New Ways in War
By Air to Battle : the Official Account of the British Airborne Division. (H.M. Stationery Office, Is.) THE use of the atomic bomb against Japan was followed by a great deal of loose thinking, writing and talking. Many people assumed too readily that the new weapon had at once made all other weapons obsolete, and it is going to be far from easy in countries where defence policy has to be based on public opinion to secure a realistic appreciation of the revolutions in warfare that the war really brought. Although much has yet to be made known about the atomic bomb, it is certainly clear that this particular new weapon has obvious limitations, and that its discovery is not so much the discovery of something new in kind as of something new in degree ; in short, the atomic bomb is still a bomb, although a bomb the effect of which is far-reaching and to a certain extent incalculable. But it is at least arguable that a real revolution in warfare occurred when men and not bombs were dropped from the skies. It is to be hoped, therefore, that military students will give a high priority to the investigation of the historical develop- ment and potentialities of airborne armies.
In the meantime, the Stationery Office has issued for the Air Ministry a popular account of the exploits of the ist and 6th British Airborne Divisions. Without hesitation this booklet can be recommended as one of the best of many similar productions compiled for the Service departments during the war. No author's name is given. This is a pity. for one would like to give honour where it is due. The story held me enthralled during the greater part of a tedious journey from London to West Wales ; the style is worthy of the story—always clear, often moving, with a dry, matter-of-fact humour which is obviously that of the men of the airborne divisions themselves. There are many moments of tense excitement, such as the arrival of Lord Lovat's Commando soldiers with pipes playing at the bridge over the Caen Canal. "They reached the bridge and the green berets mingled with the red. Men of formations which had sustained the valour of British arms in the cold, clear fjords of Norway, in the dark jungles of Mada- gascar, in the stinging sands and stony hills of Africa, in the streets of Vasterival, in the tracer-lit docks of St. Nazaire, met with men who were performing for' the first time a like office in the green fields of Normandy."
This account of the British airborne divisions begins with one of Mr. Churchill's minutes and ends with the part played by air- borne troops in the crossing of the Rhine. A good description of training is followed by some new information about the Monte Vulture raid and an account of Bruneval. Then in quick succession we are told of Tunisia, Sicily, Taranto, Normandy and Arnhem. All were affairs of partial success or failure. The new arm was still in its infancy, and the technique of employing it had to be painfully learned. The last action of all—the leap over the Rhine— was a success, but it would be foolish to say that the future does not hold new lessons in the employment of airborne troops. Even if there should not be another war, the airborne soldier is likely to be often used for policing duties. This short booklet not only introduces us to a new way of war, but it pays fitting tribute to the pioneers, the riders of the winged horse.
S. IL F. JOHNSTON. '
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