The New York herald., 1922-07-02
ITING GETTYSBURG AGAIN WITH MODERN ARMAMENT
Should Stop Competing
in Air as Well as on Sea,
Says Sir Philip Gibbs

never forget the sight of those lines OF
young men laid out in casualty clear
ing stations behind the lines, coughing
their lungs up. temporarily blinded.
unconscious. suffocated, burnt about
! faces and bodies by the invisible vapor.
Without gas the effect OF aerial
bombardment became increasingly
severe before the end of the war. In
one night of aerial activity in which
l had a very personal experience the
Germans destroyed over two thou
sand houses at Amiens; another night
they laid the centre of Abbeville in
ruin. Our own destruction over the
German lines on billeting places was
increasingly terrifying to the enemy;
there were days of battle when the
morale Of TIE German troops was
badly shaken by the audacity of the
young British aviators, who swooped
low over their lines, machine cunning
them in their very trenches, pounced
down over batteries, knocked out their
guns by we'll directed bombs. chased
transport trains, smashed them up,
made death traps of cross roads and
high roads crowded with battalions on
the march.
Air Warfare Not Decisive.
The German soldiers I met as prie-
oners confessed that this aerial war
fare shook their nerves more than
anything else. Yet in my opinion this
method of war, this new engine of
destruction, can never be decisive one
way or the other. In the future as in
the past airplanes can never win a
victory or force the surrender of the
enemy over wide areas OF country.
In whatever numbers they fly they
will not be able to take the place OF
masses of fighting men with their feet
on the earth advancing and occupying
a hostile position. Aerial warfare will
not take the place Of military opera
tions but only supplement them, in
crease the mortality of war, and, above
all, break down TIE thin line between
military and civilian populations
Undoubtedly civilians will be the
first to get it in the neck. as the Cock
neys say. and 1t is this Intuition which
is the cause of the uneasy forebod-
ings among suck folk as these I heard
discussing the subject in the streets
of London. I am inclined to agree
with the little follow in the cloth cap
who said. Lets make up our minds
not to have another war" The news
paper scare now being worked up in
England won't do badly if it intensifes
that particular conviction among great
masses OF the common people.
| But it does not solve the problem
Wars have way of happening, what
] afy,1T
there are forces st work in the world
to-day which. If they are not checked,
will beyond any doubt lead to some
convulsion in the future. 1t seems to
Inc urgently necessary that there
should be a world wide propaganda
against the coming competition in
aerial armaments and an international
agreement on world wide basis
against bombing cities and the use Of
gas bombs.
Aviation is one of the most beautiful
powers OF humanity over nature. In
the early days of aviation mankind
seemed to have reached to a new
era OF splendid, Joyous conquest, and
/ we'll remember the sense of ecstasy
with which we used to watch men like
! Latham, Bleriot and Wilbur Wright
making their first flights. 1t is an
awful thought, that this new power
We have should be devoted almost ex-
clusively to destruction that there is
n dark suspicion of sinister purpose if
Germany builds airplanes TO carry
mails firm one city to another, if
France establishes a school for pilots.
If we do not take thought pretty
quickly this invention Of fight will be
the most evil power men have created
for their own destruction. 1t is certain
Great Britain will not allow any coun-
try to gain unchallenged supremacy in
the air. even If that country is France.
IT is certain any country looking ahead
with steady eyes. without false peesi-
mism. without false optimism, would
be unwise TO be unarmed in the air
when there is no certainty of peace on
earth. Therefore, while making
greater certainty OF peace in every
way possible. especially In the minds
OF peoples. 1t viii be necessary to
check, control and limit by interna-
tional pacts the size Of aerial armies,
70 devise a code of honer for humans
ity by which they may be used.
Copyright. 1922 BY The Mcclure Newspaper
Syndicate.