FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1915
1915 - 0775.PDF
Flight, October 15, 1915. First Aero Weekly in the World. Founder and Editor: STANLEY SPOONER. A Jouraal d«voted to the Interest*, Practice, and Progreii of Aerial Locomotion aad Tranapoft. OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE ROYAL AERO CLUB OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. No. 355. (No. 42, Vol. VII.)] OCTOBER 15, 1915. rReglstwed at the G.P.O."] f Weekly, Price 3d. L mi a Newspaper. J |_ PoBt Free, 8W- Editorial Office; 44. ST. MARTIN'S LANE, LONDON, W. Telegrams: Tniditnr, Westrand, London. Telephone: Gerrard 1 Annual Subscription Rates, Post Free. United Kingdom ••• 151. ad. Abroad CONTENTS. • Editorial Comment: Air Supremacy and Casualties • The French Air Developments Casualties amongst German Pilots .. Aircraft Work at the Front. Official Information The Roll of Honour The British Air Services Constructional Details Royal Aero Club. Official Notices From the British Flying Grounds 1 Flying at Hendon Eddies. By"iEolus" The Johnson Two-Stroke Aero Engine Sage's Enterprise at Peterborough Armchair Reflections. By the " Dreamer ' Aircraft and the War Lighter Than Air Models Imports and Exports, 1914-1915 C. •at. ad. PAGB ... 775 ... 776 ... 778 ». 779 ... 779 ... 780 ... 781 •• 783 ... 784 ... 785 ... 786 ... 780 ... 790 ... 791 ... 793 ... 793 ... 795 ... 796 EDITORIAL, COMMEHT. Air Supremacy and Casualties. In the official report emanating from the German Main Headquarters, on the 6th inst. an ingenious attempt at claiming supremacy in the air for the German services without actually saying so, is made. The German communication was as follows :— " In the English report of October 1st, it was stated that the English had gained the upper hand over our aviators in aerial battles. With regard to this, the following resunU gives the best informa tion :— " In the month of September the losses in German aeroplanes amounted in aerial battles to three, two are missing, and owing to bombardment from the earth two were also lost; in all seven aero planes. In the same period in aerial encounters the English lost eight aeroplanes, and the French twenty-two—a total of thirty aeroplanes." By itself, and uncontradicted, this statement is highly plausible, but from certain knowledge which we have, and the added refutation by the French Staff of the German Staff's claim, we are left very unconvinced of the truth of the figures as set out in the German communique* The denial issued by the French Staff is unequivocal in its terms, as witness the following :— " These totals are open to dispute. The figure which concerns us exceeds by more than one-third our true losses. As to the German aeroplanes, during the course of last month we have seen more than seven fall, some in their own lines and some in ours, in an obviously helpless condition ; but even that is only one side of the question. " A comparison of the losses suffered does not permit of any serious conclusion if it is not accompanied or corrected by a compari son with the amount of work accomplished and with the results attained. Our scouting squadrons are active and daring, our chaser aeroplanes are always ready and thirsting for battle. The German aviators, on the contrary, manifest on every occasion a discretion which is imposed upon them by strict injunctions. " One can judge of this fact by the following order emanating from the Headquarters of the 8th Reserve Corps. No. 19,635, of August 28th. " ' These battle aeroplanes should only take the air to fight the aeroplanes which have crossed the French lines. They are ordered not to cross the lines themselves under any pretext.' " The terms of this order tend to show, perhaps : (1) That the German aviators have in the past suffered substantial losses ; (2) that the High Command does not care to expose them to losses still more substantial; but it is difficult to find here a proof that the mastery of the air belongs to the Germans." In reply to this the cudgels were taken up by the German military journal the Kreuz Zeitung, which says:— " The belief of the French in the great superiority of their air planes was a pretty error, with which they deceived themselves until the war brought the great test. In East and West our aero planes have shown that they meet all the requirements of war, and our airmen, who before the war were, according to the French, not worth considering, have done so brilliantly that a great part of them have already been decorated with the Iron Cross of the First Class. The war has proved the true value of our aeroplanes, as Paris itself knows. The reason that, in peace time, people believed in the superiority of French air-work was that the French boasted about every success, while we did honest and successful work with out looking fonapplause. The splendid achievements of our airmen when war broke out produced almost as great surprise in France as did our 17 in. howitzers." In generalising as the Kreuz Zeitung does, the idea is to dodge the facts, but whatever the real figures may be of the particular period to which the above extracts refer, the outstanding fact remains that the losses in the per sonnel of the German Flying Corps have been very serious, and particularly so when taken in conjunction with the amount of work accomplished. If corroboration were needed of the Allies' position in air work, the many official utterances of Sir John French in every way carry with them a conviction of the superior daring of our flying officers, a superiority which we can in no way see is attributable to or affected by the instructions for caution, promulgated by German headquarters order. The battle-planes to which the particular order specially refers are of but recent growth, and there is no reason to suppose that these are likely to turn the tables upon the Allies' initiative, any more than the other flights of aero- B
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
