[tcolvin]

Thanks very much, Juha.

Sure "Modern societies were built in that way", but the British prided themselves on the COS system; but it failed them because of Churchill.

And that is the ultimate explanation for why dive-bombers were never used by the British in North-west Europe in WW2, and why the A-36 was replaced by the P-47 - because the Americans had to learn almost everything in WW2, including the COS system, but copied the British in letting the USAAF operate quasi-independently.

Good stuff on a difficult subject. And in spite of the millions of words already written about it, no one has yet convincingly put all of the details together.

Why don't you have a go?

Tony