AGGRESSION IN THE AIR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16903, 16 July 1918, Page 6

AGGRESSION IN THE AIR.

WORK ON ALL FRONTS.

OVER 100 ENEMY DOWN. [by. TELEGRAPH.—PRESS ASSOCIATION,] WELLINGTON. Monday. Details of the work of British airmen are given in the weekly review of the war situation received by the Governor-Gene-ral from the Secretary of State for the Colonies, for the period ending July 13 " British airmen continue steady, aggressive work on all fronts, diversified by successful local air fights, and by longdistance raids, both in Germany and the East," the message states. "On the western front, despite rain, mist, and clouds, British airmen have kept a close watch on enemy movements, have bombed his dumps and hutments, have j attacked infantry and transport with | machine-guns, and have helped the artil- j lery to destroy enemy batteries, besides taking thousands of photographs of his positions. The aerial fighting thus en-, tailed has resulted in heavy enemy losses, : Enemy machines, to the number of 52,! were brought down, and 37 winged, mak- i ing a total of 89, while only 17 British ; machines are reported missing. Whoa ] the Australian infantry took Hamel on! July 4 British airmen co-operated bril-1 liantly. The attack was preceded by an I air assault. British aviators flew close I 1 over the roofs of the ruined cottages,! dropped several hundred bombs, and fired nearly 50,000 rounds of machine-gun ammunition on the defences. " The Independent Royal Air Force con. tinuca ita bombing raids into Germany, aiming at important junctions and munitions centres west of the Rhine. British formations attacked Metz-Sablon, Saarbrucken, Coblenz, and Karthause, while single raids were carried out on B&ulay, Mannheim, Thionville, Falkenberg, Kaiserslautern, and Luxemburg. All' our machines returned safely despite desperate air resistance at Metz and Saarbruckon, which resulted in one enemy machine being destroyed and two others helplessly winged. The navy and air forces again co-operated in attacks on German naval works on the Belgian coast with excellent results. Bombs were seen to burst on vital point/, in the harbour entrance, powder factory, warehouses, and quay at Oatend, round the lock gates at Zeebrugge, and on shipping at Bruges. A British formation attacked 16, hostile machines, three of the enemy being winged and three brought down in flames, with no British damage. British machines have taken thousands of photographs in Italy, and have brought down six enemy aircraft. Similar sucoess was achieved on the Balkan and Palestine fronts, and half a ton of bombs was dropped effectively on Constantinople on July 7."