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Aviation History
1916
1916 - 0756.PDF
I/LICHTI From Other Reuters correspondent at Salonica, writing on August 13th, says:— " A German observation balloon beyond Doiran keeps close watch on our position, and whenever a fresh gun gives l( hint of its approximate whereabouts a searching fire from the Bulgarian big guns is certain pretty soon to follow. The sausage balloon keeps constantly altering its altitude, and disappears entirely as soon as an Allied aeroplane heaves in sight." A Reuter message from Petrograd on August 15 th, regard ing the line of retreat in Galicia, says ;— " Russian aviators have reconnoitred numerous strong enemy positions on the lines of retreat." r Writing on August 16th regarding the events of the previous day in the Picardy area, the Petit Parisien states :— " With untiring ardour and remarkable success the gunners bombarded the German positions and battery emplacements aa indicated to them by our airmen, who at each flight brought back information of such precision that in the great majority of instances within 4. quarter of an hour of the return of the obscrvr/ig airman our artillery was able to direct a sure and uili use fire upon the German 21-centimetre guns, or on •groups of lighter guns." Mr. G. H. Perris, the correspondent of the Daily Chronicle with the French armies on the Somme, on August 15th writes :— " Perhaps the clearest and most important advantage the Allies have had in the Somine offensive is the dominant superiority of their air services. It was an essential part of the plan of the French General Staff that this advantage should be gained at the outset, for an enemy driven out of t In sky is half blinded. When the big guns commenced their destructive cannonade of the German trenches, therefore, s.|u;ulnllas oi aeroplanes were sent forward to bring down or drive back the enemy aviators and to destroy the ' sausage ' observation balloons. Both sorts of raid were carried out with the utmost daring and success. Before the infantry advance began the familiar ' drachen ' had been either destroyed or hurriedly hauled down, and the once formidable German pilots dared not show their noses over the French lines. In five days on the British and French fronts 15 captive balloons were destroyed. Meanwhile our A POPULAR R.F.C. OFFICER NOW IN AMERICA. —Mr. Phil Rader, editor, artist, printer and pub lisher of the late amusing journal the Jersey Brow Gazette Lieut. Rader is now in Buffalo instructing Harvard aviation students. AUGUST 31, 1916. Sources. other squadrillas were ceaselessly engaged in their several tasks of bombardment or observation over the enemy's positions. " That such an important advantage should be seized is comprehensible. It is more difficult to understand how it has been maintained. I do not think our men would suggest that the Germans lack courage, though they are less danng than the French. Many of the best German aviators have been killed, others, no doubt, are kept on the Russian front, for the war of movement requires air scouts more urgently than the siege warfare of the West. Whatever the explana tion may be, the fact is beyond doubt. At one point on the Santerre plateau I counted 23 French ' sausages ' dragging at a great height upon their cables, and only two that could be German, of which one was doubtful. French aeroplanes of all types came and went on their patrol duties with the freedom of pigeons over a farmyard, but if there was any combat in the air it did not take place over the French lines. " I visited one of their many aviation parks, and was deeply impressed by the immense progress that has been made during the war on every side of this enterprise under the stimulus of military necessity and individual skill and pluck. The technique of different types of plane and of their engines and machine guns is beyond me ; but the handsome, radiant face of the captain who explained to us some of the mysteries of his squadrilla of ' Baby Nieuports * spoke volumes. It was a picture of keen intelligence and physical fitness. As we stood by, Guynemer swept down from cloud- land to our feet as easily as a Great Northern driver brings , his engine into King's Cross or the middy his steam launch up to the landing at Cowes. He looked sallow, for it is bitterly cold at a height of two miles when you are running at 100 miles an hour ; but there is something of nervous strength in the almost girlish figure, a swift certitude of eye and hand that you would feel to be exceptional even if you knew nothing of his record. Aviation is essentially a young man's service. " The technique is no harder than that of the artillery, perhaps not so hard ; but the highest intensity and most perfect balance of youthful physique are morg necessary than in any other arm. It is the light cavalry of modern warfare, and along with a chivalry all its own it is developing a whole series of special functions. " There are the individual scouts whose business it is to serve the field or heavy batteries, watching every shot and correcting the range by wireless or various kinds of signals. Other observers have the more general task of photographing the enemy's lines, so that the whereabouts of a new trench fieldwork or railway, new concentration of troops or guns, may be immediately known. Then there are what the French call avians de chasse and cannon-planes, who must seek out and attack enemy aeroplanes and balloons and forbid access to our own lines. Finally, there are the squadrillas of bombardment, whose raids into German territory have- become more and more frequent and extensive of late. " The importance of the mastery the French have obtained in every one of these functions is evident. It means that the offensive army saw twice as much as the defensive, that the costs in life and limb inevitable to an attack upon modern fieldworks were reduced to a minimum, and that the whole depth of the French Front was, and, is, comparatively immune from effective bombardment. There is, perhaps, no clearer index of the changing fortunes of the war. " Some able French writers have been warning their countrymen during the last few days that the Germans are bound soon to attempt a counter-offensive in the West, even if it prove as costly as the ill-starred adventure against Verdun. This is perfectly sound advice. With three-fifths of the German armies nailed down before our trenches, we must at least expect powerful local attacks. But, setting aside the root question of their exhausted reserves, I do not see how they can attempt anything like a large offensive without first winning back at least an equality in the air services. And of that there is no present prospect, at least in Picardy and Santerre." In a semi-official statement issued in Paris on August 17th, a description by a German prisoner of the bombardment of St. Quentin railway station by the British is quoted. He said :— " At the end of June, the 22nd Reserve Division, to which my regiment was attached, was sent to rest in the neighbour- 7 Si
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