ANTI-ZEPPELIN DEFENCES

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3034, 22 March 1917, Page 5

ANTI-ZEPPELIN DEFENCES

A. dispatch from • Viscount French, Commander-in-Chief of Home Forces, Tinder, date December 81, 1916, was issued as a supplement to the "London Gazette" recently- Tho Field-Marshal deals witli tho situation in regard to Homo Defence generally, to the robelrion in Ireland, and to the raids by hostile aircraft, defensive measures against which, he says, havo been successful. At the time of his assumption of command the question of the antiaircraft defences of the country was nndor consideration. "On February 19 it was decidcd that tlio London dcfences should he handed ovor to me, and on February 26 it was further decided that I should be responsible for the whole of the anti-aircraft land defenoea of tho United Kingdom. Previons to this I had. given considerable attention to tho snbject of anti-aircraft defence, and I submitted a scheme for consideration, which was approved and lias been carried out. \ "During tho winter thero was Jivtlo hostile activity in this direction, but sinco 1 assumed charge of these defences enemy airships and aeroplanes have invaded the country whenever conditions have admitted. The 11 u ill - hers of airships taking part in a raid have varied considerably. On April 3 only one was engaged, whilst in tho raid of September 2-3 not loss than 12 ships aro believed to have taken part. I In all, nineteen raidß have been mado by German airships, and seventeen attacks have been made by aeroplanes. Tho damage done has been corapara- ! tively small, and nothing of auy military importance has been effected. Taken bs a whole, tho defensive measures have been successful. In very few cases have the enomy reached their objective. They have been turned, driven off, seriously damaged by pinfire, and attacked with great success bv aeroplanes. Seven havo been brought down, oither as the result of gunfire or aeroplane attack, or of both comtinei 11 . i,