The Washington herald., 1917-07-23
PHOTOS FROM SKY
AN EFFECTIVE SPY
Aviator's Work Shows Desolation
and Where to Direct Cun6re.
By JOHN L. BALDERSToN.
Copyright, 1917, By the Mcclure GsWpapsr
gvndfnaAsl

London, June. N.-The extremely
deadly German aeropiane raids on
England are viewed at the front and
by military authorities here, with an
the natural horror at the murder Of
women and children will permit
Large scale attacks by whole squad
rons upon this country are regarded
as a confession by the enemy not only
that Germany has lost the supremacy
Of the air at the front, but that at
present she has no intention Of try
ing to regain Il. Aerial asoendency on
the battlefield Is a hundred times
more important than any military re-
suits attainable by raids over the
rear, whether in England or in France.
II there were any chance for the
German air service to beat back the
British and French planes from over
the German lines, an attempt would
be made to do so. 1t Is because there
IL no chance, that 276 women and
children were manRgled in their homes
or in the streets of London. this
month by bombs from the sky.
Observation Loss Great.
NV own observation at the front re-
Gently confirmed what all observers
have stated. that German aeroplanes
very rarely cross to British territory.
Nins-tenths OF the fights that take
place are far over the German lines,
where the enemy has the great adj
vantage that damaged British ma
chimes, which are forced to land. will
IA II into his hands, together with
,Ssheir pilots. while his own wounded
nAft that Is not destroyed in falling
can be saved with its men.
But this advantage II small COM
pensatlon for the loss OF constant OBJ
servatIon Of the British positions. a
loss felt the more keenly since the
Messines and Vimy ridges. whence
miles Of British line could be observed.
were cf,yried by assault.
At the front and at the war ONCE l
have seen recently captured German
orders and recommendations from
German generals, dealing with the air
situation. Their tenor is the same.
They complain bitterly OF the inactiv-
ity OF their own airmen, and tell how
British fiiers swoop down and sweep
the roads and trenches with machine
gun fire, or camp over the German
hangers in the dark and at FIRST ray
Of dawn hy round and round the
sheds before the German machines
can be dragged out. pouring bullets
into them. This must he stopped" Q
were the concluding words Of one re-
port.
Not Pleasant to Read About.
In view of this situation. British
authorities are inclined to think that
while the German civilian population
may be pleased by news of wholesale
murders in London. the German SOL
diers must be rendered still more
angry at their own air service. To
read OF a great raid on London while ,
lying in a trench suffering from shell
fire, directed by British aeroplancs
that operate unchallenged by German
craft cannot improve the temper OF
a German "feldgrey."
Bomb dropping, spotting for the
guns, observing enemy troops and
guns on the march. are only a few
Of the many duties now performed
by airmen at the front.
One OF the newest to attain its
present perfection is the science OF
air photography. This alone causes
thousands of casualties to the enemy
In the absence of similar work on
his own side due to his inability to
get his machines across the line.
One OF the heads of this section OF
the air service graphically described
its work to me. In the autumn of
1914" he said, when we had set
tied down to trench warfare on the
Aisne. the only use to which the
camera was put was in making an
occasional panoramic view of the
enemys lines, as seen from ours.
Today We infinitely photographed all
the hinterland of his trenches.
Seventeen hundred photographs were
taken over the German lines in one
day recently.
Photographs Tell story.
LET me give you a single example,
taken from my own experience, OF
how the work is done: There was a
village in the German lines which
we had heavily shelled. Its luckless
houses were mere wrecks in an abom-
nation of desolation. The village had
been photographed, from aloft, scores
OF times; the resulting prints had been
read and re-read. Always they had
the same tale to tell OF rOoflessness
and vacancy. And then suddenly one
day, in a corner of the village, the
reader of'the latest photograph no
ticed, in the diminutive detail which
represented the still erect walls OF
one of the skeleton houses, tiny symp-
toms OF change.
"On the morrow when the next pho
tograph of the village was brought
home by another fier. the house show
ed a cavity no longer. 1t had &C.
quired roof. That means a gun un-
derneath.
Aids Direct Fire.
This is the sort of evidence we
love and We get plenty of it, SO won
derful are the results of our lenses
What does a third photograph Of that
village say, taken a week later? 1t
exhibits that same house. roohess
a. ain; but now the walls, too, are
gone. Thanks to the explicit direc-
tons furnished by the camera, the
Bankth Heavy HowitZer Battery has
registered a direct hit; and the gun
with its crew are buried underneath
4 the smoldering rubbish.
( In many other ways the building
! by Germans Of fresh gun emplace-
ments are recorded from day to day,
by our flying photographers. in mar
Vicious picture maps which distinguish
to those who can read their signif-
cant complexities Of line and halftone,
the difference between trenches occu-
pied and unoccupied between real and
fake fortifcations.
'An kinds of delightful Teutonic
! tricks have been discerned by that
. undesirable spy, the camera; and
| thereafter a hail of shells has de-
scended on something that Fritz had
hattered himself was snugly PROOF
AGAINST prying eyes from above"