
the submarine.
Against these wolf packs
lurking underwater...
and striking from ambush...
the ship glued to the surface
is a helpIess target.
In order to win
the battles at the front...
Hitler must cut
our lifeline of supply.
The U-boat-his major weapon-
is our greatest problem.
He is building improved U-boats
by the hundreds...
ever growing in size
and striking power...
immune to anything
short of a direct hit.
Every measure
we take to protect...
this slow-moving target
will be offset...
by new scientific devices
in the submarine.
Soon it will be able to lurk
safely below the surface...
and without ever
revealing its presence...
accurately locate
the approaching victim.
Our shipbuilding industry
tries desperately...
to meet the challenge,
but faces a tragic contest...
between
launchings and sinkings.
Every ship that goes down
is a triple casualty...
of wasted materiaI,
labor, and human life.
With millions of tons
of our production...
going to the bottom
instead of to battle...
a tremendous strain
is put on our industriaI heart.
As long as
we cling to a strategy...
based on surface warfare...
the advantage is
on the side of the enemy.
Hitler's strategic position
resembles a wheeI.
The hub-his powerfuI
industriaI center...
which grinds out
the implements of war.
The spokes-his supply lines...
that support
the fighting fronts...
the rim of the wheeI.
Our surface strategy seeks
to crush this structure...
by striking at
the rim from all sides...
millions of men and machines...
in a clash
of steeI against steeI.
Should we concentrate
enough force...
to attack at any one point...
Hitler can
quickly shift his power...
and reinforce
the threatened sector.
No matter where we strike...
Hitler can
strike back swiftly...
with the right force
at the right place.
Should we strike from all sides
with superior force...
Hitler will contract his wheeI.
The spokes become shorter,
the rim thicker...
the whole structure stronger
and more nearly impregnable.
To successfully attack,
we must use a superior force...
and attempt to knock out
Hitler's equipment...
faster than he can replace it.
Tanks destroy tanks...
and our supporting
short-range aviation...
plays an important part...
by destroying
more of Hitler's equipment.
But with his factories
unmolested...
he can quickly fill the gaps...
by moving his supplies
short distances over dry land.
By contrast, our replacements
must be carried in transports
over those thousands
of perilous floating miles...
constantly under attack
from the enemy.
As long as we fight
on the surface of the earth...
Hitler has all the advantage.
But with the strategy
of air power...
the advantage is ours.
Air power ignores
the battlefronts of the rim.
By direct
and independent action...
it strikes at the hub.
With this all-important source
of enemy power knocked out...
the whole structure
will collapse...
and our surface forces...
will move in
and clinch the victory...
with a tremendous saving
in human lives.
This is the real teamwork.
This is the true role
of air power.
The present air offensive
against Germany...
is the beginning
of such strategy.
Already more than
50 industrial targets...
have felt
the sting of bombardment.
The Royal Air Force
has blazed a trail.
They are giving the Nazis
a thorough lesson...
in the proper use of air power.
Now, this is no accident.
Back in 1918...
in the very midst
of the last war...
the British people
had the wisdom and courage...
to take a bold step.
They divorced their Air Force
from their Army and Navy...
and set it up as a separate
and independent branch.
The entire air potential
of the country was unified.
As a result,
the Royal Air Force...
has been able to go ahead
and develop its strength...
free and unhampered.
American airmen have not
had the same opportunity.
They're still part and parcel
of our Army and Navy.
But recently,
under the pressure of events...
we have combined
our air strength...
with that of the British.
And now
some of our own airmen...
together with
the Royal Air Force...
are planning and carrying out
real air strategy.
As the United Nations
surround Nazi Europe...
with a ring of air bases,
the present-day bomber...
such as the British
Sterlings and Lancasters...
and our own Flying Fortresses
and Liberators...
with their striking radius
of 1,000 miles...
will be able to reach
every spot of the Axis anatomy.
Air power at last
will be in a position...
to score a major decision-
to bomb the enemy
into submission...
to knock
Germany out of the war.
But whether
this happens or not...
depends not on air power...
but again on
those same lines of supply.
Air power planted
on these distant bases...
far away from
its main source of supply...
is only as good as the supply
lines by which it is fed.
If these lines...
can supply the needs
of this ring...
present-day bombers
with their striking radius...
of 1,000 miles
will be able to do the job.
But in the Pacific,
they haven't got a chance.
Let's take our ring
and move it over Japan.
If our bases were this close,
it would be a simple matter.
But Japan's
sphere of domination...
is three times that of Germany.
Japan is far beyond our reach.
All military men agree
that Japan cannot be defeated...
until the source
of its power is destroyed.
They all agree that Japan
itself is the target.
But they all disagree
on how to get at it.
Some pin their hopes
on Siberia...
others on direct assault
from the sea...
with aircraft carriers.
Some still cling to
the island-by-island approach.
Some say China.
But they could not
strike on a big enough scale...
to knock Japan out.
China is isolated,
cut off from outside help...
on one side
by impassable mountains...
on the other three,
by the enemy.
The kind of air offensive
that could smash Japan...
would require millions
of tons of materiaI-
bombs, gasoline, oiI,
replacements.
All these vitaI supplies must
be brought in from the outside,
and with the only means
of delivery by air...
the task becomes impossible.
To reopen
surface supply lines...
we must drive the enemy
out of Burma...
Thailand, and Indochina.
This means another major war-
2,000 miles
through steaming jungles...
hacking our way inch by inch...
struggling over
formidable mountain barriers...
crawling through
fever-ridden swamps...
years of exhaustive fighting.
And even then, our bases
would still be dependent...
on the longest, most vulnerable
lines of supply...
on the face of the globe.
The Japanese are just as aware
of this as we are.
The instant
any attempt is made...
to use these air fields
for bombing raids...
against the Japanese homeland,
the jaws will close...
launching off another surface
struggle for air bases...
with the odds
all in favor of the Japs...
whose supply lines
are much shorter than ours.
Any such attempt will only
prove the superiority...
of land-based aviation
over carrier-based aviation.
The land-based plane
has the advantage of size...
range, and bomb load,
because it can take off...
from a runway
two or three miles long.
By contrast,
the carrier's runway...
is only
a fraction of this size.
Therefore, the plane itself
has to be much smaller...
which in turn reduces
the range and bomb load.
To destroy Japan with
these small doses of TNT...
would require not a hundred
but thousands of carriers.
Long before our floating
airfields could bring...
their short-range aviation
within striking distance...
Japan's powerfuI
land-based planes...
would reach far out
into the Pacific...
and our carriers would be under
constant merciless attack...
not only from above,
but from the surface...
and from below.
Aircraft brought on
these floating bases...
must share the same fate
as the fleet itself.
"Land-sea-air team
to clear path to Tokyo.
"Island to island amphibious
drive to whip Japan. "
Japan has already
fortified its new empire...
with a chain
of island strongholds...
converting every one of them...
into a powerfuI,
unsinkable air base.
Experience has proved
that to invade...
and reconquer
any of these islands...
is far too costly
in life, substance, and time...
for while we exhaust ourselves
attacking the outer fringe...
the enemy feverishly rakes in
the loot of his stolen empire-
oiI, copper, iron,
tungsten, tin, rubber.
Gorging on
this new lifeblood...
his war industries...
the heart and vitals
of the beast...
out of reach and unmolested,
swell in size and power...
forge more
bullets, guns, tanks...
bombs, planes,
to strengthen his defenses...
more weapons of
death and destruction...
to expand
his sphere of domination.
Whether on the continent...
island by island,
or on the high seas...
this long
and exhausting struggle...
is nothing but a fight
for air bases...
so we can bring
our short-range aviation...
close enough
to strike at Japan.
What is the solution?
Long-range air power.
When we increase
the range of our bombers...
we automatically decrease
the surface struggle-
double the range,
half the struggle-
so the longer the range,
the shorter the war.
By increasing the striking
radius of our bombers...
to 3,000 miles,
we will be able...
to reach Japan from
the bases we have today.
But with this range...
air power will no longer
have to depend...
on these distant bases.
It will be able
to strike directly...
from continentaI America
and free itself...
of all dependency
on overseas supply lines.
From the great industriaI
heart of America...
our overland supply line...
the highway to victory,
runs to Alaska...
and Alaska points straight
at the heart of Japan.
Bombers that can take off
from our own shores...
fly across the ocean...
strike at the enemy,
and return non-stop...
are not only possible
but practicaI.
It is not longer a question
of whether it can be done...
but of making up our minds
to do it.
The science of aviation
is ready to give us...
powerfuI,
long-range combat planes...
far exceeding anything
in the air today.
They'll be heavily armed...
and bristling
with large-caliber cannon.
Their size and stability will
provide a steady platform...
for scientific
range-finding and gun-sights...
to assure accuracy of fire.
Small, single-seater fighters
will find themselves helpIess
for their guns
are not maneuverable.
They're fixed
and can only fire forward.
So while the small fighters...
are jockeying
to get into position...
they're under the constant
and deadly fire...
of the combat plane...
which is always
in firing position.
With scientific accuracy...
the big plane will blast
the enemy out of the air...
before he has a chance
to use his guns.
These powerfuI combat planes...
will destroy
enemy air power completely...
not only in the sky...
but on the ground
at its source.
Once complete mastery
of the air is achieved...
enemy war industries
will lie helpIessly exposed...
to systematic destruction.
The science of demolition
is keeping pace...
with the development
of aviation...
the bombs forever growing
in size and destructive power.
The industriaI districts
of all nations...
depend on huge dams
for their main source of power.
Our Boulder Dam,
Japan's Nagayo...
and those in
the German Rhineland.
These solid structures suffer
relatively minor damage...
when hit by
one and two-ton bombs...
but when a ten-ton
delayed-action bomb is dropped,
not on
the concrete structure...
but deep in the water
behind the dam...
its explosion will multiply
the pressure of the water...
far beyond the structuraI
strength of the dam...
and crush it like an eggshell.
With this important
source of power knocked out...
the war industries
of the entire region...
will come to a standstill.
Scientific bombing is destined
to conquer Hitler's submarines,
not by attacking them
one by one...
as they roam the Seven Seas...
but by striking
right at their source-
the breeding grounds
in Germany proper.
Today, the U-boats are
protected from ordinary bombing
by thick roofs
of reinforced concrete.
However, science is developing
an armor-piercing bomb...
employing
the rocket principle.
As it nears its target,
a rocket in the taiI ignites...
driving it down
with such terrific speed...
it can knife its way
through steeI and concrete.
IndustriaI districts within
reach of this air power...
will be on the receiving end
of other gigantic bombs...
that contain an auxiliary
charge in their tails...
backed by a counterweight.
As the bomb
nears its target...
a secondary explosion
takes place...
driving it away
from the counterweight...
which explodes into
a shower of incendiaries.
Driven down like a shot
from a cannon...
this bomb by its very size
and penetration...
will explode deep underground
and cause a locaI earthquake...
completely demolishing
everything over a wide area.
This is the coming reality...
and we must face the fact...
that it is
a two-way proposition.
No nation has a monopoly
on this kind of air power...
and when it comes...
there can be no real defense
against such an attack.
Bombers
will always go through...
and the only sure defense
will be a vigorous offense.
It's a question
of who destroys who first.
Right now,
America holds the answer...
not only because of
our superior science...
and industrial power...
but because at
this stage of the war...
our strategic position
is such...
that we can shift
our industrial effort...
into long-range air power...
But the enemy cannot,
and this is why.
He has overrun
vast territories...
and subjugated millions
of people against their will.
In order to suppress rebellion
and harness slave labor...
to develop his
newly-acquired resources...
he must maintain a huge army,
and a huge army requires...
a huge number
of supporting aircraft.
So his entire industry
must keep on grinding out...
this same kind of aviation.
He cannot afford
to disturb his production...
and start building
long-range air power...
until he has consolidated
his gains and digested his loot.
That takes time,
and that time is ours.
Today, the enemy
is sprawled on the ground...
and while
his greedy tentacles...
are clutching the loot,
his body lies unprotected.
Why spend our precious time
trying to loosen his grip?
In the struggle,
it can only lead...
to the complete devastation of
the lands we're trying to free.
Why not use this time
to forge the dagger...
that can strike
at the heart of the beast?
Once we give up the idea
of trying to regain...
the lost territory
inch by inch...
we can hold the enemy...
with surface forces
much smaller than his.
If we use our short-range
aviation to provide...
undisputed control of the skies
over our forces...
our present positions
cannot be invaded.
Any further expansion
on the part of the enemy...
will lead to
his exhaustion, not ours.
So by conserving our efforts
on land and on sea...
we can throw the vast
resources of America...
into long-range air power...
and strike the decisive blow
through the air.
This cannot be accomplished...
simply by building
a lot of huge airplanes.
We could have
swarms and clouds of them...
and still
not have real air power.
What we must do is unify...
the entire air strength
of our country...
into one formidable force
under a single air command.
This is a major undertaking,
but it is a move...
that is bound
to come sooner or later.
Because air power
is swiftly emerging...
as the dominant force
in war or in peace...
this move will either
be forced upon us...
by the march of events...
or it will come
through the foresight...
and native intelligence
of the American people.
In the past...
they have never failed
to act promptly and wisely...
once they understood
the problem they faced.
And so, in this crucial hour
in the destiny of our country...
they will not hesitate
to break the chains of habit...
and free themselves
from the earthbound past.
Only then will
our aviation leadership...
be free to plan and carry out
reaI air strategy...
that will bring us victory in
the shortest possible time...
with a minimum investment
in human lives.
Only then
will the creative brains...
and productive talent
of our aviation industry...
be free to forge the reaI
weapons of air power...
that will carry
totaI destruction to the enemy.
Our gallant airmen
have already demonstrated...
their skill,
their resourcefulness...
and their courage.
Born to this aeriaI age,
they understand war in the sky.
America should not hesitate
to place its destiny...
in the hands of these men...
for with the strategy
of air power...
they will make the enemy
fight on our terms...
against the weapons
of our choosing...
at our time, but on his soiI.
a war is very different...
than the last European war was.
Now air power is the dominant
feature of military operations.
Air power can fly directly
into the vital centers...
of an opposing state
and neutralize them.
It can destroy the cities.
It can wreck the aqueducts.
It can knock out
the lines of communication.
It can destroy
the food supplies...
and make the people
helpless to resist.
For 3,500 years,
man has had the desire to fly.
And yet it was
only 40 years ago...
this ambition was realized-
an accomplishment that
was to change the destiny...
of the entire world.
Two brothers,
Orville and Wilbur Wright-
bicycle builders
from Dayton, Ohio-
on the morning
of December 17...
set up on the sands of
Kitty Hawk, North Carolina...
their first heavier-than-air
flying machine.
Powered by
a four-cylinder motor...
developing
almost twelve horsepower...
with two bicycle chain-driven
propellers...
turning at nearly
340 revolutions per minute.
The machine,
complete with pilot...
weighed almost 750 pounds.
In order
to launch the plane...
a monoraiI track was designed.
The biplane "A"runs on
the wooden raiI "B"...
and anchor wire "C"
holds the plane back...
to enable the motor
to develop sufficient power...
for the takeoff.
Everything is in readiness.
The small crowd of witnesses
looks on hopefully.
Orville Wright
is at the controls.
One, two, three...
Go!
The motor races.
It's a tense moment.
Wilbur steadies the wing.
The plane strains
at the anchor cable.
Orville's hand
grips the controI.
The wire is released!
For twelve seconds...
the Wright plane
plows through the air...
in unmistakable power-driven,
man-carrying flight.
Twelve seconds.
TotaI distance-120 feet.
Man has conquered the air.
The five witnesses
of this epoch-making flight...
were too startled,
too thrilled to cheer.
Success! Four flights
Thursday morning...
starting from leveI,
average speed 31 miles.
Inform press. Home Christmas.
Orville Wright.
Man's first flight.
Yet this epoch-making feat...
failed to impress
a disinterested public.
The only part
of this stirring message...
that seemed newsworthy was...
"The Wright Brothers
to be home for Christmas. "
In spite of the public's
lack of enthusiasm...
the Wrights persisted.
Then one day, they made
a revolutionary flight.
For the first time,
they were able...
to turn the plane around
in midair...
and fly in
the opposite direction.
The daring Brazilian sportsman
Alberto Santos-Dumont...
made the first
officially recorded...
European airplane flight.
Soon, many other
intrepid airmen...
were flying
in triplanes, biplanes...
monoplanes and multiplanes.
Fantastic in appearance,
but they all flew.
Back in America...
Gee willikers!
It says here
the Army plans an Air Corps.
"The flying machine
must make...
"an endurance flight
of one hour...
"carry pilot
and one passenger...
"attain a speed
of 40 miles an hour...
'traveI ten miles
and land undamaged. "
Well, doggone.
41 enthusiastic
airplane builders...
submitted bids
of somewhat varied amounts.
I'll build a plane
for a million dollars.
I'll build it
for a thousand.
- Mine'll cost 10 million.
- $3,000.
- $1,230.
- $10,000.
My plane'll cost only $510.
And one shrewd bidder...
guaranteed to build a plane
for $45 a pound.
However, when
the government demanded...
a 10% forfeit be posted...
all but three of
these enthusiastic bidders...
hastily withdrew.
The contract was let
to the Wright Brothers...
for one military airplane.
Six months later,
at Fort Meyer...
delivery was made
to the United States Army.
This was the modest beginning
of our Air Force.
It was only 33 years ago...
that Louis Blriot took off
from the coast of France...
and, without instruments,
made the 21-mile flight...
across the English ChanneI.
Only a few realized
the significance...
of this great flight.
England was no longer isolated
from the rest of Europe...
by an impassable body
of water.
A ChanneI flight
that was to one day...
prove of even
greater significance...
was accomplished by
the Honorable C.S. Rolls.
In his own words...
Departing from England...
the flight across the ChanneI
was quite uneventfuI.
Reaching the other side
and being recognized.
Dropped greetings.
And without stopping...
returned home
safely without mishap.
In the meantime,
back in America...
aviation saw
another great advancement.
Eugene Ely
made the first takeoff...
from the deck
of the U.S.S. Birmingham.
Two months later,
Ely reversed this feat...
by landing on
the U.S.S. Pennsylvania.
This was the birth
of the aircraft carrier.
In 1911, the first experiments
with seaplanes began.
Canoe-like pontoons
were added to a land plane.
Straining for the takeoff,
the motor raced.
At 31 miles an hour...
the plane sped across
the surface of the lake...
and slid up on the bank.
It was not untiI Glenn Curtiss
added a more powerfuI motor...
that experiments with seaplanes
were a success.
That same year
also witnessed...
the first
transcontinentaI flight.
Racing against
a 30-day time limit...
for a $50,000 prize...
Calbraith P. Rodgers
took off from Long Island...
accompanied by a speciaI train
carrying spare parts.
The flight consisted
of 69 short hops...
and 15 crashes.
Over rivers and mountains...
against insurmountable odds...
bucking strong winds
and treacherous air currents...
losing precious moments...
with indomitable courage
and the will to win...
the daring flyer
crashed on and on.
Forty-nine days later
at Pasadena...
Rodgers arrived
with only one strut...
and part of the taiI intact
from the originaI plane.
Just barely missing
the prize by 19 days...
this modest hero confidently
predicted that someday...
somebody would fly
across the country in 30 days.
And so,
for the next few years...
the flying machine continued
to thrill the public...
but was regarded as a novelty
with no practicaI uses.
The airplane,
at the tender age of ten...
went off to war.
At first,
aircraft was considered...
to have very little
military value...
except for
observation purposes.
A spirit of
sportsmanship existed...
between the rivaI pilots.
As they would pass
each other...
on their daily flights
over the lines...
they would wave
a friendly greeting...
and sometimes take pictures
of one another...
which led to
an unusuaI development.
Sacr bleu!
This is outrage!
And so, the next day...
Oof!
The following day...
being a hothead
as well as a squarehead...
Fritz took a potshot at Pierre.
Oh!
Duels with pistols,
shotguns, and rifles...
led to the installation
of the machine gun...
successfuI
but for one small detaiI-
The propeller got in the way.
Then science developed
the synchronizing device...
to allow the bullets
to pass between...
the rapidly revolving blades
of the propeller.
The airplane became
a formidable weapon of war.
The merciless pressure
of warfare...
developed highly specialized
types of planes.
The dropping of grenades
and hand bombs...
led to a new and terrible
instrument of war-the bomber.
The terrific competition
of aeriaI combat...
compelled the rapid improvement
of aircraft.
More than 20,000 conflicts
were fought in the air.
The forced development
of aircraft...
in these four years of war...
would have taken 20 years
to accomplish in peacetime.
Yet the war ended before
the world fully realized...
the military potentiaI
of air power.
As a war-weary public
transferred its interest...
to peacetime activities...
the airplane again
had to struggle for existence.
The "Fly with Me"
gypsy flyer...
barnstormed
all over the country.
While people still regarded
the airplane...
as an exciting novelty...
farsighted airmen
were compelling the public...
to look upon aviation
with a new respect.
The U.S. Navy NC-4 flew
from Newfoundland to England...
via the Azores.
The first nonstop
transatlantic flight...
was made by Alcock and Brown
from Newfoundland to Ireland.
First solo flight
across the Atlantic-
Charles A. Lindbergh,
New York to Paris.
First round-the-world flight-
U.S. Army planes
circled the globe.
Flying time-15 days, 11 hours.
Post and Gatty-
4 days, 10 hours.
Howard Hughes-
2 days, 23 hours.
Altitude flights developed
superchargers and deicers.
Air races improved design
and advanced speed.
Power diving
at 620 miles per hour...
tested durability
and construction of planes.
The first air maiI service
in 1918...
grew in a short time
to major airlines...
with regularly scheduled
transcontinentaI...
and then transoceanic
passenger and freight service.
Aviation was progressing
at a tremendous pace.
Time was being compressed,
distance shrunk...
range lengthened,
and load capacity increased.
The airplane-
now flying all over the world-
was the only weapon of war...
to develop such great
usefulness in peacetime.
Jeepers!
President Roosevelt
wants 50,000 planes a year.
Backed by 25 years
of constant pioneering...
American aviation
met the challenge.
Remember,
the experiment of 1914...
had become
a devastating force.
From the mile-a-minute plane
of World War I...
we're starting today
with planes...
flying more than
six miles a minute.
During the last war...
firepower was increased
from one brick per minute...
to 2,400 bullets per minute.
Today we're starting
with 9,600 bullets per minute.
During World War I...
aeriaI grenades
and 25-pound hand bombs...
grew to two-ton bomb loads.
Today we're starting
with ten-ton bomb loads...
of the most
devastating explosives...
ever conceived by science.
Today the historic flight
of C.S. Rolls...
is repeated daily...
by Rolls-Royce-powered
pursuit and bomber planes.
Departing from England...
the flight across the ChanneI
was quite uneventfuI.
Reaching the other side
and being recognized.
Dropped greetings.
And without stopping...
returned home
safely without mishap.
In one single night...
the bomb load
dropped on Cologne...
was 20 times greater
than the totaI amount...
used in the last war
by the United States.
Today, only
a brief 40 years later...
The Wright Brothers'
first flight of 120 feet...
could be made
with 92 feet to spare...
on the wing of the B-19.
Yet this huge 82-ton
experimentaI bomber-
designed seven years ago-
is only a forerunner
of what can be done.
The amazing advancement
in military aviation...
is due to the vision
and persistence...
of pioneer airmen,
among whom...
Major Alexander P. de Seversky
is an outstanding figure.
He literally
grew up with aviation.
His father
was the first Russian...
to privately own and fly
an airplane.
At ten,
his military education began.
He graduated from the ImperiaI
Russian NavaI Academy...
as a lieutenant and saw
service with the fleet in 1914.
With a firm belief
in the future of aviation...
he became
a full-fledged pilot...
in both Army
and NavaI aviation...
and was assigned to flying duty
with the Baltic fleet.
While on
a night bombing mission...
he was shot down...
and suffered the loss of
his right leg-
an invalid at 22.
Ignoring his handicap and
determined to fight again...
he returned to the front as
Chief of Pursuit Aviation...
in the Baltic,
with the rank of commander.
He fought
57 aeriaI combats...
became the leading ace
of the navaI air forces...
and was awarded
the highest honors...
his country could bestow.
In 1918,
he came to America...
and later served
as aeronauticaI engineer...
and test pilot for
the United States government.
He became a friend,
advisor, and disciple...
of GeneraI Billy Mitchell.
Having become a citizen...
in 1928 he was
commissioned a major...
in the United States Air Corps.
He invented the first
fully automatic bombsight...
and many other instruments
and devices...
all contributing
to the greater efficiency...
of military aviation.
He designed, built, tested...
and himself
flew his new planes.
Among them,
an all-metaI amphibian plane-
in which he set a world speed
record that still stands-
the first low-wing all-metaI
basic training plane...
and the first all-metaI
single-seater fighter plane...
of cantilever construction...
adopted by
the United States Army.
In 1937...
to prove long range could be
built into pursuit planes...
he set a new nonstop record
from New York to Havana.
In an Army pursuit ship
of his own design...
he was the first officially to
cross the country east-west...
with a record
of 10 hours, 5 minutes.
His planes
won the Bendix race...
three successive years.
In 1940, he was presented
the Harmon Trophy...
by President Roosevelt...
for being the Outstanding
Airman of the Year.
With his background
as a combat pilot...
aeronauticaI designer,
engineer, manufacturer...
and military strategist...
Major Seversky's advanced
viewpoint and opinions...
are of vitaI importance
to every citizen.
Under the pressure of war...
the science of aviation
is making terrific strides.
As soon as the airplanes-
which are already...
on the drafting boards of
all the warring nations-
take to the air, there will
not be a single spot...
on the face of the earth
immune from overhead attack.
The enormous flying range...
and destructive power of
these planes will transform...
the entire surface of our planet
into a battlefield.
The distinction between soldiers
and civilians will be erased.
And I believe that
it is only a matter of time...
before we here in America...
will suffer our share
of civilian casualties.
And so warfare becomes
everybody's business.
All of us must understand
the strategy of war.
No longer should it be a mystery
open only to military minds.
The strategy of war is simply
a plan to defeat the enemy.
In wars of the past, there were
only two ways to do it.
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...
yet we failed to understand
the lessons of air power.
In the Pacific,
we left the skies unprotected.
With our battle fleet
in PearI Harbor...
as our first line of defense...
we were prepared for
traditionaI navaI warfare...
but again the first blow
came from the air.
In one hour
and twenty minutes...
a mighty battle fleet
was put out of action...
by a mere 150 planes.
True, PearI Harbor
was a sneak attack.
But three days later...
two of the mightiest warships
of the British navy-
"Prince of Wales"
and "Repulse"-
fully alert, dared to venture
within striking range...
of enemy land-based bomber
and torpedo planes.
The tragic sinking
of these two mighty warships...
was finaI proof that navies...
can no longer carry a war
to the enemy whose shores...
are adequately defended
by land-based aviation.
Our naval defense
of the Pacific crumpled...
under the blows of air power.
Japan's lightning drive...
was nothing
but a faithful imitation...
of the German blitzkrieg.
They employed
exactly the same tactics.
Having practically
no air opposition...
Japan's
spearhead of air power...
cleared the path
for its land and sea forces...
and drove us out
of one island after another...
until most of the Pacific
was lost.
Only then did
the earthbound mind grasp...
the main lesson of this war-
that no battle can be won
on the surface of the earth...
without first gaining complete
control of the sky above.
We were so impressed
with the use to which...
the enemy put the weapons
of land, sea, and air...
that we ourselves adopted
the very same tactics.
Aviation was recognized
as a full-fledged member...
of our fighting team.
It was to provide a roof
for our army and navy...
and act as a spearhead
of our offensive.
Now we were confident...
that we could beat the enemy
at his own game.
The reasoning
seemed logical enough-
if we have the same
kind of weapons as the enemy-
only more of them-
how can we lose?
With our abundant resources,
wealth of manpower...
and tremendous
industrial capacity...
why, we can
build the biggest army...
the biggest navy,
and the biggest air force.
And with
this super-colossal team...
we'll smother the enemy
with the sheer weight...
of our men and machines.
The success of this procedure
depends on two things-
first, we must produce
a vast amount of weapons...
of endless variety.
And second, we must deliver
this maze of equipment...
to battlefronts that are spread
all over the face of the earth.
Already nearly 100 million tons
of vital supplies...
are required every month,
month after month...
and if we step up the offensive,
this tonnage will grow.
Now, can we produce
and keep on producing...
and if we can,
can we deliver...
and keep on
delivering all this?
Regardless of the courage
and gallantry of our men...
on the battlefront...
regardless of the sacrifice
and effort on the home front...
as long as we follow
this course...
victory or defeat...
hangs on the fate
of our line of supply.
With this surface
struggle embracing the globe...
the problem of transportation
becomes the deciding issue.
To grasp
what we're up against...
let's spread this problem
before us.
In the west...
the battlefront stretched
over Europe and Africa.
The main theaters of war
are the Russian front...
extending from Murmansk
to the Black Sea...
the near-east,
and Mediterranean fronts.
In the east, from the Arctic
to the South Pacific.
Between these two theaters
of conflict...
thousands of miles away
lies the arsenaI of democracy.
This highly mechanized war...
has placed tremendous demands
on our production capacity...
which is rapidly
approaching its peak.
Ever mounting numbers
of tanks, guns, planes...
roll off production lines.
This vitaI equipment
for the distant fronts...
is rushed
across the continent...
but finally jams up
in the bottleneck of shipping.
This lifeblood of vitaI
war supplies must be pumped...
through the arteries
of our transport lines...
over distances that actually
girdle the globe.
To illustrate...
when a supply ship
from San Francisco...
moves over the trackless
miles of ocean...
and delivers
its cargo at Suez...
it can return
over the same route...
or traveI the rest of the way
around the world.
In either case...
as far as the distance
in wartime is concerned...
it's a tossup,
and the ship is lucky...
if it can deliver
more than two loads a year.
Wartime distances
and peacetime distances...
are entirely different.
For example, from
San Francisco to Melbourne...
in peacetime is 6,700 miles.
But in wartime,
with enemy controI...
jutting out
its sphere of domination...
the distance
is almost doubled...
and the enemy has twice as long
to attack our shipping.
But his supply lines,
being interior lines...
have not
changed from peacetime.
To deliver supplies
to the Russian front...
our navies must convoy ships
over 4,000 perilous miles...
to Murmansk, and from there...
more than 1,000 miles
overland to the battlefront.
By contrast, the Nazis can rush
supplies to the same front...
in a few days
by direct overland transport.
Geographically,
the Axis has a great advantage.
They operate with short
interior lines of supply...
whereas we're compelled to use
long exterior lines...
a 50,000-mile battlefront...
every mile threatened by
the deadliest menace of all...
the submarine.
Against these wolf packs
lurking underwater...
and striking from ambush...
the ship glued to the surface
is a helpIess target.
In order to win
the battles at the front...
Hitler must cut
our lifeline of supply.
The U-boat-his major weapon-
is our greatest problem.
He is building improved U-boats
by the hundreds...
ever growing in size
and striking power...
immune to anything
short of a direct hit.
Every measure
we take to protect...
this slow-moving target
will be offset...
by new scientific devices
in the submarine.
Soon it will be able to lurk
safely below the surface...
and without ever
revealing its presence...
accurately locate
the approaching victim.
Our shipbuilding industry
tries desperately...
to meet the challenge,
but faces a tragic contest...
between
launchings and sinkings.
Every ship that goes down
is a triple casualty...
of wasted materiaI,
labor, and human life.
With millions of tons
of our production...
going to the bottom
instead of to battle...
a tremendous strain
is put on our industriaI heart.
As long as
we cling to a strategy...
based on surface warfare...
the advantage is
on the side of the enemy.
Hitler's strategic position
resembles a wheeI.
The hub-his powerfuI
industriaI center...
which grinds out
the implements of war.
The spokes-his supply lines...
that support
the fighting fronts...
the rim of the wheeI.
Our surface strategy seeks
to crush this structure...
by striking at
the rim from all sides...
millions of men and machines...
in a clash
of steeI against steeI.
Should we concentrate
enough force...
to attack at any one point...
Hitler can
quickly shift his power...
and reinforce
the threatened sector.
No matter where we strike...
Hitler can
strike back swiftly...
with the right force
at the right place.
Should we strike from all sides
with superior force...
Hitler will contract his wheeI.
The spokes become shorter,
the rim thicker...
the whole structure stronger
and more nearly impregnable.
To successfully attack,
we must use a superior force...
and attempt to knock out
Hitler's equipment...
faster than he can replace it.
Tanks destroy tanks...
and our supporting
short-range aviation...
plays an important part...
by destroying
more of Hitler's equipment.
But with his factories
unmolested...
he can quickly fill the gaps...
by moving his supplies
short distances over dry land.
By contrast, our replacements
must be carried in transports
over those thousands
of perilous floating miles...
constantly under attack
from the enemy.
As long as we fight
on the surface of the earth...
Hitler has all the advantage.
But with the strategy
of air power...
the advantage is ours.
Air power ignores
the battlefronts of the rim.
By direct
and independent action...
it strikes at the hub.
With this all-important source
of enemy power knocked out...
the whole structure
will collapse...
and our surface forces...
will move in
and clinch the victory...
with a tremendous saving
in human lives.
This is the real teamwork.
This is the true role
of air power.
The present air offensive
against Germany...
is the beginning
of such strategy.
Already more than
50 industrial targets...
have felt
the sting of bombardment.
The Royal Air Force
has blazed a trail.
They are giving the Nazis
a thorough lesson...
in the proper use of air power.
Now, this is no accident.
Back in 1918...
in the very midst
of the last war...
the British people
had the wisdom and courage...
to take a bold step.
They divorced their Air Force
from their Army and Navy...
and set it up as a separate
and independent branch.
The entire air potential
of the country was unified.
As a result,
the Royal Air Force...
has been able to go ahead
and develop its strength...
free and unhampered.
American airmen have not
had the same opportunity.
They're still part and parcel
of our Army and Navy.
But recently,
under the pressure of events...
we have combined
our air strength...
with that of the British.
And now
some of our own airmen...
together with
the Royal Air Force...
are planning and carrying out
real air strategy.
As the United Nations
surround Nazi Europe...
with a ring of air bases,
the present-day bomber...
such as the British
Sterlings and Lancasters...
and our own Flying Fortresses
and Liberators...
with their striking radius
of 1,000 miles...
will be able to reach
every spot of the Axis anatomy.
Air power at last
will be in a position...
to score a major decision-
to bomb the enemy
into submission...
to knock
Germany out of the war.
But whether
this happens or not...
depends not on air power...
but again on
those same lines of supply.
Air power planted
on these distant bases...
far away from
its main source of supply...
is only as good as the supply
lines by which it is fed.
If these lines...
can supply the needs
of this ring...
present-day bombers
with their striking radius...
of 1,000 miles
will be able to do the job.
But in the Pacific,
they haven't got a chance.
Let's take our ring
and move it over Japan.
If our bases were this close,
it would be a simple matter.
But Japan's
sphere of domination...
is three times that of Germany.
Japan is far beyond our reach.
All military men agree
that Japan cannot be defeated...
until the source
of its power is destroyed.
They all agree that Japan
itself is the target.
But they all disagree
on how to get at it.
Some pin their hopes
on Siberia...
others on direct assault
from the sea...
with aircraft carriers.
Some still cling to
the island-by-island approach.
Some say China.
But they could not
strike on a big enough scale...
to knock Japan out.
China is isolated,
cut off from outside help...
on one side
by impassable mountains...
on the other three,
by the enemy.
The kind of air offensive
that could smash Japan...
would require millions
of tons of materiaI-
bombs, gasoline, oiI,
replacements.
All these vitaI supplies must
be brought in from the outside,
and with the only means
of delivery by air...
the task becomes impossible.
To reopen
surface supply lines...
we must drive the enemy
out of Burma...
Thailand, and Indochina.
This means another major war-
2,000 miles
through steaming jungles...
hacking our way inch by inch...
struggling over
formidable mountain barriers...
crawling through
fever-ridden swamps...
years of exhaustive fighting.
And even then, our bases
would still be dependent...
on the longest, most vulnerable
lines of supply...
on the face of the globe.
The Japanese are just as aware
of this as we are.
The instant
any attempt is made...
to use these air fields
for bombing raids...
against the Japanese homeland,
the jaws will close...
launching off another surface
struggle for air bases...
with the odds
all in favor of the Japs...
whose supply lines
are much shorter than ours.
Any such attempt will only
prove the superiority...
of land-based aviation
over carrier-based aviation.
The land-based plane
has the advantage of size...
range, and bomb load,
because it can take off...
from a runway
two or three miles long.
By contrast,
the carrier's runway...
is only
a fraction of this size.
Therefore, the plane itself
has to be much smaller...
which in turn reduces
the range and bomb load.
To destroy Japan with
these small doses of TNT...
would require not a hundred
but thousands of carriers.
Long before our floating
airfields could bring...
their short-range aviation
within striking distance...
Japan's powerfuI
land-based planes...
would reach far out
into the Pacific...
and our carriers would be under
constant merciless attack...
not only from above,
but from the surface...
and from below.
Aircraft brought on
these floating bases...
must share the same fate
as the fleet itself.
"Land-sea-air team
to clear path to Tokyo.
"Island to island amphibious
drive to whip Japan. "
Japan has already
fortified its new empire...
with a chain
of island strongholds...
converting every one of them...
into a powerfuI,
unsinkable air base.
Experience has proved
that to invade...
and reconquer
any of these islands...
is far too costly
in life, substance, and time...
for while we exhaust ourselves
attacking the outer fringe...
the enemy feverishly rakes in
the loot of his stolen empire-
oiI, copper, iron,
tungsten, tin, rubber.
Gorging on
this new lifeblood...
his war industries...
the heart and vitals
of the beast...
out of reach and unmolested,
swell in size and power...
forge more
bullets, guns, tanks...
bombs, planes,
to strengthen his defenses...
more weapons of
death and destruction...
to expand
his sphere of domination.
Whether on the continent...
island by island,
or on the high seas...
this long
and exhausting struggle...
is nothing but a fight
for air bases...
so we can bring
our short-range aviation...
close enough
to strike at Japan.
What is the solution?
Long-range air power.
When we increase
the range of our bombers...
we automatically decrease
the surface struggle-
double the range,
half the struggle-
so the longer the range,
the shorter the war.
By increasing the striking
radius of our bombers...
to 3,000 miles,
we will be able...
to reach Japan from
the bases we have today.
But with this range...
air power will no longer
have to depend...
on these distant bases.
It will be able
to strike directly...
from continentaI America
and free itself...
of all dependency
on overseas supply lines.
From the great industriaI
heart of America...
our overland supply line...
the highway to victory,
runs to Alaska...
and Alaska points straight
at the heart of Japan.
Bombers that can take off
from our own shores...
fly across the ocean...
strike at the enemy,
and return non-stop...
are not only possible
but practicaI.
It is not longer a question
of whether it can be done...
but of making up our minds
to do it.
The science of aviation
is ready to give us...
powerfuI,
long-range combat planes...
far exceeding anything
in the air today.
They'll be heavily armed...
and bristling
with large-caliber cannon.
Their size and stability will
provide a steady platform...
for scientific
range-finding and gun-sights...
to assure accuracy of fire.
Small, single-seater fighters
will find themselves helpIess
for their guns
are not maneuverable.
They're fixed
and can only fire forward.
So while the small fighters...
are jockeying
to get into position...
they're under the constant
and deadly fire...
of the combat plane...
which is always
in firing position.
With scientific accuracy...
the big plane will blast
the enemy out of the air...
before he has a chance
to use his guns.
These powerfuI combat planes...
will destroy
enemy air power completely...
not only in the sky...
but on the ground
at its source.
Once complete mastery
of the air is achieved...
enemy war industries
will lie helpIessly exposed...
to systematic destruction.
The science of demolition
is keeping pace...
with the development
of aviation...
the bombs forever growing
in size and destructive power.
The industriaI districts
of all nations...
depend on huge dams
for their main source of power.
Our Boulder Dam,
Japan's Nagayo...
and those in
the German Rhineland.
These solid structures suffer
relatively minor damage...
when hit by
one and two-ton bombs...
but when a ten-ton
delayed-action bomb is dropped,
not on
the concrete structure...
but deep in the water
behind the dam...
its explosion will multiply
the pressure of the water...
far beyond the structuraI
strength of the dam...
and crush it like an eggshell.
With this important
source of power knocked out...
the war industries
of the entire region...
will come to a standstill.
Scientific bombing is destined
to conquer Hitler's submarines,
not by attacking them
one by one...
as they roam the Seven Seas...
but by striking
right at their source-
the breeding grounds
in Germany proper.
Today, the U-boats are
protected from ordinary bombing
by thick roofs
of reinforced concrete.
However, science is developing
an armor-piercing bomb...
employing
the rocket principle.
As it nears its target,
a rocket in the taiI ignites...
driving it down
with such terrific speed...
it can knife its way
through steeI and concrete.
IndustriaI districts within
reach of this air power...
will be on the receiving end
of other gigantic bombs...
that contain an auxiliary
charge in their tails...
backed by a counterweight.
As the bomb
nears its target...
a secondary explosion
takes place...
driving it away
from the counterweight...
which explodes into
a shower of incendiaries.
Driven down like a shot
from a cannon...
this bomb by its very size
and penetration...
will explode deep underground
and cause a locaI earthquake...
completely demolishing
everything over a wide area.
This is the coming reality...
and we must face the fact...
that it is
a two-way proposition.
No nation has a monopoly
on this kind of air power...
and when it comes...
there can be no real defense
against such an attack.
Bombers
will always go through...
and the only sure defense
will be a vigorous offense.
It's a question
of who destroys who first.
Right now,
America holds the answer...
not only because of
our superior science...
and industrial power...
but because at
this stage of the war...
our strategic position
is such...
that we can shift
our industrial effort...
into long-range air power...
But the enemy cannot,
and this is why.
He has overrun
vast territories...
and subjugated millions
of people against their will.
In order to suppress rebellion
and harness slave labor...
to develop his
newly-acquired resources...
he must maintain a huge army,
and a huge army requires...
a huge number
of supporting aircraft.
So his entire industry
must keep on grinding out...
this same kind of aviation.
He cannot afford
to disturb his production...
and start building
long-range air power...
until he has consolidated
his gains and digested his loot.
That takes time,
and that time is ours.
Today, the enemy
is sprawled on the ground...
and while
his greedy tentacles...
are clutching the loot,
his body lies unprotected.
Why spend our precious time
trying to loosen his grip?
In the struggle,
it can only lead...
to the complete devastation of
the lands we're trying to free.
Why not use this time
to forge the dagger...
that can strike
at the heart of the beast?
Once we give up the idea
of trying to regain...
the lost territory
inch by inch...
we can hold the enemy...
with surface forces
much smaller than his.
If we use our short-range
aviation to provide...
undisputed control of the skies
over our forces...
our present positions
cannot be invaded.
Any further expansion
on the part of the enemy...
will lead to
his exhaustion, not ours.
So by conserving our efforts
on land and on sea...
we can throw the vast
resources of America...
into long-range air power...
and strike the decisive blow
through the air.
This cannot be accomplished...
simply by building
a lot of huge airplanes.
We could have
swarms and clouds of them...
and still
not have real air power.
What we must do is unify...
the entire air strength
of our country...
into one formidable force
under a single air command.
This is a major undertaking,
but it is a move...
that is bound
to come sooner or later.
Because air power
is swiftly emerging...
as the dominant force
in war or in peace...
this move will either
be forced upon us...
by the march of events...
or it will come
through the foresight...
and native intelligence
of the American people.
In the past...
they have never failed
to act promptly and wisely...
once they understood
the problem they faced.
And so, in this crucial hour
in the destiny of our country...
they will not hesitate
to break the chains of habit...
and free themselves
from the earthbound past.
Only then will
our aviation leadership...
be free to plan and carry out
reaI air strategy...
that will bring us victory in
the shortest possible time...
with a minimum investment
in human lives.
Only then
will the creative brains...
and productive talent
of our aviation industry...
be free to forge the reaI
weapons of air power...
that will carry
totaI destruction to the enemy.
Our gallant airmen
have already demonstrated...
their skill,
their resourcefulness...
and their courage.
Born to this aeriaI age,
they understand war in the sky.
America should not hesitate
to place its destiny...
in the hands of these men...
for with the strategy
of air power...
they will make the enemy
fight on our terms...
against the weapons
of our choosing...
at our time, but on his soiI.