The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1917-06-11
|A|R SQUADRON
MOST IMPORTANT
British Air Craft Take Great
Deal of Credit for Recent
Victory at
Messines.
MANY LIVES ARE SAVED
Ability to KIN Enemy From Long
Range Is Factor In
Successful War.
fare.
MANY LIVES ARE SAVED
lBy William Philip simms. United

lBy William Philip Simms. United
Press Staff Correspondent
WITH THE BRITISH ARMIES IN
THE FIELD, June 11.-General Perish,
Ing and his staff arrived in Europe al
the precise moment when they can
profit best by lessons Of the Messines
victory. And the outstanding lesson
of that achievement was the tremend-
Gus saving TN lives to be attained
through use Of the proper machinery
OF war.
Staff estimates today show the days
fighting Of the Wytschaete-Messin es
battle cost the British less than ten
| thousand men. Comparative failures
| in somewhat similar operations ear.
lier in the war cost many times this
| figure. German prisoners put their
| own losses at $4,000.
Foremost in the saving of life as
Judged from the Messines battle Is
ability to kill off the other fellow from
long range-in other words concentra-
tion Of artillery. But artillery con-
centraton isn't effective unless It Is
concentrated accurately. And the only
way Of accurately concentrating shell
fire is by aerial observation.
General Plumer's victory encourages
by American experts-that the war
may be decided in the air.
It was pointed out that in this Mes
sines fighting, the airmen outweighed
all ohter factors. The British air craft
ranged" the enemy for the British
guns and the two together smashed
the enemy lines. leaving the infantry
at the mercy of the British awaiting
the getaway word.
At 3:1O Of that morning, when the
roar Of the barrage fire reached it's
highest crescendo and the British first
leaped over the trenches, could hear
far overhead the thrum Of the motors
of the British aerial bombing fleet
bound far behind the enemy lines to
attack munitions depots. trains, wire
less stations and reserve camps.
Others swooped ahead to circle like
hungry hawks over enemy aerodromes
to pounce down on enemy machines
which might try to rise and recon
noiter. Some special British aid spies
circled over the Prussian artillery
lines signalling back exact ranges so
that British shells might reach them
and save British lives through their
silencing.
Last of all in the misty dawn, there
the swift, super-fghting
planes of the British air service under
orders to attack from the sky. The
object of their attack was the German
on the ground. They dipped
low, disregarding the rattle of German
rifle fire and raked the enemy
trenches with their Lewis and Vickers
machine guns, speeding back to scatter
up-coming infantry reinforcements.
One British aviator, mere boy, re-
ported today that when he ran out of
he found his rockets-car-
rted to signal gun ranges-oreated ter
ror when fred plump at massed Ger
man ranks.
From the perspective today of four
days after the victory, the efforts of
the Germans to turn the Messines
fighting into a German victory are
ludicrous. The Teuton commander,
General Sixt Won Arnim. is evidently
trying hard to save his job. He was
literally stunned by the British Gener-
al Plumer's blow-and remained in