THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES TUESDAY, MAY 28, 1918. THE CAVALRY OF THE AIR

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17326, 28 May 1918, Page 4

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES TUESDAY, MAY 28, 1918. THE CAVALRY OF THE AIR

The reports of British and Allied aerial activity during the last month or two liave been perhaps more encouraging than at any previous period in the war, and they have culminated, as our cable messages show this morning, in an optimistic and inspiring verdict. The evidence upon which is founded a very definite claim regarding the marked superiority in aerial warfare asserted by the Allies is reasonably convincing. This claim is no loose and irresponsible assumption, but emanates from authoritative sources. During the period of the latest German offensive Sir Douglas Haig's despatches in themselves furnished a chronicle of the operations of the British air service which provided a striking basis for the conclusion that our airmen have a great deal more than held their own. Their achievements have been a glorious feature in the operations of the British army. The conclusions to which figures largely quoted by Sir Douglas Haig have pointed have been drawn by others, however, than the British Commander-in-Chief. It is of interest to glance at a few of the records of aerial activity to which prominence has lately been given. The raid of March 18 upon Mannheim, ■which is about 100 miles from the French frontier, was the seventh British bombing expedition into Germany within ten days and, as was stated in the House of Commons, the thirty-eighth effective air raid into Germany since October last. The reports for March indicated a steady increase in the raids with the approach of better weather conditions, and more recently the inhabitants of the Rhine towns have had further bitter cause to regret the initiation by Germany of a policy 'of aerial warfare on open towns. The great feature of the aerial activity of the Allies of late has been, however, in the obstruction of the enemy's offensive. The daring feats of the flving-men in attacking infantry, breaking up concentrations, destroying communications, bombing aerodromes and railways, engaging and beating down hostile machines wherever encountered, preventing observation, and generally harassing the enemy at every turn, constitute an epic in themselves. The commander of a French aviation unit virtually suggests that the weakness of the enemy in the air is the chief cause of the delay in the resumption of his offensive. The same authority is credited with saying that German aviation has been smashed flat and avoids combat wherever possible."

A few days ago a British official despatch stated'that since the commencement of tho German offensive a thousand German aeroplanes had been brought down and that over a thousand tons of bombs had been dropped on the enemy's lines. It was not surprising chat an official report of the destruction on May 15 and the succeeding day of 109 German aeroplanes on the western front—Bl of them by the British—was followed by a statement by the British Mission to the United States to the effect that British aviators had established control of the air on their section of the western front. Then again the Echo de Paris quotes a British authority as affirming that their aerial superiority will soon enable the Allies to practise new tactics, even to entirely isolating portions of the enemy's attacking troops and cutting off or outflanking an army corps. This sounds very encouraging and hopeful, even though it might be unwise to subscribe to all the deductions which optimists may be disposed to draw from the conclusions which are definitely available. A state of affairs has been revealed which is very gratifying so far as it goes, and we are entitled to judge that, if their nresent advantage is vigorously followed up by the Allies the situation is rich in promise. But we must remember that aerial superiority has been a rather fluctuating factor in the past and that it has not always been easily maintained by the side which has been temporarily able to grasp it. There is, on the other hand, substantial reason to believe that the measure of superiority which the Allies have now asserted considerably surpasses any aerial advantage established by them previously. It is a consummation devoutly to be desired that in the sequel they will demonstrate their ability to enlarge their superiority and convert it into a much more formidable factor for the discomfiture of the enemy than it is at present. The recent enemy air raids on London and Paris remind us that, after all, there is a slight exaggeration in tho suggestion that German aviation has been "smashed fiat." Summed up, the position seems to amount to this, that the Allies have established a distinct superiority in aerial fighting which it should be within their power to exploit with results that may be of inestimable importance. A resolution which has emanated from the French Parliamentary Aviation Group has affirmed that aviation should play a decisivo role in obtaining victory, and urging the Allies to take active measures to obtain, as it is within their means to do, not a distinct but an " overwhelming " superiority in the air. The reoent developments encourage the im-

pression that the efforts which tho Allies are making to develop both tho numerical strength and tho lighting efficiency of thoir air services may yet be productive of this overwhelming superiority. If so, the hope that the uerrnans may be "blinded" by the operations of the aii-men opposed to them may not prove wholly illusory.