The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-07-19
villicrs, Noted Correspondent,
Believes Allies Must Crush
Germans From Air.
LAND DRIVES TOO SLOW
Let Thousands Of Filters Bomb
Troops and Cities, Showing
No Mercy. He Urges.

| apartment OF ms frlend, hicnaEu bArTy,
at is Central Park West, while he es-
ssyed prediction as to what 10 going to
/ appen to the Boche in the year of
grace, 1919
His name is Frederic villiers and he
has taken part in more wars than Alex
ander, Cesar or Napoleon ever knew
twenty -one to be exact. For forty-two
years or whereabouts he has been on
hand when mankind exploded. and In
that considerable period lie attained dis
tinction as perhaps the worlds greatest
war correspondent He has written war.
painted war and even led troops on oc-
casion. His opinions. therefore. may
have exceptional interest
| He believes, for one thing. that the
Job Of beating TIE Germans on land is
going to be too long and difficult and
that they must be crushed from the air.
| He believes that the war will be won in
the air and won quickly when the time
arrives. He sees tremendous eauadrons
OF American. British. French and Ital-
ian war planes flashing over the German
soldier hordes and obliterating them. He
visions their great cities wiped out by
hurricanes OF explosives He 10 as GER
tain as a man can be that when tina
| Allies are ready with their aircraft
preparations Germany will be smashed
with a few months.
Airplanes to Crush Hordes.
| 81 would not be astonished II the job
| could be done within a space Of two
months" said Mr.. villiers. lima CINE
what must occur. Airplanes by the I un-
dreds and the thousands everywhere over
the German forces night and day. cease
| lessly raining down bombs No force Of
mined can stand such attack. tt y
this Is going on there will be thousands
of other airplanes destroying German
cities. and breaking the spirit OF the
German people.
| AS view the war to-day, all that Il
| necessary 10 for the land forces to hold
| the German hordes where they are, reso-
luteiy blocking them from Paris and
from the Channel ports. That Is beina
done heroically. The Germans cannot
break through. Probably by the spring
of next year America, England, France
and Italy will have MANUFACTURED such
quantities OF airplanes that the new
phase of the war will have begun. I,
will be terrible, but It will be the Justice
Of God himself. No mercy must be
shown these people. They must be paid
In their own coin. Their cities must b.
levelled as they themselves have levelled
the cities OF France and Belgium. II
| will be done"
Frederic Villiere comes to America "a
| recuperate from the strain OF upward OF
three years on the western front. He
has been In Mesopotamia and Palestine
| recently with the British expeditionary
forces and his trained experience quail
fes him to praise without stint the re
| arl "a ON Jad h,. bx
British in the East. Talking last eve
ming about the possibilities Of aircraft
In the war he recalled curious
prophecy he made un!nte tionally
twenty-seven years ago.
! Predicted War in Air.
at that time" said Mr. villiers, "l
was commissioned by publication
called Black aud white TO do some work
and they asked me TO suggest ways o,
popularzing and enlivening the paper
suggested that they run story OF
an imaginary war. calling II The Wa
OF is I myself contributed chap
tiers to this imaginary history and I re.
call that in one Of the chapters I had
a dirigible destroying a Turkish city
That was before experiments had beer
made with dirigibles and when the
whole matter OF air fighting seemed
quite visionary
Mr.. Nilliers. after some persua sion
reviewed the main incidents Of his owl
career. starting with the Serbian wal
against Turkey in 1875 Later he wa.
| with the Russian army against I'll,
Turks in 1877. taking part in the bat
| ties OF the Passage OF the Danube. Beia
Plevna and Shipka. He had the lucl
to be with Lord Beresford on the Condor
at Alexandra in 1882. then went to tn.
coronation OF Gar Alexander III, re.
turned to the Sudan and fought in the
broken square at Tamai in 1884, ad.
| ven.ured with Admiral Hewitt on q
mission TO the King OF Abyssinia. went
| UP the Nile TO the relief OF Khartum
participated in little wars in the Bal.
| kans and in Burma was with the Japa
| nese at Ping Yang and at the taking OF
| Port Arthur, was with Kitchener at ON,
durham, saw the Boer war from first tC
last. followed the Spanish forces IL
Morocco. observed the Italian forces in
| their Trtpolitan campaigns and went
through the two Balkan wars.
lie scents Trouble.
| Il have had always a curious instinct
for the coming OF trouble" said Mr.. Vii.
liers last night. II was in London when
murdered at Sarajevo. and | was posi-,
tive that it would bring about Euro
| pean catastrophe. | told my friends
that war was coming-war which would
| involve all OF the great free nations
against the Teutons. They laughed al
me. saying 'Nilliers, you are Away,
seeing war; but ! knew better. wen
straight To Paris and was there wher
| mobilization was ordered. ] was In III.
retreat from Mons and in most OF tn,
campaigns subsequently.
| II believe ] am qualified 10 ventur,
| the assertion that the business OF beat
ing the Germans by purely land opera
| tons will be too long and costly task
II can be done So much more quickly
and effectively from tho air Germany
| cannot hope to match the aircraft re
sources OF the Allies, She has lost con
troll Of the air already and every weel
sees her weaker in that respect In III,
meantime the Allies have scarcely begun
to produce aircraft. Within year the,
will have manufactured enormous auan
titles and then we will see Probabl,
Germany realizes what is coming ant
no one need he surprised to hear a or,
go up from the Germans that air fight
Ing must be interdicted. But they will
have to swallow their own medicine. bit
ter as II Is"