Summaries

Synopsis

This is a unique film in Disney Production's history. This film is essentially a propaganda film selling Major Alexander De Seversky's theories about the practical uses of long range strategic bombing. Using a combination of animation humorously telling about the development of air warfare, the film switches to the Major illustrating his ideas could win the war for the allies.Back in 1919, US General Billy Micthell urged the US armed forces to commit themselves to building a large air force. Throughout till the passage of world war 2, there were several skirmishes where battles proved the superiority handed by air supremacy to ground forces.

The first manned flight in a heavier than air machine took place at Kity hawk on Dec 17th, 1903, by Wilbur and Orville wright. by 1904 they were able to turn the plane mid-air and fly in the opposite direction. In 1908, the army planned an air core, with requirements of 1 hr flight, 1 pilot and 1 passenger, 10 miles flight and to landed undamaged. in 1910 a French pilot flew across the English channel for the first time. Around the same time, Eugene Healy in US flew a plane from the USS Birminngham for the first time.Rogers completed the first trans continental flight in 1910's. In 1914, WW I happened. At first airplanes were used only for observations, but then rival pilots began to attack each other with pistols and guns. This led to the installation of machine guns on airplanes. A sync device was created to avoid the bullets from hitting the rotating propeller.

Soon grenades and bombs were being dropped from airplanes on critical military targets. more than 20 yrs of aircraft development took place in just 4 short yrs of war. From 1919, several aviators continued to push the boundaries of aviation, including Charles Lindberg who flew solo across the Atlantic from New York to Paris. US Army planes flew across the globe in 15days 11 hours. Which Howard Hughes bettered to 2 days 23 hours. Air races improved design and speed. BY 1930's several commercial airline services flew across the entire globe with regular passenger and freight services.

In 1939, with WW II, Roosevelt ordered the building of 50,000 airplanes. The advancement in technology was immense (from 1 mile a min to 6 miles a min, 1 bullet per min, to 9600 bullets per min, 10 tonne bomb loads and so on).The pinnacle of technology is the B-19 bomber, which is virtually untouchable by the enemy and can cause great devastation with its bomb loads.Major Alexander Seversky played a crucial role in military aviation in US. Born in Russia and attended the Soviet military academy. He was assigned to the Navy air-core of Russia and was injured in the first world war, when his plane was shot down in a night mission. He lost his leg at the age of 22. In 1918, he came to the US, became a citizen and served as an advisor to General Billy Mitchell. A firm believer in the future of air core, he served with the aeronautical engineering division of US armed forces. He designed the first fully automated bomb sight. He designed and flew his own lanes, including metal amphibian planes, metal folded wings planes and long range bombers.

Alexander propagated the use of bombers to destroy the enemies war industries, thereby crippling their ability to make war. But military strategists of the day saw the airplanes as just another weapon and not a fundamental shift in the way wars should be fought. In US and Europe leaders continued to pour money into weapons that had already outlived their utility. The french built the seemingly impregnable Maginot line (a series of bunkers designed for trench warfare). But the Nazis used air-power to blast a path for their land forces and occupy France. The Maginot line was no defense for this new style of warfare.

Similarly Britain attempted to blockade Hitler's forces in Norway, but didn't count on Nazi air-power, which beat them into submission and forced the world's mightiest navy to retire into the safety of the cover provided by British land based air forces. 300,000 British armed forces were saved at Dunkirk only because of the cover provided by the British air force, which provided resistance to Hitler's Luftwaffe.

Hilter again planned an aerial invasion of Britain, to replicate his success over France. But this time, met with the Royal air force & its Spitfire plane, which blew 2400 Nazi,'s bombers from the sky and stopped Hitler's campaign in its tracks. But then Hitler took control of the Mediterranean, by aerial bombardment of the Greek island of Crete. The Japanese taught US a lesson, by the air invasion of Pearl harbor.

These events finally convinces the US military strategists to adopt the same tactics as Germany & to build a superior air force. But Major Alex argued that this thinking of smothering the enemy with their own tactics, would require a colossal amount of resources, which would be wasteful. He advocated a new type of warfare, long range bombers. Alex said that producing the equipment was the easy thing to do. To deliver the war equipment across the vast theaters of war, across perilous ocean miles, patrolled by enemy submarines was the hardest task. Given the distances involved, each ship could not carry more than 2 loads a year and that too if it survived.

Major Alex advocates the Hitler strategy of a hub and spoke. The war industry as the hub and the supply lines to the front as the spoke. The allied strategy till date is to attack the hub and spoke at the rims, but Hitler could counter by strengthening the sector under attack as the hub was still undisturbed. So, Alex advocated the strategy to kill the industrial hub instead. The same theory holds true in Pacific, where there is currently no way to strike at the heart of Japan. Current bombers will require use of Chinese airfields, which will themselves have to be supplied by air as all land and sea routes are blocked. To clear these routes will require another major war theatre and to supply by air would be nearly impossible. So long range bombers are the answer.3000 mile range bombers that could take off from Alaska, would bring Japanese industry to a halt and pave the path to victory.