Evening star., 1938-10-11
CIVILIANS TESTED
IN AIR DEFENSE
Fort Bragg Exercises May
Result in New Chain
of Observation.
BY JOSEPH s. EDGERTON,
Star Stan Correspondent.

By JOSEPH s. EDGERTON,
Star Stan Correspondent.
FORT BRAGG, N. c., Oct. 1.-THE
ability Of unframed civilians to spot
invading enemy airplanes at theii
maximum attitudes is being put to the
test over Eastern North Carolina today
as = part OF the anti-aircraft warning
net exercises which may write the be-
ginning Of a new chapter in national
defense history.
For the past "A hours some 1000
volunteer civilian observers, among
them 500 women, have been on the
alert as problems Of increasing difh-
Guilty have bsen given them. During
the first exercises. long before dawn
yesterday, the invading black" air
planes from the second wing, Langley
Field. Va, came in at accommo-
datingly low attitudes, with the ex-
ception Of one fight, so that the VOL
unteer observers would have little difn-
Guilty in locating them. This was
intended as a test Of the operation OF
the volunteer warning net and as a
training period for all concerned.
Cover Wide Areas.
Last night, beginning just after dark.
the Langley Field squadrons broke up
into small flights and elements and in
many cases into single airplane attack
formations, spreading far and wide
over the 80 counties involved in the
net.
Today, however. in the first daylight
attack, giant BLACK" four-engined
Bit flying fortresses and Martin Bio
bombers came across the Atlantic
coastline at their maximum ceilings
more than $4,000 feet in the case of
the Boeings At this altitude they
were expected to be invisible to ground
observers except with glasses and vir-
tually inaudible.
The bombers were to be followed by
low-f1ying attack, intended to distract
the observers and screen the bombers
high above and to shield the actual
bombardment assault on Fort Bragg by
laying smoke screen around the anti
aircraft batteries.
Stations Report on Planes.
Although the success of the civilian
net on today's exercises cannot be
determined fully until reports from
the BLACK" aviation commanders as
to routes flown are compared, prob
ably tonight. with reports of the
civilian observers. the extreme alti-
tude of the flights apparently was
causing the observers little difficulty.
Reports on airplanes "at very high
attitudes" began coming into defense
headquarters here, first from Coast
Guard stations along the North Caro-
lima beach, and later from the civilian
observers at their posts eight miles
apart. Station after station is re-
porting, indicating that there are few
if any misses" Upon the success OF
these exercises will depend the de-
cision of the War Department to ex-
tend the civilian net along the, Atlantic
and Pacific Coasts, at least to cover
such vital areas as the National Capt.
tai New York and other cities and
the industrial areas around Philadel-
phia and at other points.
Camouf1age Skillful.
The art of camouflage has reached
a new high in the Fort Bragg defense
area. The "a three-inch anti-aircraft
guns have been concealed amid the
scrub oak and sparse pine groves
and even in the open country with
such skill that ground observers have
come within 20 feet of gun without
finding any trace either of gun OF
signs of activity.
Machine guns have been even more
successfully hidden. The acid test
of the camoufage. however is not In
this case concealment from ground
observation but from the air. In
this respect the work is described
by aviation people here as virtually
perfect. Camouf1age must not only
conceal the guns but must leave nc
tell-tale shadows nor any conspicuous
moss or bulk Paths made by walk
ing a half dozen times over the same
route become clearly visible from the
air; so do wilted tree branches &C
cidentally broken or used for camou-
flage.
In the case of the big altitude
finders used by each battery, which
must be swung in circles by an oper-
ator who walks around the pivot
special treatment is required. Use OF
the instruments naturally would hea,
down a circular pathway and the in
strument itself, being well of the
ground, would cast characteristic
shadow. The whole installation can.
not be covered or the instrument be-
comes useless, The answer is a pit
in which the operator walks. The
instrument swings just of the ground
Pit Itself Concealed.
Eliminating shadows observable
from aloft, small trees and branches
fastened to the long horizontal tube
swinging with it, conceal the pit and
yet do not interfere with movement
or use Of the instrument.
At one point, dummy battery
has been rigged Up to mislead the
bombardment and observation pilots
Roadways and paths, beaten down
with artful skill so as to be visible
from the air, do not lead directly
to the dummy guns" a move which
would be too obvious, but do call at
tention to the general locality. The
guns" themselves are made OF logs
and canvas so arranged as to cast
typical gun shadow and then are
camoufaged just as are regular gun
positions but in way which does
not conceal the tell-tale shadows
The illusion of an otherwise we'll
concealed piece revealed by its shadow
is described as perfect, even in aerial
photographs from low attitudes.
Drive Launched