THE SPY DANGER BY AIR

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 69, 15 December 1919, Page 15

THE SPY DANGER BY AIR

(By Paul flcwsher, Iho Airman Foot, in the "Daily Mail.") l't it! going to l>s h very difficult matter lo pro von t espionage by aeroplane, for with tho development of aviation aeroplanes will be able to sli[) iu and cut of England unnoticed, .liven the must stringent regulations will make it diiliculi to_ prevent unauthorised inghts over prohibited areas. ill the first place, a foreign machine with no distinguishing mains can deliberately lly over harbours, arsenals and forts, and can take photographs at will, especially on a cloudy day, when it will have a good chanco of making good its cscape without any clue to its identity ever being discovered by the authorities, Machines with marking:,' and registration numbers of come third country, with a; hostile crew 011 board, may blunder over forbidden places apparently by accident, while (lie skilled observers make rapid mental notes of all they see, and. when tlioy land in obedience (0 ground signals will pretend lo be dull-witted .Scandinavians or Dutch. At night the airmen of an unfriendly Power could frequently break all regulations. <iy over the place they wished to investigate l , drop powerful parachute flares, and make notes of the disposition of ships or tho construction of new fortifications. They could easily make good their escape and never be found out. There is no doubt that a nation determined to spy bv air will be able to do so in such a way that its guilt can never ]>en driven home mill any certainty. High walls end guarded entrance? no longer guarautev the security of a dockyard: nor do armed sentries and barbed wire fences protect, a, fort. A new factor has entered into the world of iri'iuisitivene"? and observation. The menace of the future in everything will always be from above rather than from below. •Tust n 1 :. during the wnr. spies in peaffa'iit, garb wem di'opped behind the enemy linrs from (lie air to gather information for several days until a preArranged night, when a friendly machine swept down and landed at fome secluded spot lo bear lliom home main, so now will inimical Powers be able to release in a feutle rain over midnight Ivngland their most damrcrous secret service men. These men will send tl'.eir information home by commercial machines of their own nationality whoso nnvigators and pilots are uikW the instruction l : of their Government. Tho a cents will themselves bo fetched home, when their work is completed, bv ; :nme swift machine sailing down through t.h« starlit darkness to •> field, in the stillness of the night. This a difficulty wliioli. if, -will never be possible to remove altogether. No doubt come men wilt be captured: «ome machines will fail lo male l good their eseane. Official protects will be made; courteous denials will be returned. Meantime in the sky the unending espionage •vill be carried on day and night, night and dav, for with the advent of the aeroplane much of our spcurity has denarlcd, much of our secrecy is now of no avail.