The Washington herald., 1916-06-25
Styles in Battlephnes Change
Faster Than Feminine
Dress Modes -Antiqu-
ated'' in Three Months.
By JOHN l.. BALDERsTON.
(CUyrixht, 1851

IN charge of an aviation ground behind
the lines. I recognized tn the armored
monster in the shed, an aerial terror
much gossiped about in London, not long
ago. wiseacres in the service clubs
whispered its name and said II would
master Fritz the big German plane
that carried two guns and gave the al
lied airmen trouble even before the ad-
vent OF the Fokker.
"Oh. dear. no." my guide replied. That
machine is obsolete. We are going TO
take 1t apart tomorrow and ship II back
to England. It will be used. until one Of
them smashes 1t, for teaching novices
how to tiy. Why it's nearly three months
old!'
Not even fashions for women, l
thought. change so fast as that. During
the next two hours I was shown the very
latest things In war aeroplanes, and aft
er the newest models of scouting planes,
bombing planes. spotting planes, photo
graphing planes and battle planes had
been explained, 1 felt ashamed of my
blunder as in leaving l cast a parting
glance at the antiquated model of Feb
ruary, 1916. It was though I had
asked a motor expert whether a 1909
model in the garage was a 1916 car; the
comparison is not far-fetched. for under
stress OF competition with the enemy
more progress is made every month in
aeroplsnes than the automobile industry
achieves in two years.
All Machines Were New.
All the machines I saw were new. The
very latest models, as they arrive in
France. are taken to this spot, where
their peculiarities are explained to the
best English airmen, and they are thor
oughly tested by the picked men of the
royal flying corps before being sent over
the enemys lines. Some of the designs
are so recent that none OF them has yet
fallen into the lines of the Germans, and
detailed descriptions are not permitted.
Comparisons with a captured Fokker,
the German machine whose fame has
been trumpeted around the world. were
made to show how much better than the
German best are the latest British and
French craft. I thought from what I
had heard in England that 1 knew some
thing OF the development in flying, but
for once rumor has fallen far short of
the truth. There can be no doubt. I was
assured. that the control OF the air, held
early in the way by the Germans. won
by the allies before the end of 1914, re-
conquered by the Germans last summer.
has again passed to the British and
French.
Testimony on this point from aircraft
officers, naturally keen on their Jobs and
perhaps as ignorant of the latest German
models as they said the Germans are
lsHOIdnI OF theirs, SUBJECT 10
discount. But what I have seen OF air
work at the front completely bears out
what they said. For every German over
the British lines have seen five English
planes lodging Teutonic shrapneL and a
piece OF evidence gathered from a gen
eral in charge Of heavy artillery in the
fiat plains in the rear OF the Ypres salient
seemed to me conclusive.
spottIng German Lines.
Standing by one of his big howitzers. I
watched the gun in action in response to
the wireless signals of a spotting plane
far over the German lines. darting hither
and thither to escape the German anti
aircraft shells and correcting the aim of
the great cannon after each shot The
objective aimed at. in this case a bit of
trench line. was known to airrnan and
gunner. and marked in red ink on a map
spread out beneath tree. Two hun
dred to the left, hundred short" came
the message over a phone wire from the
operator who was picking the planes sig.
mails out Of the air. "One hundred to the
right, fifty over" was the next flash, and
the third time there was jubilation among
the gun crew, for the man at the teIe-
phone called out "Hitr'
The general answered my question
without hesitation. I'VE have 1t over
them now" he said. I had asked his
opinion on the merits of the rival air
services, and his Judgment seems to me
worth more than that OF any aviation
oficer.
Photographs of the enemy's positions
taken from aeroplanes, were shown me.
They are constantly compared with SIM
liar pictures previously obtained and the
slightest changes in the ground noted
carefully. If these are of a character
TO arouse suspicion, a rain of heavy
shells Is directed on the suspected spot
Perhaps there was a blot on the plate
and the Germans laugh and wonder WHY
the mad English are hurting tons of
metal into vacant field. Perhaps the
little alteration means that a bush that
doesn't belong there was fixed to hide
a new German battery. and then the
Germans do not laugh. The proceed
ure is the same on both sides, with
the difference that along this part of
the line the Germans have the best
gun positions, as they hold the high
ground about the Ypres salient
Air Supremacy Is Vital.
The supremacy Of the air, 1t will be
seen, may be a matter for academic de-
bate in some quarters. and may make
little apparent difference in some part
of the line where the hills and woods
abound in hiding places for guns, but
to artillerymen in the planes OF Flan-
ders It is literally a matter of life
likely to judge too favorabIy for his
own side. And 1 did not have to take
this mans word that at least on that
day the British had the best of II in
the air. for the weather was clear and
calm. and I spent the whole day in
or near the Ypres salient. Many times
German planes essayed to come over;
nearly always they were driven back;
I saw many machines, bearing the red
and white circles which distinguish them
as English, over German territory un-
challenged by the battleplsnes which
when they sail under their true colors
wear the iron cross.
Not that the English have II all
their own way by any means. Enter
ing an artillery headquarters to meet
an officer who was to show the in
quiring neutral some guns, I found a
telephone conversation going on, the
burden of which was the ways and
means of ending the career of a Ger
man Archibald" or anti-warcraft
gun, which was annoying the British
airmen- The sequel of the story was
balm to the British airmen, for the
big gun attack on the German
"Archie's" lurking place apparently
proved successful and no more was
heard from him