Principles of War
" You must win the air battle before you fight the land or sea battle." Such is the dictum of General Montgomery, a soldier who has won land battles in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Sicily and Italy, and will soon be leading a great expeditionary force in the West of Europe. It has been proved true throughout the present war. The Germans won quickly in Poland and Norway because they had first conquered the air. They were unable to invade England in 1940 because they lost the Battle of Britain in the skies. We lost Singapore and Crete because the enemy began by winning the air battle. General Montgomery won at Alamein after the R.A.F. had mastered the air. There have been exceptions in Russia, when masterly retreats were conducted in spite of air inferiority, or when advances were made without superiority ; but the Russians would readily admit that the principle is true. But the fact that the air battle must first be won does not mean that air forces need not be used at every stage in conjunction with the land forces. On the contrary, General Montgomery envisages their constant use, not, as he says, in " co-operation," but as an integrhl part of a single fighting machine which is hitting the enemy concerted blows on land and in the air ; and if we are engaged in an amphibious oper- ation, as soon we shall be, then the Navy too must be a part of the same machine. In his recent statement to the Press he laid down a few simple abstract principles which govern a war of today. They come from a man who, recognising them at the outset, has applied and tested them in the experience of battle.
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