THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1915. AVIATION IN WAR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16026, 18 September 1915, Page 6

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1915. AVIATION IN WAR.

The announcement that the French Government has decided to create a Ministry of Aviation will surprise nobody, though it is not yet twelve years since the American Wrights first left the ground on a motordriven aeroplane. Unless it is considered by o'her governments that their flying corps can be best organised as branches of the military and naval establishments, the action of France will soon be followed by every other great Power, for in spite of the few years in which flying has been possible to mankind the great discovery has already led to the formation of a distinct service in offensive and defensive warfare. There is reason to suspect the efficiency of the Allied aerial outlook at Mons itself, where an unsuspected German strength was suddenly developed, but in the retreat from Mons the British flying corps did yeoman service, and gained a prestige which it has never lost. As the war progresses and the months pass by, nothing is more noticeable than the constantly-growing importance of aviation in every field, while aerial " raids " are gradually assuming proportions which suggest a future magnitude corresponding to the vast interests at stake- German Zeppelins and aeroplanes fly frequently over the North Sea, while German bases are constantly being attacked by Allied airmen. That German methods of aerial bomb-dropping are characteristic of German " Kultur " does not affect the fact that the air is being freely used for transit, and that flying has become a recognised power of machine-making men.

Whether the " lighter-than-air " machine has any prospect of permanence may still be regarded as doubtful, in spite of the German affection for the Zeppelin and of Allied experiments with the Parsifal and other gas-raised structures. Hitherto the Zeppelin does not seem to have nearly justified expectationsIt has apparently been driven from I its bases in Belgium, and compelled to make its lair in Germany and Heligoland, in spite of the longer passage across the North Sea thus entailed upon raids towards England. Although its structure is presumably known to the Allied governments, and there is every reason why both France and England should be protected, no effort is apparently being made to build similar airships against it. Commercially, the Zeppelin may or may not be a -success, but this can only be decided after it has proved itself under peace conditions, and without the huge subsidies which the German Government has paid to the nominally commercial but really military Zeppelin company. No such doubt attaches to the " heavier-than-air " machine or true " flier," which is as firmly established" as the motor-car, and will certainly acquire with the return of peace a commercial, industrial, and social value which cannot be realised in time of war. The Allied Governments have taken over, either directly or indirectly, every aeroplane-making plant within their | jurisdictions, and are absorbing, as far as they can secure it, the output of America and Japan. The French have practically put an end to Zeppelin raids upon Paris, and we may at any time witness the termination of Zeppelin raids upon England. This is primarily due to the fighting power of the aeroplane, but also to the vulnerability of the huge and cumbersome German invention. When a sufficient number of Allied aeroplanes are at the disposal of our governments the control of the air should gradually pass to Allied airmen, who have completely demonstrated- their superiority over the German corps. For reasons easy to perceive, the German does not make a great aviator, and is not feared by his antagonists. Sir John French recently reported that within seven days the issue of twenty-one " air fights" over the German lines was the bringing down of eleven enemy aeroplanes ; no British losses are reported.

This unquestionable superiority of Allied aviators is manifestly due to the strong individuality of the French and British national characters and to the arduously-cultivated tendency of the German to accept and follow mechanical system. The organisation power of the Germans is unique, for it has not to overcome any ingrained predilection for individual action, but in the air " system" counts for very little, while individuality counts for a very great deal- The astounding attention to detail of German national methods, beside which the methods of other countries often appear chaotic, have the effect of compressing every mind into a common mould and of petrifying initiative and resource. There is nothing original in the use of -poisonous gases, in the poisoning of wells, in methods of piracy, and in contempt for international agreement, nor is there anything indicating individuality of outlook in the unanimity

with which every German, drilled physically and mentally in the Prussian way, appears unable to perceive anything wrong in any villainy wrought by his government. Fortunately for civilisation, in the heights of the air the man born free and bred free finds within himself a power of initiative and adaptation which no other can attain. His brain, never dulled by an inhuman subordination, responds to the call upon it, and he is enabled to extract the utmost possibilities from his machine and his weapon. Germany must have unconsciously realised her weakness in individual initiative when she adopted her massed formations, and pinned her faith to Zeppelins. She may assert that she has been driven from the ; surface of the sea by the material superiority of the British Navy, but she is being gradually driven from I the air, not by material superiority nor by lack of opportunity, for she makes and uses aeroplanes to a very remarkable extent, but by the personal superiority of the Allied airmen.