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Aviation History
1915
1915 - 0731.PDF
Flight, October i, 1015. •^ c J v ^ Cr j \ First Aeru Weekly in the World. Founder and Editor : STANLEY SPOONER. A Jouriaal devoted to the Interest*. Practice, and Procreaa of Aerial Locomotion a»4 Transport. OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE ROYAL AERO CLUB OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. No. 353. (No. 40. Vol. VII.)] OCTOBER 1, 1915 I Ro«Ut.r«d at u>e u.P.O.T I Weekly. Price 3d. L as a Newspaper. J [_ Poa' Free, Sid. Fligptat. Editorial Office: 44, ST. MARTIN'S LANE, LONDON, W.C. Telegrams: Truditur, Westrand, London. Telephone: Gerrard i8aB. Annnal Subscription Rates, Post Free. United Kingdom ... 151. ad. Abroad tot. od. CONTENTS. Editorial Comment: The Allies Move Forward The Roll of Honour Aircraft Work at the Front. Official Information The British Air Services Constructional Details Royal Aero Club. Official Notices From the British Flying Grounds ... Flying at Hendon Eddies. By"iEolus" Armchair Reflections. By the " Dreamer " The Kemp Aero Engine Notes on Acetylene Welding The Zeppelin Captain's Story Lighter Than Air PAGE • 73' • 732 • 734 • 735 • 73* • 738 • 739 • 74° • 74' • 743 • 744 • 745 • 740 • 74S EDITORIAL, COMMEHT. The Allies Move Forward. After the many months of dogged perse verance in holding the Germans in their lines, the result of the first efforts in the long-promised advance this week by the British and Allied armies in the West has come as a great relief to not only the nation as a whole, but par ticularly to the tens of thousands of troops who have so uncomplainingly stuck to their task of trench warfare, with full confidence in their leaders that, when the time was ripe, they would get their chance to make things move in earnest. From each and every one of the graphic pen-pictures appearing in the press of the doings at and leading up to the great onslaught which has given such splendid firstfruits, it emerges with almost pointed reiteration that once again one of the outstanding features helping to wards the success, indeed rendering the present actions possible, has been the work of the Royal Flying Corps. So little detail is allowed to transpire for publica tion in regard to what this body has accomplished that it is a great. handicap for us to substantiate, by a recital of facts, the high praise which we venture to claim on behalf of the Royal Flying Corps, from the highest in command to the smallest unit of that most invaluable section of our fighting forces. It has been continuous work day by day with reconnaissance, fighting off the enemy's air pilots and making attacks upon numberless points of vast military importance to the German armies. It is difficult to obtain any coherent story from the fragments of information contained occa sionally in the official communiques issued from the British Headquarters in France. It is only from items obtain able from private sources that a due appreciation of the helpful work of the flying officers can be gauged. But that information must necessarily for the present be withheld. A little light now and again is, however, allowed to filter through the dense screen of official censorship, via the accredited correspondents who are specially privileged to be in touch with the military staffs out yonder. In this direction an extract from an account in the Daily Mail of the great charge, attributed to a " wounded soldier," is very suggestive. He states :— " The Germans never had a chance of learning quite what was in store for them when the time for the big effort arrived. Their aeroplanes were kept well in check by our airmen, who were in strong force." This one sentence is highly significant and emphasises the vitally important necessity of a commander taking every step to ensure the supremacy of his flying scouts over those of the enemy. From many sources it has been repeated again and again that this superiority in the air has for a long time been with our side, and from the accounts which have been published over the signatures of the various special correspondents at the front, this fact once more stands out unmistakably. All these narratives evidently have their origin in one single official re'sumi of the epoch-making move which has been com menced, and we therefore select one of these brilliant articles for quotation, so far as it relates to the R.F.C. Thus Mr. G. Valentine Williams in the Daily Mail of Wednesday morning :— " A large measure of credit for our initial success rests with our airmen. The Army is enthusiastic about their work. The daring raids which for the past week they have been executing into the enemy's country un doubtedly prevented the Germans from rushing up their full supply of reinforcements to stem the collapse of their front line. Previous to our offensive on Saturday our airmen had been out on daily observation reconnais sances despite unfavourable weather. Sometimes one of our aeroplanes remained for two hours over the German lines, prevented by clouds from flying at a greater height than 7,000 ft. " Our offensive was preceded by air attacks on the
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