DOUHET AND AERIAL WARFARE

Douhet was an Italian and an ardent Fascist. He laid out the air organization for Italy and was the first man to whom airplane meant mass aerial warfare. Many Americans criticize his ""theory of frightfulness"" (bombing and gassing of civilians, ostensibly to effect a quicker end of war). His theory that the air force should be a separate arm has many advocates, among them the prefacer, Al Williams, who claims that only independently can the air force gain maximum strength and rapidity and mobility. The author discusses Douhet's theory with its application to the U. S. A.