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Aviation History
1918
1918 - 1106.PDF
exceptional disadvantage to the pupil under in- struction. The training of officers for the infantry, for example, is practically unaccompanied by danger, and it is only when drafted overseas that danger begins. By this time they have learnt all their duties, and the discipline acquired will help them to face the possibilities. The pupil who is learning to fly, however, faces dangers as great in some ways as he will ever be called to undergo. Being generally in England, he has not the feeling that he is in the actual zone of hostilities, and the risks he runs are taken, as it were, in cold blood. The unmarried man. faced with the possibility of crashing during his first solo, in most cases dismisses the thought or takes the risk in the same way as a rider puts his horse at a fence in strange country. The married man has the knowledge of what death may mean to his wife and family, and has, moreover, the opportunity of OCTOBER 3, 1918. discussing it with his wife, and thus manufactures in his own home a condition of nervousness which eventually becomes so great that he confesses to his :- instructor that he has completely lost his nerve. , That this is no mere theory is borne out by a table in -: which are given the times occupied under instruction . by thirty pupils, fifteen being married and fifteen single men. The analysis of the table shows that the average time of instruction in the case of -the married officers was 62.5 days, and in that of the unmarried only 28.86 days. That ma - be accepted " as literal proof of the thesis. There are other aspects of the report to which we should like to refer, but as they will be found in the summary printed elsewhere, it is not necessary to deal with the whole of them in detail. The report - as a whole is an exceedingly interesting document, and will be, we should saj-, of marked statistical value. HONOURS M.C. for RJV.F, Officer. IT was announced in. a supplement to the Londou Gazette on September 24th that H.M. the King has been pleased to approve of the award of the Military Cross to the following officer in recognition of his gallantry and devotion to duty in the Field :— Lieut. REGINALD CHARLES VAN DER BEN, Gen. List and R.A.F.—For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. When on contact patrol this officer was severely wounded in the leg from* the ground. Notwithstanding this, he con- tinued his offensive action, machine gunning the enemy troops, and told his pilot to carry on, thus enabling him to complete his reconnaissance. M.Ms.-for Brave Nurses. IT was announced in the London Gazette Supplement of September 24th that H.M. the King has been pleased to approve of the award of the Military Medal to the follow- ing ladies for distinguished services in the Field :— Matron EDITH CAMPBELL, R.R.C., C.A.M.C.—For gallantry and devotion to duty during an enemy air raid. Regardless of personal danger she attended to the wounded sisters, and by her personal example inspired the sisters under her charge. N./Sister LEONORA HERRINGTON, C.A.M.C.—For gallantry and devotion to duty during an enemy air raid. She remained at duty the entire night, and by her excellent example and personal courage was largely responsible for the maintenance of discipline and efficiency. N./Sister LOTTIE URQUHART, C.A.M.C.—For gallantry and devotion to duty during an enemy air raid, when four bombs fell on her wards. Regardless of danger she attended to the wounded. Her courage and devotion were an inspiring example to all. N./Sister JANET MARY WILLIAMSON, C.A.M.C.—For gal- lantry and devotion to duty during an enemy air raid. When in charge of a ward badly damaged, she displayed exceptional coolness, and, regardless of personal danger, sustained her patients and ensured their evacuation. N,/Sister META HODGE, C.A.M.C., N./Sister ELEANOR JEAN THOMPSON, C.A.M.C.—For gallantry and devotion to duty during an enemy air raid. Although injured by a falling beam, these sisters displayed great presence of mind in ex- tinguishing overturned oil-stoves, and later rendered valuable • assistance in the removal of patients. -~... . • - . The Bombing of German Towns.IN his speech at the Guildhall on Monday, opening the Autumn War Savings Campaign, Mr. Bonar Law, Chancellorof the Exchequer, said :—" The unity of command, or rather the unity of military effort, is not confined to the Westernfront. There is one branch of that effort the effect of which I think is not fully realised, and about which I shall say a word.At a meeting in'the Albert Hall, where the trime Minister and I were present in support of these War Loans—it wasjust after a raid on London—I said then that we would never have started the bombing of defenceless towns, but I said also : ' Our enemy has chosen to do it ; let him have a little patience, and we will give him back in full measure all that he has given to us.' That promise has been kept. This, remember, unfortunately is a wy not only of armies, it is a war of peoples, and I am sure that the people of this country have not realised the effect which the action of an Inde- pendent Air Force has had upon the moral of the German people. I s.hall say nothing more on that head except this —that weapon is not ended. . : . , • ' _"J;. J ''•-: Three views of a German Pfalz monoplane, from a recent German publication. This machine is, so far as one is able to ascertain, an exact copy of the pre-war French Morane. The machine has not, we believe, been built for several years. 1106
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