Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-09-15

the western front we have a definite,
almost overwhelming, superiority in
the air. 1t is the superiority in the
air which enables US to bomb Ger
many and bring the war home to her,
and makes it possible for an offensive
to succeed. No offensive can hope for
success without cooperation between
all arms and the most implicit trust in
the aviation service by leaders and
men alike.
Air Service Is Specialized.
Machines have developed along def
mite lines for definite purposes. In
for any duty. In those days it was
only necessary for a pilot to fly ma
chine and have an elementary knoWl-
edge of other matters. Nowadays any
one can be taught to f1y-that is the
easiest part of the training. The diff
cult part comes with specialization. "A
pilot has to be taught to fly and fight
in small single-seater scouts. He has
to be taught, on highly specialized
lines, the art of bombing, and last, he
has to be taught cooperation with
other arms. This last duty is one OF
the most difficult to teach and per-
hans the most important of all.
The commanders of the infantry and
artillery, either in an attack or a
retreat, are often unaware OF the
movements in their own command,
owing to the cutting of the telephone
wires and the ever-changing situa-
ton Runners may be killed, tele-
phones may be put out of action, and
the much-needed news does not get
back. Infantry commanders may not
know exactly where the men are,
and artillery commanders may not
know exactly where to place the
shells. In word, the true position
can be told only from the air.
Let us take co-opera ton with artll-
lery. A machine equipped with WIRE
less goes out with a pilot and OBJ
server. Before going UP, these Off
GERS are aware of all known hostile
batteries. They have a definite pro
gram to carry out. They have shoots
on definite targets to undertake. The
results of the shooting by the battery
are communicated to the battery
commander by wireless, and the bat
terry commander makes the neceS-
sary corrections to the laying of his
guns until they are ranged on the
target Those duties are performed al
any height from 5000 to 5000 feet.
Needless to say, the machine is of
quite different type from machines
for other duties. 1t is neither so fast
nor so handy as a fighter or q scout.
Hence it has to be protected by scouts
flying above.
Some Things Air Men Do.
May I give you an example of three
shoots undertaken by pilots and OBJ
servers on the front?
A. II O.K.'s, two gun pits destroy
ed: in one Of ;, which lI a large explosion
B. Flight lasting 4A hours; 3S2
Gin. Howitzer rounds fired in a shoot
on wire, which was completely de-
stroyed." (No. 2 Squadron.)
c. 80 Gin. Howitzer rounds OBJ
served in 40 minutes and 81 others in
Three explosions in the target posi-
ton. and a fire and explosion in a
neighboring position"
These records, in a cold and I'M
vanished way. give the results of
work with artillery. They do not
however, tell the vast amount Of
training which has taken place be-
fore the pilot and observer are eff
ficient, nor the evolution of wireless
as used in an aeroplane.
Cooperation by the artillery and
the aeroplane in 1914 was not efficient
Wireless was considered a sort of
black art in those days. 1t was not
until 1918 that the matter was really
developed and evolved. Its strides
became rapid. Machines and instru-
ments were improved. and wireless
cooperation was thoroughly or
sanized. Wireless is such a science
in itself that it is useless to go into
its technical details. But today there
are hundreds of machines equipped
with wireless and cooperating daily
with the artillery. infantry and cav
airy. Our work with infantry, cav
airy and tanks is also of the greatest
Importance. A system of signals is
devised as between the infantry and
the aeroplane. and the aeroplane flies
extremely low to get these messages,
<IA 1nv>
accurate information not only as to
where the infantry are. but also as to
what they may be in need of. Per-
hapS they may be short OF ammuni-
ton or grenades. All this has to be
communicated quickly if the material
is TO be brought forward in good
time. For cavalry and tanks the
aeroplane is both an eye and an ear.
Airplanes Save Life.
Flying is designed to save life. Take,
for instance, machine which flies
and 400 feet. and searches for infor-
nation which Is invaluable to the
commander of the sector in which
an attack is going to take place. 1t
is up to the pilot OF an aeroplane to
discover if the batteries are active or
if they are only camouf1aged make
believe. If he can transmit the facts
to the artillery commander, In the
one case he can have the battery
destroyed and prevented from she'll
ing our troops, and in the case OF a
camoufaged log he can save the bat
terry commander the trouble of firing
at it.
On the same lines it is the duty of
the pilot to see where the trench
mortars are. in order that they may
be knocked out before the attack be-
gins, as well as the machine gun en-