New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-12-07

.,,rddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung,' are
'sIo 10 go into great and fairly accurate de-
J .ou with regard 70 casualties to our
reehines. Not only are names Of machineG
and engines given but their numbers are
quoted. and the names and rank OF our pllotl
and observers, whether wounded or killed,
are stated with fair approximation to truth.
! The fact that we are unable TO do TINS
with regard to German casualties with any
I thing like the same accuracy points 20 the
very important fact OF our aerial superiority
and supremacy, and that we are fighting over
and behind their trenches, our machines ana
theirs falling on enemy soil. Our losses can
he verified by them; theirs must be estimated
by US. In short, the German lists are an clio
quent testimony Of how we carry the war INTO
the enemy's country. When hostile machihe
is put out of control, it's fate is stated under
the headings Machines Down" and "Machines
Out OF Control" 1t is not always easy to OBJ
tain corroboratiye evidence Of the fact that
tire aircraft is actually destroyed.
The German reports for September claim
scventy-eight of our machines. We, on the
other hand, for the same period, claim l52 OF
theirs crashed, and, in addition, 122 driven
down out of control. September has been
taken as it is the most recent month ior
which we have both records.
The October Record
Our own October reports show most eX-
ceilcnt results in spite of the fact that each
week the rtport has begun with the words
"the weather was unfavorabe for aerial
work" For three weeks in October our air
mea have brought 50 down and driven 81
more out of control-a total of ITO.
Reports in from the Middle East Brigade
show similar, but, OF course, smaller results.
In Palestine photography has been carried
on TO a great extent mapping OF the neigh
borhood of Beersheba had important results
in the recent victory Intense heat IN Meso-
potamia-the average of neary 123 degrees
Fahrenheit for July was record for that
rconth--has made aerial operations very dlt-
icult. Finally, in East Africa enemy camps
roads and paths in the bush have been To-
Gated, and a number OF combined reconnois-
sance and bombing raids undertaken
You may be interested to hear what typi-
cal weeks work in the Royal Flying Corps
means. Perhaps | can give YOU some idea
of that by putting before You the following
facts and figures:
During the first week OF September, 1917,
IL which there were three good flying days,
two days of persistent rain and two days
with occasional rain. high wind and low
clouds. the work actually performed by the
corps vas as under:
The Work in Detail
l. Artillery cooperation. e., the ranging
Of our guns and howitzers on to definite tar
gets, such as enemy batteries, his trenches
rest billets, ammunition dumps, roads and
railways, by means OF wireless communica'
tion between aeroplane and artillery.
Two hundred and eighty-siX enemy bat
teries were successfully engaged for de-
struction" by the following procedure:
!. Several British batteries are very care
fully ranged on to one target by the aero
plane observer.
.. The registered" target German bat
terry, strong post or whatever it may be- Is
then obliterated by the concentrated fire o.
the guns which have been ranged. In add
ton, ffty-one enemy batteries were neutral
lied" l. e., were rendered incapable Of re
turning fire, and seventy-eight batteries were
engaged for destruction, as above, by tho
kite balloon sections of the Roya! Flying
Corps.
II. Reconnaissance and Patrols-Thirty
eight long Reconnaissance 800 miles anC
upward-were carried out.
Four thousand two hundred and seventy
two successful photographs were taken IL
the enemy area. Sixteen Contact patrols
we're mployed-machines flying low ovel
our infantry during operations, in order tC
maintain touch between the first waves anC
the directing stats in rear. Five OF these
patrols were carried out in heavy rain OF
September 6.
Squadrons carried out several deliberate
attacks on enemy infantry concentrating fol
counter attacks. These concentrations wer:
broken up and the troops thoroughly demon
allied by machine gun fire from heights Of
100 TO 800 feet.
During the week twenty-nine enemy aircraft
we're destroyed in aerial battles and seen t(
T