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Aviation History
1917
1917 - 1373.PDF
DECEMBER 27, 1917. until June that the enemy made any serious attempt to raid our shores. This took the shape of an attack in some force on Folkestone, in which a considerable amount of material damage was done and a number of civilians, including many women and children, were killed and injured. Not many days later London was surprised by an attack in the middle of a summer forenoon, which was carried out by some twenty enemy to any extent. Freiburg has been attacked once or twice, and raids have been carried out on towns in Alsace in which enemy munition factories are situated, while the blast furnaces in the same districts have also received a fair amount of attention. But of faids on the Rhineland cities—the only process of war which is likely to be deterrent of raids on our own open towns—there have been none. However,machines and in which some amount of damage and as we have said before, it may now be hoped that the W nf i,fc woe «,,MH T+ ,„« *w ~;A nrv,;~u intention does seriously exist to take the war into Germany in real earnest and that the intention may loss o life was caused. It was this raid which really set going the insistent demand for reprisals, a demand which up to the present has not been met, although the country has been fed with promises of " giving'the Germans all sorts of unpleasant things." However, now that we have a strong man as Air Minister, it is possible to hope that we shall at long last really begin to hit the enemy where it will hurt him most. Later in the month, German aeroplanes made another heavy attack on the Thames Estuary, but on this occasion they were met by our anti- aircraft defences and driven back into the arms of the Dover and Dunkirk patrols and lost ten machines. After this we had a comparatively quiet time until August, when another attack in force was made on the Kent coast. It was during this raid that clearly marked hospital buildings at Margate were deliber- ately bombed and another chapter of infamy added to the already heavy amount of the brutalised Hun. In the following month of September London was again attacked on three occasions, but the excellence of the defences prevented the attack from being pressed home, and comparatively little damage was caused. There was the usual loss of civilian life., but thanks to - the adequacy of the warning given and the efficiency of the defence, the casualties were qufte surprisingly light. In October London was again raided, this time by a fleet of Zeppelins. So far as it was possible to learn, only one airship succeeded in getting through the defences. Bombs were dropped in several districts, causing but small damage to property and but little loss of life. The enemy's , experience on this occasion certainly ought to deter him from future long distance airship raids, since owing to a fortunate combination of circumstances the raiding fleet was compelled to fly very low over France in returning. Four, were actually brought down by the, French defences, one being captured absolutely intact, and three or four others were almost certainly destroyed in other ways. That is, of eleven airships that set out to raid Britain, not more than three, or at most four, regained their base. Since, then the Zeppelin has visited England again, in spite of the lesson, but this time the attempt was a very tentative affair and the hostile airships did not even . try to penetrate inland. Early in the present month London again suffered from the visitation of German aeroplanes, this time in the very early morning. Three or four machines managed to get through the outer defences of the Metropolis and dropped bombs in certain quarters, again causing small damage to life and property. On the side of the Allies there has been a great deal of raiding activity, which, however, has been mainly confined to the attack of points of direct military importance. Ostend and Zeebrugge have been consistently and continuously bombarded from the air. The docks at Bruges and the enemy aero- dromes in Belgium have also been many times attacked from the air, with excellent effect. The aerial war, however, has not been taken into Germany very shortly be translated into deeds. TheRoll of Honour. ... '. • • *• * Again at the close of another year we have to deplore the loss of a very large number of gallant officers and men of the Flying Services. The tremendous growth of the Services and the bitter intensity of the fighting in the air have had, as their natural and inevitable result, a correspondingly large increase in the numbers of casualties. Still, there is this to be said, that having regard to the far greater amount of flying entailed by the necessities of war, the average of casualties has been again proportionately lighter than it.was in 1916. And it is more than satisfactory to be able, to record that, in spite of the undoubted dangers of war flying and the consequent toll of human life, there is not, and never has been, the slightest difficulty in getting more than sufficient new entries to make good wastage and to allow for the expansion of the service. On the contrary, the difficulty has not been to secure enough offers of service in the R.F.C. and R.N.A.S., but to make a selection of the most suitable from among the huge numbers of candidates anxious to fly. • ^ , .. TheRoyal Aero Club. Early in the year the Club removed from its former inconvenient premises to a far better location in Clifford Street. The added social attractions which the removal has enabled the Club to offer has brought it a substantial influx of new members, and it is in a fair way of becoming one of the most impor- tant clubs in London, apart altogether from its unique position as the representative of British aviation. During the year, of course, the Club, so far as concerns its principal function as the governor of matters aerial, has been in a state of suspended animation, and must remain so until the war is over. IndustrialTrouble andOutput. Unfortunately, it has to be chronicled that the output of aircraft has been retarded to quite a serious extent by strikes and unrest among certain classes of workers. There are two sides to every question. On the one hand, there is the enormously enhanced cost of living, which certainly justifies the workers in demanding at least enough to live their lives in reasonable comfort. Again, on the side of the workers, it is undoubted that there is a class of employer which is not prepared, except under pressure, to concede even common justice to his workers. Add to this that the official handling of trade disputes has almost invariably been con- spicuous for weakness and want of tact, so that altogether it is hardly surprising that industrial unrest should exist in the country. But on the other hand, we have been quite unable to discern in s I € 1359 F 2
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