The resumption of raids on Germany on Tuesday night does
something to relieve the perplexity which the failure to follow up the two thousand-machine raids last month had caused. The sensation they created throughout the world, with the Prime Minister's declara- tion that this would go on happening to Germany " city by city " keyed expectation everywhere to a high pitch, and it is undeniable that the absence of any repetition has caused disappointment. The chief reason, I think there is no doubt, is the weather, for it has to be remembered that conditions have to be right both here and over Germany if undertakings involving great risks are to be justified. But there is rather more in it than that. The raids were rightly described as a triumph of organisation, but they need long and detailed preparation and extensive servicing of the great bombers. There will certainly be more thousand-machine raids, and we may not have long to wait for them, but the Prime Minister's warning that they could not at present be regarded as anything like a regular fixture needs to be both recalled and emphasised.
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