Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-05-03

cavalry to travel. and rev belleNeu
that il was possible for acroplanes to
carry out the actual offensive work
which in open warfare used to be
done by raiding parties of cavalry in
the rear OF armies.
Now that II is impossible to get
round the hanks OF an army. owing
partly TO the enormous size OF armies
themselves and also to their extreme
mobility, thanks TO motor transport
ard perfected railway systCms. OBJ
viously the only thing is To go over
them, and that is why acroplanes
are now performing the functions OF
cavalry.
Reasonably Safe.
When the idea was first suggested
il was considered that the casualties
among avl;ltorS employed in this way
would he so high. owing to the fire Of
rifles and machine guns on the
ground. that 1t would practically be
impossible to find enough men or ma
chimes to do the work. In practice 1t
seems that the casualties among low
flying avLators are rather lower than
those among fighting pilots who are
employed to oppose other aeroplanes
in the higher atmosphere. The rc;l-
son seems to be the very simple one
that where two machines are fighting
each other they both fly at approx
mately the same speed, and conse-
uuently offer one another Il reason
able good mark, whereas an aero
plane travelling at something well
over 100 miles per hour offers very
poor mark indeed to man with
rifle who is standing still on the
ground. Actually the vital parts of
an aeroplane occupy comparatively
small space, and unless machine is
hit in one of those vital parts, or un-
less the pilot himself is hit. it is very
hard indeed to do any considerable
damage 1t seems in fact that shoot
ing aeroplanes with an ordinary SER
vice rifle is rather more difficult than
shooting pigeons with n rook rifle.
- TiCao"S S'o'SS'
So far rs one can gather, the avi-
ators themselves regard what some OF
them call ground strafting" as being
quite n pleasing change from fighting
enemy aviators in the higher levels.
Even admitting that the risks taken
by the low flying pilots are as great
rs those taken by the pilots in fight
ing patrol, there Is considerably more
activity and interest in ground work.
To begin with. targets are more easily
found and, when found, are consid-
erably bigger and more easily hit than
when a man has to patrol the sky per
haps for hours Constantly on the look
out for an enemy. When a big attack
is in progress, 1t is absolutely certain
that masses OF troops and transports
will be found on any main road, and
there are very few troops who can
stand without breaking formation
with a fast aeroplane flying straight
at them. pumping out stream OF bull
let's. 1t is not surprising that pilots
| find even a certain amount Of humor
in seeing solid column Of men break
up and tumble precipitately into the
bitches at the side of the road on the
appearance of one lonely little aviator.
Surprised General and Staff.
| In the days before ground-straffing
was developed as a regular branch OF
military tactics, one of our machines
had been out on reconnaissance in the
early morning, and on its way home
ran into such u thick fog that the
pilot considered that the safest thing
to do was to fly home along one of the
biz main French roads. knowing that
in this way he would be certain of his
whereabouts. and reckoning that ow-
ing to the thickness of the fog he
would disappear into it long before
any infantry he might meet would
have time to fire at him. As he was
tearing along the roads just about
level with the tree tops, he suddenly
came upon a German general, COM
plete with gilded staff. apparently re-
turning from an carly tour Of inspec-
tion near the front lines. According
to the observer Of the machine. the
staff promptly tainted and fell off
their horses. while the general him.
self, after one look of Mortified sur
prise. set spurs to his horse and raced
down the road in the direction from
which the aeroplane had come. Ac-
cording to the observer, he and his
pilot nearly fell out Of the machine
laughing. but the pilot, knowing that
his petrol was running short. con-
tinued on his homeward way, instead
of turning round to have a shot at the
dismounted staff.
The Moral Effect.
The amount OF damage actually
done by low flying aviators, is. of
course, impossible to estimate. but
they cannot be very great, because
aviators are numbered in tens where
infantrymen are counted In thou
sands. But the moral effect is very
considerable. and certainly does delay
the arrival OF fresh troops and OF
munitions and food.
For ground straffing an aviator
needs considerably less training than
he does for any other branch Of fly
ing. So long as he has plenty of pluck
and endurance practically all he needs
Is to be able to fly we'll and shoot
straight. He does not need the ex-
tensive and prolonged military train
ing Of the artillery spotter or Of the
reconnaissance observer and pilot.
nor does he need the acrobatic edu-
cation OF the ordinary high-level fight
ing pilot. nor yet the scientific teach
ing of the really skillful bomb
dropper. Practically all he has to do
Is to pitch himself into the fight, drop
his numerous small bombs from low