Defence Against Night - Bombers How far have we got towards the
solution of the night- bomber problem? In April 87 enemy machines were destroyed at night, that being the best up to date. In May the total increased to 143 over this country and 13 over Europe. The successes were, of course, most numerous when the enemy attacks were heavy and the nights were clear, that is to say in the first ten days of the month. Progress has certainly been made since last autumn, but not nearly enough to provide a serious deterrent to the enemy's attacks on indus- trial centres and ports. It is difficult to be sure whether this limited improvement is due to the fact that there are now larger numbers of trained night-fighters who can find the enemy with their own eyes, or whether it is due to the new devices they have at their disposal. It is only in proportion as the successes are attributable to the latter cause that we can hope for swift improvement in the methods of defeating the night-bomber. Intensive training in all the means of finding and engaging the enemy at night is going on steadily, and pro- gress is to be expected. But it is idle to suppose that the hours of darkness will become reasonably safe until raiders can be brought down in dozens when they make concentrated attacks. Nothing less than a consistent ro per cent. loss is likely to deter the raiders.
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