The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1919-02-01
Aerial Aprons Queer Thlnas.


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 q curtain
of dangling ropes, Il half-mile or so
long. These aerial aprons served two
purposes: First, they forced the raid
ers TO fly high, and when they flew
high they could not drop bombs el-
fectively; second, any machine dart
ing into the ropes courted destruction.
When flying high they were met by the
British fighting scouts. These aerlul
aprons were shifted daily rs TO height
50 enemy alrmen could not be for,y
warned. W. Nh"i y
. 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 ID Is difficult To seeaan-
other airplane at 100 yards. Bur at
a given signal these birdmen took 10
the skies, jealously guarding the .als
prOaches TO London. These brave fell
lows often chased hostile zI,ae hine
Into the barrage and a few BFttish
birdmen We're killed shy their Own
shells. But whether 1t was a.Zsppelin
on q Gotha that was bent on bhby kill
1 Ing, tbs. British, scouts, would SNoop at
thor hoes Ike hawks, -. ~ yiS-ss,rs
ghe blrrseat Vas almost iika drum
IRE. There We're two outer Barrages
and one inner. Scores of guns, many
of them sixsinch rifles, were employed
in this work. They generally, worked
in batteries or four ehchsunif of tlt'
battery perhaps, being a mile or two
from the other units. The four guns
would endeayor to get 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-
teet the approach of n hummlng air
plane miles away.
Efficient Defense System.
The defense system was so ELI
sscient that 20 per cent Of the Faiding
machines were Kept out Of London.
And those machines that got past the
barrages had great difficulty in cscap-
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 ayiators that they
lost oil sense Of direction and space
and many Of their machines got out OF
control, becoming an easy prey. In
such cases British blrdmen would APP
proach. firing on the enemy machine,
anttalrcraft 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 spitiire from the machine guns Of
tho contending flyers.
The course which the raiders took
was traced out, minute by minute, by
the "stethoscope" operators, and dl-
rections given to searchlight crews
antl-alrcraft gunners and flashed 10
alrdromes by aerial defense headquar.
ters, which conducted the battle much
in the same way as general n the
field.
Scarcely Gotha got through the
outer London barrage unscathed. The
faint hearts who couldn't penetrate
Eihe, barrage often turned back, only ia
-hnd they were outnumbered four to
one by faster British machines.