Norwich bulletin., 1918-04-23
THE WAR PRIMER By National Geographic Society.

What the Airman Must See. The vast responsibilities which devolye upon the youthful airman before a successful infantry attack can be made on the western front are set forth by an experienced French avia- tor in the following communication to the National Geograp phic Society. is- sued today from the society's Wash ington headquarters as war geogra- phy bulletin:
 ''The time has passed when one could make an improvised attack upon the enemy, relying simply upon superior numbers and the morale of the at tacking troops to gain the victory.
 "To search out. in all their details, the defensive works of the enemy (barbed-wire entanglements, trenches. block-houses), the position of all his batteries; to locate the trails. railways, intuition and supply depots, and the headquarters of the commanders; such is the work to be performed by the scout planes before every offensive operation.
 "To direct the firing of all the artil- lery, whose task is to destroy the barbed-wire entanglements and the trenches; to Lombard the batteries and destroy the larger part of them. to set on fire the intuition depots within it's range, to prevent or render perilous any passing along the roads and rail- ways, to delay traffic in the supporting | railway stations, to control the de- struction of objectives and the efficacy of long-range firing; such are the principal tasks of the scout planes during the preparatory period of an attack.
 Moreover, they assume the enor- nous responsibility of the faithful execution of this programme, which is l carried out entirely through the inter mediation of their eyes.
 1 Finally, on the day of attack, it is they who, flying at a low altitude over 1 the assaulting waves of the infantry, l signal Its progress to the superior command; it is they who discover the active batteries and reduce them to | silence by causing them to come under destructive fire; it is they who cause the dispersion of wagon trains and troop columns venturing along the roads and trains near the battlefield; i; t is they who watch for the possible launching of a counter-attack, always to be feared and which they must an- nounce at the right moment to the in- fantry and to the commander in charge.
 Thanks to the promptness of their reports, sent by radio, the commander is enabled to make his authority felt during the progress of the operation When, in the midst of the hazards of
 battle. the energies of the combatants
 become scattered, causing confusion and disorder. the scout planes, bv the
 accuracy of their reports. permit the
 harmonizing and coordinating of effort
 necessary to the final victory.
 gro describe the airplanes used in
 scouting, the details of their armament
 and the devices with which they are
 equipped, would carry me beyond the limits of my space. Evidently it is the observer who must have charge ot the mission of reconnaissance, of pho- tography, of artillery adjustment. or oi
 infantry communications: hut hn ;s
 greatly assisted by the pilot, whose
 skill and decision contribute in nc
 small measure to the successful ac-
 complishment of the aerial task.
 "This. then, is a brief sketch of the
 immense task of the scout aviators
 You can understand why both France and Germany first organized this class so indispensable for conducting lanL
 operations, offensive as well as defen-
 sive."