Penistone, Stocksbridge and Hoyland Express, etc. — 1918-05-25 (Penistone, South Yorkshire, England)

AIR..  _ Those who believe that Victory in this war can be expedited, if not cornmanded, by supremacy in the air, must derive great satisfaction and encour- ' agement from the present turn which has been given to the operations in that element- Once or twice in the course of the war the Allies have secured a perceptible but transitory superiority in the air, and have found it immensely, useful. The Germans, during the brief but devastating triumph of the Fokker machine, were in a position similarly advantageous. The German air service, too, has produced a good many brilliant individualists, or "aces;" and have been able to give' us a ilichtofen for our Ball, and a Boelcke for our McCudden. The, Germa.ns have turned out, at one time or another, a good many "circus proprietors," but on the whole the French and 'the British • ,have certainly %produced a higher standard of airmen, taking the Allied and enemy services generally. To the, aid of the British and French, already measuring a clear superiority in aerial strength over the Germans, now come the Americans, • with inventive minds I and natural zeal for inechanical warfare.  Duri4 the past three weeks the ex:ent to which the Allies, are winning-in' he air has been more patent and noticeable than during any previous period of the, war. The bombing of troops, the havoc among establishments, the raids upon German or German-occupied towns, above all, the heavy toll taken Of the enemy air service,—these things are all rapidly leading up to the desired result, the blinding of, the German Army, and the disorganisation of Germany's military forces on the Western Front. .In one month a thousand German aeroplanes have been accounted for, and in the same process the Germans have 'been plastered with bombs. Very significant tribute to the effectiveness of the harrying which our airmen are giving the enemy is paid by German prisoners, who say that from the fire trenches to the back areas, there is no peace or rest for the harassed German troops. They are continually seeking shelter from the übiquitous Allied' airmen, whether they are in the front line or in rest-billets. That is only a part, ' though a highly important part, of what the air services are doing to/ bring us victory., The long-distance bombing' raids, aimed at military establishments chiefly., but also at the civilians nestling behind the Rhine, are having  a cumulative effect' that the Germans will find it impossible' to ignore. Di the Rhineland, at any rate, the Germans. who gloated over the, murderous midnight forays of their- Zeppelins, now understand what the bombard' ‘ment of open towns means. We need not be mealy-mouthed over this 'business of bombing German towns. TheY are being bombed, not because that is the shortest way to. win the war, or because our people are, filled witli blood-Just and the spirit of revenge; or even' because_ we hope to shake the  German morale so severely as to lin' pair our enemy's military efficiency. They are being bombed because hope by that means to Wing home Germany a full *sense of the horror, not only of this form of warfare, but of war generally, and so to prepare her for the iri.evitable day when, sick and despairing, she must renounce her bloody-mindedness and consent to become, law-abiding and pacific. The theory that air raids stiffen the morale of our own people, and destroy that 01 the Germans, is absurd. The Germall3 have something like the British' texture of courage and stubbornness, and we do not hope to intimidate them by air raids, but rather to enlighten them oil the general subject of the unpleasantly dangerous- character of two-edged weapons.