Richmond daily register. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1917-1978, 1919-02-17
were AWKWARD At FIRST
spy Dropping" Another Feature Of
Work Of Aviation Section DeveI-
oped Toward End Of War
Much information Gained.

with the "Old Contempdbles, an OBJ
server flying one sunny day over the
enemy lines took with him Q much
cherished pocket camera and exposed
some films over the enemy's ground be-
meath him.
He wanted them only to send home
to his people as souvenirs. When they
were developed he found they formed
an excellent pictorial map Of the
Boche front lines.
Then It was that Lieutenant Colonel
Moore-Brabazon, the father and or
ganizer Of the Photographic section OF
the Royal Air force. realized the enor-
nous possibilities Of air photographs
as an aid to the intelligence staff.
He began to agitate for permission
to carry on the work Of photographing
the German activities from the air.
The early experiments turning out to
be Of first-rate value, Colonel Moore
Brabazon was sent home to start or
ganizing a Photographic branch Of the
flying corps.
Gradually Improved
And so the army spying service went
on improving month by month
AS the work Of the flying arm Of the
service extended ashore and afloat so
did the work of the air spies extend.
They photographed U-boats resting on
the bed Of the Adriatic and Mediter-
ranean; they pictured the oil patches
on the seas which betoken the sudden
end of a submarine.
To dodge successfully the Hun flyers
and the ever-present "Archie," the
pilots had invaribly to fly at fairly
high altitudes-rarely at less than TO-
600 feet, and always on a zgzag
| course.
The ''mosains," as they were called
picture maps pieced together some
thing like a jigsaw puzzle-were made
from thousands of pictures taken with
a lens pointing vertically toward the
ground.
A brigade intelligence officer, having
| got a complete set of prints. taken an
hour before, sat down to deduce, Sher-
lock Holmes like. lengthy Indictment
of the Huns overnight activities
Signs of an impending attack on q
big scale usually could be deduced by
the plainly apparent newly made roads
for tanks and by the massing Of men
In large numbers In support trenches
and on roads leading from back area
billets.
| One of the most enterprising meth
DDS Of aerial intelligence was the drop
| ping Of spies In the Hun lines and
picking them up after they had com.
pleted their work. In this way much
information Of vital Importance was
gained.
These secret service agents were
mostly Frenchmen who knew the coun
try thoroughly and had a full inside
knowledge of the Hun military organi
zation.
II there were ary signs of activity
in any particular sector Of the line
about which the high command wal
anxious. one of these agents was de
tailed to report to headquarters for In
structions. Here he was also supplied
with the necessary papers. and wa.
then sent by car to certain aerodrome
| Used Special Machine.
| At this aerodrome was a special.
I constructed machine. The pilot wa,
usually a well-known Birmingham mo
tor cyclist racer. who specialized IL
this particular work He was bril-
liantly successful at what was un
doubtedly very risky game. His eff
forts were rewarded by many decora
tons, and he is still flying.
The spy having reported to his pilot
details would be arranged between
them, and frequently there was re
: hearsal In the form of flight owe
the spot where he was to land. Seine
times the yerk Iouit be undertakes
by dag, but If the weather was favor
able. 1t was mostly done by night.
d The spy would get into his baske
seat 80 constructed that he could cas-
fly slip off; the engine would be thor
oughly tested, and they would get int
the air.
| They would make straight for th
appointed spot. needless Of all search
lights and shells. and would then land
The landing spot was good-sized feel
with an even surface.
At an appointed time two or tire
days later. earlier II necessary, tn
machine would return to the same spo
and pick up the man again. Some
times, II his investigations were o
particularly lengthy nature. he woul
! return to our lines by another means