9. some 45% to 50% of air operations for S.O.E. are abortive for one reason or another, of which some 30% to 35% are now due to failure due to reception arrangements. It is reported that of the effective operations some 20% eventually fail through activities of the enemy. Since provision of aircraft for S.O.E. purposes necessarily involves a reduction of air effort in other directions, this situation needs constant review by authorities having a knowledge of our available resources and of conflicting demands on them.