Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-18
AEROS GREAT AID
TO ALLIES IN WAR
Played important Part in Cap
ture of KirkkiIisseh
and Yanina.
TURKS HAD MACHINES,
BUT NO MECHANICIANS
Inability of Ottomans to Use Planes
for Reconnaissance Factor in
Their Failure in Thrace.

Their Failure in Thrace.
| Some light on the use of aeroplanes
both by the Turks and the allies in the
Balkan war Isl given in a special report
! from Constantnople just received by the
| War Department. Heretofore it was not
| generally supposed that the Turks had
| any aeropanes at all, but it appears
| they did and that they used them to
some extent Later in the war they were
considered so valuable that the Turkish
officers raised private subscription to
buy more machines. But in the earlier
stages Of the fighting some Of the aero
planes of the Turks were useless be-
cause, while there were a few Turkish
officers who knew how to fly, there
were none who could keep their own ma
chimes in order, and mechanics for the
purpose could not be obtained
Turks Had Fourteen Aeros.
| There was one captive balloon at Adri
| anople, and a hangar was built for it.
| The report does not say whether it was
! used during the siege. but it is supposed
| it was. The report continues:
"The Turks are supposed to have had
fourteen aeroplanes at the beginning OF
tured at Kirkkilisseh. but during the first
phase of the war they do not seem to
have employed them for aerial ,reconnais-
sance. l have heard that they found the
| weather conditions unfavorable. but I
think this is another way Of putting the
fact tina. they did not have any one to use
those they owned. 1t is true that some Of
their officers have been trained to fly
abroad. but as l understand 1t the man
who flies must know and be able to keep
his machine in condition. This is one Of
the great points of superiority of the
French flying corps and the Turks are
bad at mechanical things. When war
came l think it was found that the off,
GERS who could fly could not keep their
flying machines in condition and there
were no mechanics who could be relied
upon to take their places. for in this
country of heterogeneous races the me-
chanical occupations are not filled by
Turks. l can imagine that an Ottoman
Greek, for example, could not be trusted
to keep in order an aeroplane which
| would be used to observe the movements
of. say, a Greek fleet.
Lack of Use Costly.
"This failure of the Turks to use
method of reconnaissance for which they
had at least the plant seems to me to
nave ndQ a great influence upon tEeiT
failure in Thrace, for the effective en-
ployment of their aeroplanes should have
Informed them of the preliminary DISPOSE
tions Of the Bulgarian armies. the igno-
rance of which certainly caused the dis
aster at Kirkkilisseh and the i'll advised
Turkish advance.
1.-The Bulgarians do not seem to have
used aeroplanes with their field army
during the first phase of the campaign,
but in November, 1912, they were using
them over Adrianople.''
The report states that the Greeks used
ninsula February g. 1913. and dropped
bombs on the Turkish fleet in the Darda-
nelles, - but with what result is not stated
The Turks persisted in trying to get
their aeroplanes to fly. and so far sue
ceeded to be able to reconnoiter their
own lines at Tchataldja, and one officer
even flew from Constantinople to Adrian
ople and returned. All the while the
Turkish papers reported the constant
presence of Bulgarian aeroplanes over
the Turkish lines One Bulgarian aviator
was forced to descend inside the Turkish
position at Adrianople February q, and
was captured, but a Russian aviator in
the service of the allies secured informa-
ton that had an important part in the
taking Of Yanina early in March.
Servian Aviator Killed.
The Turkish papers about the same
time reported that Servian aviator fly
ing over Scutari fell and was killed
Whether he was shot was not stated.
The longest fight made by the Turks
was March %, when a Turkish officer,
with a German driver, flew 252 miles
from the Turkish lines over Tehorlu and
return in four hours and two minutes.
March - a Turkish aeroplane that had
flown in the direction of Tchorlu was re-
turning when it was fired on first by a
Turkish battery and then by battalion.
The Turks were used to seeing the
enemy's aeroplanes, but not their own.
The Turkish machine had a large white
crescent painted on the under side OF the
wing. but this was no protection. The
report suggests that the Identification of
a friendly aeroplane is an important mat
ter and that a possible method would be
to give all aeroplanes a signal to be
changed daily, for instance. two puffs of
smoke on one day and three on the
next.
The subscriptions Of the Turkish of
ficers for the purchase of aeroplanes
totaled 40 pounds Turkish before the
close of the war.