Middletown transcript., 1918-10-26

been cut efficiently. If it has been, all is well.
It it has not it is necessary Tor the artillery to
again strafe 1t, in order that infantry reg-
ment may not start an attack only to find itself
held up on German barbed wire. The saving of
life by an efficient air force is absolutely colossal
The airplane must descend from the realm Of
mystery it has occupied in the public mind and
assume its practical form. It should be looked
on as machine designed to carry through
the air for definite purpose, and that purpose
is to help those the ground to 60 forward.
We have to rid ourselves of mistaken notions.
The life Of pilot is really far more comfortable
than is possible for his comrades in the infantry
cavalry artillery. The infantry when in the
trenches are sheed continually and often heav-
lily. They have to sleep in dugouts, some wet
and some dry. They are at war the whole time
except. Of course, when they are back at rest.
But the pilot. though his period of fighting may
continue for weeks and months at time, has a
definite job to do each day. He knows when that
job IS he will return to a clean house, a
clean meal and a clean bed. His morale is excel
lent. He is flying the best machine the govern
ment can supply He does not the dirty side
of the war. He does not find in the air the gas
and the filth Of the ground. 1t is not to be Won
dered at that he is proud to be in the air division
A certain type of person writes on the dangers
Of flying and the way he prevented himself from
being killed. yet one-tenth of the untold stories
sound very small. Yet the airman is all-import
ant. 1t would not help much if America sent ten
millions of men to France if there not an
efficient air service back of them.
Fortunately, things are going well. The United
States has pilots of the right kind and the ma
terial is now going overseas in the right way. I
have been fortunate enough to good deal
of American flying men, Of the training which is
going on in this country and of certain number
of American cadets in England. Personally
have nothing but praise for American flyers, and
those at home have nothing but praise for the
cadets there. And how important thorough
training is! However we'll pilot may fly, how
ever good his machine may be, unless he can
kill his opponent in the air, he is, to all intents
and purposes. useless. To do that he must have
a gun. preponderance of fire, outmaneuver
his enemy and bring him down. There are sew
eral means and ways of achieving this excellent
result. Some Germans have been forced to land
without having been fired on; others have been
brought down by machine gun fire in the air. and
few by antiaircraft fire from tile ground Again,
very small number have been shot down by in
fantry gunfre from trenches. The more Germans
brought down, the less sacrifices of life we have
on side of the lines. Say German airplane
has come over side of the lines; say he has
taken photographs of our artillery position; say
he has photographed trenches where we are as
sembling to attack-ft is perfectly easy for him,
If not interfered with, to take these back, have
them developed and issued to the artillery He
can also call up batteries by wireless and have
them train their guns on the infantry so assem-
bled. Hence, it is absolutely necessary that every
hostile machine side of the lines, eyery
enemy machine in the air at ALL shall be brought
down whenever and wherever possible ONLY
by this means can we own men on fhe
ground.
With the airrnan came the air-gunner In 1914