The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1915-06-17
AIRCRAFT IN GREAT WAR.
Military Writer of Londen Observer
Writes OF Types of Aircraft.

not to be considered among the ma
jor horrors OF the great war. To a
world shocked by the use of poison
gas and the torpedoing without
warning OF unarmed passenger ships.
aircraft quite fail to fulfill the anti
cipations of those who at Hague con-
ferences have sought to persuade
the powers TO make the employment
of aircraft in war unlawful This.
perhaps, is due TO the very limited
powers of destruction possessed by
aircraft and not to any chlvalrous
design, at any rate in the part OF
Germany. AS ii is, the most they
can do is so little that Partisan
mothers when chiding naughty
child threaten it, not with The
Prussians shall have you" but with
'If you are not good you shall not
see the Zeppelins.
But with civilization common en-
emy the will is there. This was
shown in the monstrous attack on
Southend by a Zeppelin dropping a
hail of incendiary bombs. One of
these days they will, in all probabili-
ty, introduce poison gas into their at
tacks, defenceless towns; but at
the moment fire is the chosen instru-
ment, and it appears that London is
soon to be the object of grand at
tack by gigantic aerial fire-bugs.
Now Zeppelin could carry. be-
sides sufficient fuel for the voyage
to London and back, couple OF
hundred incendiary bombs, as we'll
as some larger high-eXp.osive shells;
and as we may reasonably assume
that the enemy possesses seven or
eight craft capable of and available
for the job, an interesting subject
of speculation is opened up-when
will they come and what will they
do?
AS to the latter, the example OF
the Southend raid is again valuable,
since it removes any possibility that
may have existed that Londoners
would be scared out of their wits.
London's $50 square miles is a big
enough target and cannot very we'll
be missed. but it is we'll supplied
with men and apparatus for dealing
with fire, and there are in existence,
created since the war broke out,
methods and means for dealing with
exceptional emergencies. Indeed,
the chief element of danger will be
provided by the crowds that will as
semble to see the phenomenon. But
this is an element with which the
metropolitan authorities are familiar.
e 1t must be admitted that the use of
large number of incendiary bombs,
in preference to the exclusive use of
explosives, although they constitute
a somewhat unpleasant cargo for an
airship, is a perfectly sound choice
from the enemy's point of view, for
in an attack on a big town the posi-
Bile damage and disturbance are
thereby increased.
Why They are not Caught.
Some disquietude has been created
by the fact that the Southend raiders
came over unobserved, and it has
been suggested that our lookout
and defence arrangements are at
fault. But really there is nothing
in the least surprising in this cir
.cumstance. The enemy make their
Preparations with almost the sole
anxiety of escaping unobserved. They
therefore travel by night and choose
their route with the utmost care.
Everything they have done so far
agrees precisely with our knowledge
of what they can do. If they get
here at all it is because they have not
been seen on the way-seen, that is.
by their active enemies; and these
they make great efforts to avoid. We
must remember that on more than
one occasion enemy airships have
been compelled to turn back before
they had time to do any mischief.
They choose the night. and head
hpmewards before lights out" time.
The Southend visit is splendid
example of their futility. They drop
ped bombs where they could, not
where they would have liked to.
And it would be impossible to place
every pleasure resort and every
square mile of Essex and Suffolk in
a position Of effective defence against
aircraft. The places that must be
so defended are the places the Zep-
pelins are very shy of visiting.
The promised visit to London will
be a much more difficult undertaking,
especially if there is to be whole
squadron of airships and not merely
h SC