AVIATION AND THE WAR

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17592, 24 September 1917, Page 7

AVIATION AND THE WAR

TO THU EDITOR. Sir, —I have been worrying myself as to how to make people take more interest in aeroplams in connection With the war, for they are pathetically and deplorably- indifferent still. As far as I remember, aeroplanes have not been mentioned in Parliament, not even a question asked about them : their senses seem numbed. Perhaps if I gave a description of what theso machines could do to Christchurch it might compel people to wake up. Suppose a dozen of the latest bomb-dropping aeroplanes wero to fly along above Colombo Street some fine "midday, bent on destruction. After they had passed we should see largo numbers of buildings on each side of the street more or less destroyed, some wrecked from the top to the bottom, the occupants, many of them, killed or injured, the roadway strewn with broken .tramcars, motor-cars and vehicles of all descriptions, and lying all over the footpaths and roadway hundreds of men, women and children dead or dying, some of them -torn to pieces. There would be no time to escape, it would he too sudden, being all over in about one minute.

Now, i ask, must- people really see these dreadful things beforo they can realise them ? If the machines could do tlieir hellish work unopposed for twenty-four hours, they could lay waste the whole of Christchurch and suburbs, every building of a decent size would be wrecked. Tho toll of the dead and djing would be appalling. The only people to escape would bo those who managed to flee to the country. .There is no exaggeration in this description. Wo see what twelve machines could do. New let us imagine twelvo thousand machines scouring the. Canterbury plains, and we can easily understand that nothing could live on the surface. Well, this is what is going to take place behind the German lines next summer. There will be tens of thousands of war* planes employed by the Allies, and thousands of. machines knocked out. For this reason thousands of machines will be required to repair the wastages, and that is why I say that New Zealand should do her bit ana should hare done so from the start. It would have been wiser this year to have sent aeroplanes instoad of men, although men must be sent if required. I was delighted with the meeting of the Overseas Club, but although I would uot stress the point, I think it would be better and there would be more esprit or enthusiasm if we made tho machines ourselves instead of getting them from other countries. In connection with this matter it is. to bo assumed that our Government were guide’d by the Homo Government, but I say tho. Home Government was not in a tit frame of mind to give advice. They were too much absorbed in the gigantic task of making guns and- ammunition and everything else required for -a huge army; in'fact, they seem to have looked upon aeroplanes as a bit of a nuisance, interfering with what they regarded as more important work. It only required common horse sense on our part. We should have determined on making machines, and by this time frcni Home we should have had a fervent and heartfelt " Thank God for ,what New Zealand has done.” It is not. too late now.—l am, etc., T.F.