Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-08-09
A|RMEN SPIES HAVE
THRILLS APLENTY
Often the Target for Hundreds of
Shot and Liability to Fall
is Never Absent.

In the British Flying Corps there are
two kinds of air reconnaissance work
Corps and Army.
Corps reconnaissance is carried out by
A single airplane and army reconnais-
sance bv souadrons of machines number
ing not less than five and as many as
80 To understand just what Corps
reconnaissance flight means IT will be
necessary for me to transport you to an
active section of the Western battlefront
during the summer.
A two-gun, two-seater Sopwith fighter
is trundled out of hangar While the
pilot is inspecting the map OF the terri-
tory over which he is TO fly. the observer
receives his orders to get information on
the movement of enemy troops, motor
transports trains and the direction IN
which they are going over an area OF
not more than 10. 900 wards in front OF the
allied position 4 duplicate of the pilot
map and writing materials arc ready IN
the observers scat.
As the final order is given. tho plane
ascends and wings its way over the lines
towards the enemy The pilot Climbs
rapidly, keeping wary eve open Tor
enemy air-raiding squadrons. The usual
height NJ which he operates IS from 5000
TO 10. 900 feet
Nearing the German lines The observer
eagerly scans the ground below through
powerful glasses If YOU were to look
through these same glasses you would
see mile after mile of sheil-marked earth
every mile seemingly the same rs the
next. But to the observer every foot of
that ground holds information worth
noting. information which he is willing
10 give his life TO get The pilot doesn't
hngcr over the hattlcInes His work Is
still 10 he done back of the enemy
trenches.
Far below the plane is n thin wisp Of
white smoke To the unimtIatcd II means
not thing; but the men III the plane know
that it is train winding towards the front
Its position is quickly marked on the map
A white road next occupies their at
tention. The pilot drops the plane
httlc-uttcrlv oblivious 10 the anti-air-
craft shells bursting around him. One
part of the road ohscured hy black smudg
and clouud Of dust \ regiment OF IN
fantry is on the march Why infantry |
and not cavalry The dust cloud tells. |
1t would hang in the roar OF cavalry and /
the men and horses would look like black |
specks II is such dcductivc reasoning |
as this that an observer has 20 bc trained ,
to make
The observer estimates the number Of I
troops 10y figuring what space they oc- /
cunv 4 little further on, three black (
specks move rapidly down the road.
Motor trucks in hurry. All this Is re- 1
corded by the watchful observer who be +
comes more keen rs the minutes pas
The plane Is over a railroad station /
now Arc there any parked motors?
How many ears are on the rails? Several
working parties below run for cover
when the plane hovcTs over them. Evl-
IDENTIFY this Is an important depot rs
seven arches hurl shells skvward In
an effort TO scare the aerial visitor away
A she'll bursts nearby, The plane rocks
from the explosion. Then, as the~pIot
shuts of the motor. the machine dashcs
earthward in a nosedIve,
Nol he is not hit The observer just
wants closer view of the depot Nearer
and nearer the plane sw6opS, with ma
chine guns from the ground adding 10
the din from the anti-aircraft guns Five
hundred feet from the objective he fiat
tens olr, opens up the motor, and i> on
a agan-homeward bound.
Again the battle lines come into view
below, and the observer looks out fpr
new trenches. Sure enough he sees sew
eral, and marks their position carefully
on the map; also whether they are tra-
verse or communication trenches TIL"
OF the barbed wire entanglc-
ments next engage his attention. Where
they are broken by shell fire he secs
smudges and spots, all OF which are
recorded.
! he shells come thick and fast. but the
pilot is an old hand at the game. he'll
stick till the work Is done CIeverly hid
den on the ground. the observer secs some
small narrow-guage tracks terminating in
several pits Has he discovered new
enemy battery, or Is it camoufagc? he
must see the gun flashes before being sure
There they are, One, Two, Three, Four
Five, He also sees the blast marks in
front OF the battery Now he is satisfied
the pilot he focuses MS glasses