LONDON'S AIR PERIL.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 17747, 26 April 1923, Page 11

LONDON'S AIR PERIL.

• POSSIBILITIES IN WAR. LONDON, April 8. "I am sure the public does not realise the full menace of the air forces of an enemy compared with his land and sea -forces/' writes Lord Montagu of Bfeaulieu in the "Observer." Instancing London's wide danger radius, he points out that raids by fully-loaded aeroplanes were possible from Germany. If airships were used in the 'attack they could come from Russia. » "Meteorological conditions in the North Sea were most favourable during several months of the year owing to low visibility, while the likelihood of a surprise attack was increased owing to the attackers not passing land after leaving Denmark. "The dangers were better realised in France, which is the true reason for the French increasing the number and efficiency of their air force. '"Air warfare will increase in dreadfulness owing to the use of highly-com-pressed gas contained iii bombs, which, if exploded m London at night, would fill the streets, leaking into every crevice. The gas would asphyxiate the people in their beds before the morning wind or any other agency drove it away. "Worse still is the possibility of the use of millions of germs for poisoning water and for spreading castase and death. Referring to the failure of the Hague Convention in ISI4, Lord Montagu ridicules the suggestion that such bombs would be forbidden under the League of Nations air convention. It was not likely that Russia and Geimany would bind themselves to any limitation in the means of making war which would provide the most effective method of reaching or compelling a distant antagonist to fight a losing battle or surrender.