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Aviation History
1914
1914 - 0932.PDF
\f\Mn that attack with common shell with a time fuse is more likely to succeed against aircraft than shrapnel, since the disturbance caused by the former is undoubtedly greater. So far as concerns airships, there is so little information available that no real line can be taken regarding them. We read that several Zeppelins have been fired at and brought down, but we do not know exactly how they met their end. Obviously, airships by reason of their greater size are better targets for gun-fire than the small, swift aeroplane, and it should therefore be possible to attack them by more direct methods. But of that we shall be better able to form an opinion when we know more of how things have been going. «o» * m In dealing with the work of aircraft during iff the war we have, up to the present, pre ferred to err on the side of caution rather than to accept as authoritative the statements made by correspondents who have only been able to gain their news at third or fourth hand, or the impressions of solitary soldiers which, as we pointed out last week, are among the very vaguest of all impressions when they are gained under fire; therefore, our attitude with regard to the lessons to be derived from the use of aeroplanes in modern warlike operations has been non-committal, and we have preferred the policy of " wait and see " rather than one of dashing off into irresponsible and uncon sidered opinions which the light of subsequent official news might very well have shown to be based on entirely false premisses. Our caution has, it seems, created some little misunderstanding, since Mr. Harold Perrin, the Secretary of the R.Ae.C, has drawn i our attention to the possibility that our comments of last week might be taken to be in discount of the value of aircraft to the army in the field. We need hardly say that nothing is, or was, farther from our thoughts, for, as the records of FLIGHT are there to show, we have always been profoundly impressed with the enormously impor tant part aircraft must play in civilised warfare. So far as concerns this present war, we have published in full practically every item of intelligence which has been printed with regard to the use of aircraft, though, as we have already pointed out, we preferred to wait until official and dependable information came through before committing ourselves to really definite pro nouncements. Now, however, matters bear a different aspect, for we have the despatch of Sir John French to the Secretary of State for War, and published on Thurs day this week, to help us to understand how the. aircraft have been used and what really magnificent work has been done by the officers of that splendid body the Royal Flying Corps. Sir John's despatch is dated the 7th inst., so that it brings our knowledge of things very closely up to date. Naturally, in dealing with major ® ® Airship's Day and Night Cruises for the Profec* tion of London. THE Secretary to the Admiralty announces that it has been decided that one of the British naval airships shall make short cruises over London during the next few days by day and by night. There is no necessity for the public to be alarmed at the sight of the airship, and on no account should any attempt be made to fire at it. SEPTEMBER II, 1914. operations of war on such a scale as is covered by the despatch, it is not possible for the Commander-in-Chief to go closely into the details of the services performed by individuals or even the smaller units, and we are thus left to deduce a great deal from the terse, plain records of Sir John's general statement. Probably we shall not know all that our Army in France owes to the self- sacrifice and efficiency of the R.F.C. until the detailed Staff records of the operations are available. The first mention of the aerial service is contained in a paragraph relating to the position at Mons on the 23rd August. Sir John French says of this :— " From information I received from French Headquarters I under stood that little more than one, or at most two, of the enemy's army corps, with perhaps one cavalry division, were in front of my position ; and I was aware of no attempted outflanking movement by the enemy. I was confirmed in this opinion by the fact that my patrols encountered no undue opposition in their reconnoitring operations. The observation of my aeroplanes seemed also to bear out this estimate." Evidently, the British Commander had already been making extended use of aerial patrols. Incidentally, and to show how absolutely justified was our refusal to base any judgment on the fragmentary and unreliable unofficial reports which have hitherto been all we have had to go upon, we remarked last week that if the stories of men returned from the battle line were to be trusted—which we expressly doubted—our aeroplanes were conspicuous mainly for their absence from the area of the operations ! Later on the same day the aeroplanes did excellent work in discovering the real strength of the German attack, for Sir John remarks :— " When the news of the retirement of the French and the heavy German threatening on my front reached me, I endeavoured to confirm it by aeroplane reconnaissance ; and as a result of this I determined to effect a retirement to the Maubeuge position at day break on the 24th." From thence onwards to the end of the period covered by the despatch, nothing transpires as to the work of the R.F.C., though we may be sure that officers and men were doing all that was|required of them. Of the work Sir John French speaks in these ringing words :— "I wish particularly to bring to your Lordship's notice the admirable work done by the Royal Flying Corps under Sir David Henderson. Their skill, energy, and perseverance have been beyond all praise. They have furnished me with the most complete and accurate information, which has been of incalculable value in the conduct of the operations. Fired at constantly both by friend and foe, and not hesi tating to fly in every kind of weather, they have remained undaunted throughout "Further, by actually fighting in the air, they have succeeded in destroying five of the enemy's machines." Thus the youngest branch of the Service has, on the first occasion of its being employed, engraved its name and deeds deeply on the roll of the imperishable fame of the British Army, and has shown that no matter whether it be by earth, sea or sky, our officers and men are—what we have always believed them to be. ® ® Illuminated Piers and Esplanades. Warning to Municipalities. THE Secretary of the Admiralty communicates the following statement for publication :— For the general safety of the community, the country being at war, municipal authorities are requested to reduce as much as possible the number of powerful electric lights on piers, esplanades, and public places which are visible from seaward or from the air. 932
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