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Aviation History
1935
1935 - 0913.PDF
ENGINEER AIRCRAF AND AIRSHIPS bounded in 1909 FIRST AERONAUTICALC1VEEKLY IN THEC^WOJRLD OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE ROYAL AERO CLUB No. 1374. Vol. XXVII. APRIL 25, 1935. Thursdays, Price 6d. BvPost, 7Id. Editorial, Advertising and Publishing Offices: DORSET HOUSE, STAMFORD STREET, LONDON, S.E.I Telegrams : Troditur Watloo, London HERTFORD 8T. COVENTRY. Telegrams: Autocar, Coventry. Telephone: Coventry 5210. GCILDHAJ.L BUILDINGS, NAVIGATION ST., BIRMINGHAM, 3. Telegrams : Autopress, Birmingham. Telephone: Midland 2971. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Home and Canada : Year, £1 13 0. Other Countries : Year, t'l 15 0. Telephone : Hop 3333 (SO lineal. 263, DEANSGATE, MANCHESTER, 3. Telegrams : Iliffe, Manchester. Telephone: BtackCriitrs 4412. 26B, RENFIELD ST. GLASGOW, C.2. Telegrams: IHfle, Glasgow. Telephone: Central 4857. 6 months, 16s. 6d. 6 months. 17s. 6d. 3 months, 8s. 3d. 3 months Ss. 9.1. Air Raid Precautions BRITAIN has decided to follow the example of other nations in preparing to protect the civil popula tion against air raids. It is a thought very humili ating to twentieth-century humanity that such steps should be necessary, but certainly it would be foolish to risk being caught unprepared. The precautions have to deal with the possibility of gas bombs as well as the ordinary high-explosive bombs, and this emphasises the degradation of humanity. The "good old days" were not always so good as fancy has painted them, but they were certainly better in this respect, that the conscience of the civilised world condemned attacks on civilians, whereas now it is felt necessary to guard against the possibility of such attacks—attacks of the most brutal and inhuman description. Taking precautions, however, does not make it cer tain that the worst will necessarily happen. The Great War was ruthless enough in many ways, and the use of gas against soldiers, which was begun by Germany on April 22, 1915, was an outrage which cannot he for given, but at least gas bombs were not dropped on the residential quarters of cities. That such a possibility has to be contemplated twenty years later shows that Europe has been slipping along the facilis decensus Averno. Chemical warfare ought to be forbidden by the League of Nations with all the emphasis at its com mand, and if it were universally condemned, the his tory of war shows that there is every chance that the ban would have considerable, if not complete, effect. It might be disregarded by nations so strong and brutal that they feared no consequences, or by nations so full of despair that they had forgotten all restraint, but normally the ban would be respected by belligerents. Those who would consider the matter, as was done by the conference recently organised at the Caxton Hall by the Leagne of Nations Union, should not forget that there are two possible forms of air attack from which civilians may suffer. First there are attacks with high- explosive bombs on military objectives in a city, and secondly there are deliberate attacks on the civilian population in its residential areas. The latter, if made, might well be made .with gas bombs. There is a great difference between these two forms of attack. The attack on military objectives, even in a populous city, can hardly be prevented by any regulation or agree ment, and if such a regulation were made it would certainly be disregarded. London, for example, is full of targets which it would be perfectly legitimate for an enemy to attack with high-explosive bombs. Even the best-trained bombers will sometimes miss their target, and then the bombs are likely to kill civilians in the neighbourhood. Such casualties are deplorable, and if the enemy is really civilised (a few years ago one might have written "if he were chivalrous," but the word is now out of fashion) he will deplore the casualties which he has accidentally inflicted. He will also regret the waste of a good bomb transported many miles by a bombing crew at great risk to their lives. The Govern ment of the bombed city will, on the other hand, in its heart of hearts rejoice that the military objective escaped: it can more easily spare a few dozen civilian lives. The main thing, however, from the civilians' point of view, is that these accidental casualties will be limited in number. A deliberate attack with gas bombs on a residential area might cause widespread slaughter on a scale with which the accidental killings could not be compared. Yet some of the spokesmen of the League of Nations Union said that they were not interested in efforts to make war " more polite." The best, it has been said, is the enemy of the good. No one will deny that to prevent war is the best that the League of Nations could do, but surely it would be good work to put an international ban on chemical warfare, and especially upon deliberate attacks on civilians. Even so, it might still be necessary for people to be practised in anti-gas drill in case the law were broken ; but to accept gas bombing as a probable feature of war suggests that Europe is reverting to a state of society which not long ago was regarded as prehistoric.
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