EYES OF THE ARMY.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 6, 7 January 1916, Page 7

EYES OF THE ARMY.

WONDERFUL WORK OF FLYIMG OOBPB.

THRn-UKG ABBIAL FIGHT?.

Conditions, qf thie war would he utterly altered jf aerial reconnaissance "were made imppsß.ible*, Mr Philip Gibbs.' Thp knowledge ' have of our enemy'g ißovemepts, and their knowledge of piirej be Tpe.tricted to an degree, and something like profound ignoT-. ance would reigif ,on each side of 4he trencljes'. Our aviators are the eyes of the Army, and it is mainly due to their audacious vigilance that we are able to obtain quick information of the enemy's movements of troops from one part of the line to another, of gun positions, qf trench geography, and of pur artillery results. Unfortunately, the enemy the same service, carried out with , nqt lees valour, so that here, as in most aepecte of this war, neither side can claim a supreme advantage.

Th|s at least can b.e fajrly eajd.. That unless we had hud a number of eflicieijt at the outbreak of were able to raise and train a large body of young enj/iiueiaste with extraof(linary rapUUty during" the war, the work' of our armies in the field would have been sadly'handicapped, and oui gumiere especially would have been like blind men fumbling in the dark compared with tije present accuracy of their range-finding. Of the courage of these men of the Eoyal Flying Corpe it is impossible to write too much praiee. Scores of times I have seen them in flight above the German lines, with shrapnel bursting all round their planes, so that they seem to be sailing to certain death. They escape, by their own ot by just the fluke of luck, time after time, but it is not work which looks more dangerous than it ie— a spectacular exhibition with little risk.

The danger is constant and real, and these men know that every time they get into their saddles for a reconnaissance within range of the enemy's guns they are playing a game of hide-and-seek with death. GERMAN LOSSES. Take the German loss.cc over the period of a few months, and the risks of the air service in war are apparent. The oflici.il returns for the air squadrons { alone were in June of this year S3 killed, wounded and missing, in July 43, in August 89, in September 79. I do not know our own figures—l believp they are as nothing compared with the enemy's losses. But the skill of pur men in manoeuvring and the cool courage with which they engaged in aerial duels do not eliminate the hazards of their adventures. The number of hairbreadth escapes, even in one month's work, would make a long and thrilling record.

. A typical episido happened on November A. A flight captain and a second lieutenant were engaged in artillery observation when wey were attacked by a huge hostile pusher machine-—that is, a machine with its engine and propeller behind t>he -wings—closely followed by three tractors— riax machines with forward engines and propellers. Our officers immediately opened fire upon them, using,,one ,dr.utu,,iftontaining the cartridges of the Lewie gun. The pusher was hit, and flew off at °nee, followed by two others. The remaining one engaged our aeroplane, chased it in full .flight, and then when it was manoeuvring for position dived underneath its wings and fired as it passed. The flight captain woe wounded in the right arm, and the petrol tank.. >yas, pierced.

Two other flight officers of ours on patrol duty saw the machine mentioned above closely pursued by a German monoplane, and they made a steep <li?e towards it like a swooping hawk. The Germans saw their danger, and making a ewift turn flew straight 'beneath the wings of the British aeroplane, passing at about thirty yards below. Half a drum was red at they turned again and spiralled three . times round out men, while both machines were dropping /rapidly. Suddenly the Germans decided to make off, and new away at' a, great pace, but they were followed at about eighty yards distance by pur machine, which fired the remaining cartridges in the drum. Some 'of these sbote were aimed true. The German monoplane turned right-handed and banked steeply, then " toppled upside down, and plunged to earth just inside our lines. The pilot and observer were both killed. A CLOSE! SHAVE. On the same day, in » different neighbourhood, two of our flight lieutenants had a very close shave, and' in spite of the great spaciousness of the sky, found themselves in a tight corner. They were making a reconnaissance as a matter of ordinary duty, when a "|i3erman Albjitrpss came out of the clouds and passed them at a Tange of 200 yards. ' Tiiey were on the qiii'vive for an attack from this particular bird, -when suddenly tljey heard firing behind them. They turned sharply to the right and discovered another''Albatross. , At the same' time, as if two were not enough, a hostile aeroplane bore down swiftly with a, coilt tinual rattle of bullets from its.machine gun. The two flight lieutenants got their Levrje' to work and drove off the monoplane, but the Albatroes manoeuvred round and round in a most sinister fashion, and for nearly twenty minutes fired continually at' pur machine. FpTr their shooting yas.not ep ag the skill of the British officere in manoeuvring put' of the range, and after this, long duel the hostile aeroplanes swopped away, leaving the British machine alppe and untouched.

... Two sergeants in one of pur flying squadrons had a perilous time when they were dropping hanjl grenades and " flecliettes (steel arrows) over a town occupied by the enemy. A German monoplane gdve chase,, and one of our men. was hit in the hand and) had his face grazed. When Teaching out for his rifle he was wounded in the other hand. The pilot made.a steep dive towards our lines, closely followed by the',.enemy, and at this critical moment he was hit by a bullet in the leg, and another shot put the engine out of action. For a, moment or two the situation may .have seemed hopeless, and death certain, but with steady nerves the pilot succeeded in landing -within pur linee, and a. British biplane appeared in sight and drove off the enemy.' ' •

SKJI4L AND DARING. , Out 01 all the experiencea of these air combats, cpjitimiftl proofs pf the stability and apparent safety of the. new types of aeroplanes emerge in a most striking way. ' Often, ■yvhe'n I watch-pur. military machines setting off from their, grounds with the regularity ani assurance of motor cars from a garage, my thoughts go back to the days—-only a few years ago—when the first feeble tentative flights- were made, and' when I saw so many brave pioners of flight dashed to .Witty by.* luddgn eligbt gu»t. '.;."•";

Even now , they look such gofsoiner thingp np here above the battlefields of Flandere'■ when the wind ie*meaning and beneath the smoke of -artillery bombardments. Yet they make audacious swoops and dives and turns with bird-like grace and ease, and men 3,000 ft from earth or more clamber upon those thin struts and ; canvas planes,'in moments of peril, as I though this insubstantial structure "were 'a racing yacht and fhe air as buoyant as jihe waves. '"■ ' : ,' ''• 'T'-.".',v /"■.'• ■'' ■"■ * ■

When, for instance, a corporal in one pf our air squadrons was followed by twp I hostile aeroplanes he shifted his gun from its position' in the'front ia the Tear mounting, from which he could fire at hie pursuers.' This was done in7fnil flight, and whin the enemy's, machines, made a downward swoop upon our own aeroplane from the'prodigious height of li.pepft, firing through our men's prepeUers; The handy alteration of the guni position secured! a quick result. After firing naif a drum of 'pullets," jthe corporal saw; the leading machine tajl-glide for a fraction of a second and then plunge to earth in a vertical npserdive. -iphe, pjlot , watched the machine go down in $his waj, for several thousand feet, anii then it fell among s.p,me treee, and a, cloud , of/dust watj evidence of its fate. The other machine gave up the fight and disappeared. " One pf the mogt remarkable and gallant Samples p|" changing' ihe' and balance in a m&'cljine' happened "on October 36. Two of pirr flight officers taking photographs over the enemy's ground were attacked by a Fpkker at a height'of 7,000 feet. While getting hfs gun ready the observing officer was hit in the left han4 sfjl t;h.at he co{j.ld not use the weapon. The pilot kept manpeuvring to avoid thp fjre from enemy's aircraft, but was hit in the arm and shoulder, and lost consciousness. Gjreater danger can hardly ,\£ imagined. High up,' and without "a guiding hand, the machine rocked and swayed, about ig ft giddy spiral, which/wae the first Bigzuj to the observing officer that his companion was out of action. . • , . .'

Seeing the' pilot limp and efraselesa, the other officer climbed; oyer between the two back struts, and .caught hold of th|e control lever. He moved this about, but nothing happened. /He tijen?tried to close the throttle.. This did no good, tlie wire haying apparently been broken. Finally he turned off the petrol, and, getting the machine under control, managed to land. it. behind' the Frenph. reserve treiic^a - . It was a rough landing, the niacliinc was flung over, so that the woμnded pilot w«a thrown put. He lay there in a pool of blood until assistance was brought, by the pb'serving. officer (who ' climbed out safely) from the Frenoh Bed Cross. They were ptill unr der fire, however, and another observiiis offiper who happened to/be with his ma chine in the neighbourhood, managed to reach the machine and rescued the Lewis gun and instrument board. NO MERCY, Although there 'is no mercy on either side during those acrid combats, the battle of the air is by some of those little touches of chivalry and gallant humour which belonged to old-fash-ipned warfare. Most of the German flight officers are young men of good social standing, ell the observers haying the rank of officer also. There is a great aeronautical echppl at Berlin through which many of them paw before qualifying for active service. The training photfj graphy, wireless telegraphy, and'a special of shooting in the air on hostile aircraft AU observers have, pass a sUndard test -before acS reconnaissance. ' "" ™