South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1917-07-22
GERMAN LAUOS
ENEMY A|RMEN
Pays Particular Tribute to
British for Daring-SayS
TeutonS in Minority.
international News Service :

l. he IA u l r. july -l.-Gen.
Won Hoeppper. the commander-in-
chief of the German aviation corps,
! has granted an interview to the
Berlin correspondent Of a Dutch
news agency in which he admits
the numerical superiority Of the al
! lied air forces and pays a high trib-
ute 10 the daring, tenacity and eff
cheney OF the British battle hiers.
In regard 70 the comparative
strength of the air fleets, the gen
eral said:
ITO judge the results obtained by
/ our aviators properly it must be
taken into consideration that the
allies have a far greater number OF
aeroplanes than we. especially on
the western front.
In the east We are a little strong
err than the Russians, but on the
Balkan front the numerical advan-
tage is decidedly on the side of our
opponents
| Mum bers. however. mean little.
The main thing is the quality of the
| flying machines and the efficiency Of
their crews
To the question whether the Ger
man aviators were morally superior
10 their opponents, the general re-
piled:
English Are Superior.
THE French hiers do not equal
our men, but the Englishmen prove,
! especially as aviators. that they are
of Germanic race-and fighters.
LAS a rule, the French only at
tack when they feel themselves nu-
merically superior. They mostly
avoid a battle under equal condi-
tions. while the British look for il.
! The French 2, n, as a rule, retreats
il his first attac k is not successful.
| but a Britisher never gives up and
/ fights until either he or his adver-
sary is shot down.
The English airmen are admir-
\ able fighters but in the most i'm
] portant part Of the service they do
not come up 10 the standard of our
| carefully trained aviators, who have
been taught that their principal duty
is TO obtain reliable military infor-
nation and good photographs of the
positions of the enemy.
our aviatOrs are. first Of all, OBJ
! servers. and as such have proven
their superiority. This is partly due
10 the excellent quality Of our air
planes. which surpass those of the
enemy in many respects. alth ough
the new English Spads' and the
I Scockvis triplanes are splendid ma
chimes and almost equal TO our best.
J There is a constant race in the
construction of high-speed observa-
| ton and battle areoplanes, and at
present we are ahead.
German Observers Better.
still more important than the
quality Of the machines is that OF
the crews. The battle aviators OF
] the enemy are as we'll prepared for
their work as ours. but not the OBJ
servers. The latter require a purely
military training. which is mediocre
with the French and poor with the
| English.
There our superiority lies. our
observers have the highest appre-
citation of their duty and know that
they are not to fight if they can
avoid il, but 20 get all possible in
formation and transmit il to the
/ commanders with the greatest
speed.
! True and well trained soldiers
every one of them. they carry out
their work successfully from day 20
dav. in spite of the numerical supe-
riority and unQuestioned bravery or
/ the enemy battle aviators.
,erff n ,rlr nNrNV u n a
fighting are a sport. They always
seek a battle. no matter whether II
/ is necessary or not. IL there is
I chance for them TO fight they for
get that they were sent out 10 get
/ information. and that their safe re
turn with a good report and photo
oraphs is OF far more Importance
10 their army than the possible de
struction Of one Of two German
aeroplanes
/ German No Sportsman.
They take all kinds Of unneces-
sarv risks and see their chief duty
/ in fghting The German aviator,
on the other hand. is no sportsman.
hut every inch a soldier. and car
ries ont his orders as he has received
them.
/ "Our losses so far have been COM
/ paratively small, because our COM
manders never send their men on
errands that are foolhardy or i'm
nossihle. our aviators never fly
singlv They are always sent up in
small souadrons. so as 20 make sure
at least some OF them will return
with the desired information.
This is far more important than
| all sporting spirit and bravery. Our
fiers are as coura geous as those Of
anv other army. Every one Of them
wants 70 become a Boelcke and
death has no terror for them, but
the solution OF their military prob
/ lens means more 70 them than all
the glory that may be gained in
battle"
QAVhPIhN WOMAN SHOT