Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1919-02-12
AERIAL APRONS
GUARD LONDON
Defense System Against Hun Air
Raids Is Now Dis
closed.
Observation-Disclosures
How the Gothas Were Kept Away
From London Forms Tense Chap
ter in British Mastery Over
German Air Raiders.

might IOrI0 one ltuSe SHuptSA IL u
book about how the British baffled the
Hun air raiders. The last six months
of the war there was not single air
raid on London, due, in part, to the
fact that the citys defenses were such
that they filed enemy flyers with ter
ror. Any aviator that escaped the
death traps-and the chances were
about one in three he would not-gen-
orally was of little value thereafter for
flying, because his nerves were shat
tered. A British aviator who by acct
dent was caught in the aerial barrage,
but managed to land safely near Lon
don, tossed on a bed, verging on in
sanity for weeks, so horrible was the
experience.
Roughly, there were three chief
weapons for dealing with Hun air
raiders; the aerial barrage. aided by
searchlights; fast, fighting scout planes
that attacked the invaders, and aerial
aprons. The Germans, it may be noted,
were never able to perfect any scheme
to prevent British aviators from
bombing Rhine towns even in the day
time.
Aerial Aprons Queer Things.
The aerial aprons were queer
things. They reminded one of rope
portieres. Upon signal, captive bal
looms were sent aloft from the out
skirts of the city, the balloons being
in pairs. These buoyed up a curtain
of dangling ropes, a half-mile or so
long. These aerial aprons served two
purposes: First, they forced the raid
ers to fly high, and when they few
high they could not drop bombs eff
fectively; second, any machine dart
ing into the ropes courted destruction.
When flying high they were met by the
British fighting scouts. These aerial
aprons we're shifted daily as to height
so enemy airmen could not be fore
warned.
London always had the protection
Of four score airplanes during the
last year of war. These machines
could mount to 10000 feet. The avn
ators were picked night flyers. At
such heights it is difficult to see an
other airplane at 100 yards. But at
given signal these birdmen took to
the skies, jealousy guarding the ap-
proaehes to London. These brave fell
lows often chased a hostile machine
into the barrage and a few British
birdmen were killed by their own
shells. But whether it was Zeppelin
or Gotha that was bent on baby kill
ing the British scouts would swoop at
their foes like hawks.
The barrage was almost like drum
fire. There were two outer barrages
and one inner. Scores of guns, many
of them six-inch rifles, were employed
in this work. They generally worked
in batteries of four, each unit of the
battery, perhaps, being mile or two
from the other units. The four guns
would endeavor TO get a hostile plane
In the center of their box fire, and then
gradually close in their fire so the
enemy could not escape, the aerial
box gradually being narrowed.
The entire process depended largely
upon listening devices which could de-
tect the approach of humming air.
plane miles away.
Efficient Defense System.
The defense system was so eff
cient that IS Per cent of the raidlng
machines were kept out of London
And those machines that got past the
barrages had great difficulty in escap-
ing. To the terror of bursting shrap-
mel was added the confusion of Verey
lights, some red, some blue, others
green, white, yellow and orange, and
these flashing lights, intermingled
with the terrific din of the exploding
shell, so confused aviators that they
lost all sense of direction and space
and many of their machines got out of
control, becoming an easy prey. In
such cases British birdmen would ap-
proach, firing on the enemy machine,
anti-aircraft guns would halt, and the
hostile plane would be brought down
by burst from the British plane. But
often there were fierce duels, marked
by spitfire from the machine guns of
the contending flyers.
The course which the raiders took
was traced out, minute by minute, by
the "stethoscope" operators, and d.
rections given to searchlight crews,
anti-aircraft gunners and flashed to
airdromes by aerial defense headquar-
tiers, which conducted the battle much
In the same way as general m the
field.
Scarcely a Gotha got through the
outer London barrage unscathed. The
faint hearts who couldn't penetrate
the barrage often turned back, only to
find they were outnumbered four to
one by faster British machines.