DROPPING BOMBS

Timaru Herald, Volume CI, Issue 15445, 7 September 1914, Page 4

DROPPING BOMBS

VIEW.-? OF AX EXPERT. 1 THE DIFFICULTIES TO 1!E OVER-' COME. ; I An intrepid German aviator. in defiance o: :il! t!>o rules of war. lias been dropping bombs in Paris. At Antwerp :i ZepinMin airship was used lor the sanii. purpose. aiul French aviators have done genu work in the satin- way, bur. unlike iln" enemy. they linvo confined their attentions solely to fortified plicc.s. bridges, or field forces. The task which confronts these grenadiers of the air is no easy one. Tile difficulties. facing the aviator wor.> recently dealt with hy Major If. BanncrmanPhiilips. an English export. •■The first thing wo have in consider in connection with the use ot" a flying niachine or dirigible balloon for dropping projectiles.'.' the Major writes, "is; \Vliv w.:" should use the machine for chopping them at all. inasmuch as a will .send them with far more force am! effect. and certainly with greater accuracy of aim. THE DEMORALISING EFFECT. '•The answer is that under certain circumstances we cannot products the destructive or demoralising effect we require hy the aid <>f iriillery. because we call ncitlur see the objective ol our attack, nor calculate by map or otherwise its probable position with practical certainty": or bccau.se.. although located by our air-secuts. it is at sucli a di->-Janco from our batteries tliat a shell wiil not reach "t. or because- our aerial destroyers mus: first locate the objects of attack, am 1 ., having done so. must act fiii their own account with dropped proiectilos. They would require t-o lake such action wlicn (a") tlio objective is out of reach of the artillery: (b) the moral < (Terr of tlie attack (a stampede, of cavalry or transport- horses in their lines, for instanced can be achieved with a small expenditure of liand grenades: <c) t'ne purpose of the attack is to effect tiic liasty demolition of buildings, Vri:lg~s. or stores, by explosion or fire, l-'.it those latter are so situated, or 1 so ' well guarded, as to bo inaccessible to 1 men landing from a flying machine, and using explosives or other incendiary ukans at the ground surface; or (d) when tlio object of attack, say a column of iroops caught on tlie march along a eau.spw.iy or bridge, would get away into safety unless ilie aerial destroyer acted nt once * instead of rfi. urning or sending word io the artillery. HEAVY EXPLOSIVE BOMBS. '•These would he used against such targets as dockyards, ships, railway junctions, and termini, turntables, .and rolling stock., bridges, postal, telegraph, and wireless stations. bank.< exchanges, telephone, and staff offices, )Yar Department and Admiralty buildings, range-finding bases of forts, and other nerve-centres generally. The demolition of these would tend to disorganise traffic (military ami commercial). interrupt communication of orders and information, and tints paralyse tlio fighting forces of a nation, and bring pressure to bear on the civil authorities by cutting off supplies and starving the population. . . HAND GRENADES. ""The second purpose to which dropped bombs would be put woti'd bo the attack of troops assembled in masses preparatory to extension or advance ill sim:ll c'l'.inms for attack: reserves kent in readiness for action tinder the shelter of hiirli ground, whose position would bo d'fiictrlc to locate without overhead scouting, and against whom distant artillery fire could not therefore bo used with certainty of ofi'rct; i troops marching in columns of route alSfig defiles and ho'low roads out of sight of the enemy, but vis'b'e to the airm-n from above nncl unable to oxtend quickly to either Hank, thus forming a helpless target to overhead fire; transport and ammunition columns on the march; convoys of provisions coming u;> from the base of supply in the enemy's country to the- troops fighting at the front; liorse-lincs,' and camps of al! arms, the frequent harassment of wli-'ch by bombs at night would stampede the liorses, d'sturb tlio well-earned rest of tired soldiers, wear them out. 1 demoralise them, and destroy their j nerve. I "For these purposes hand grenades or small liombs would be sufficient, the aim need not he very precise, and a fairly large number could he carried by one tly ny. machine. 1 NC'ENDI ARY PROJECTILES. ■•These would be long, bellow, nic-tal cylinders, with solid sharp-pointed steel heads, and with a percussion fuse and a bursting charge in the head, behind '•he steel point, the remainder of the i cylinder filled with an incendiary stih-i-iance or possibly inflammable liquid, which would burn fiercc'v on being released I>\- the charge. They would be J I wi : glued. the object being to penetrate | | tjie rent" or outer covering of a build- < ; in;j. gasometer, oil tank, or magazine j luir-t the charge inside and start a conllagraiic.il. or to cover a liile ot stores or supplies with burning liquid. AERIAL PROJECTILES. "The fourth class of target would be an fiiemy's aircraft, aeroplane, or dirigible. travelling in all probability very rapidly in mid-air. and changing its altitude-and direction from time to time in order to baffle the attacker, who. to j drop his proiccile. must- rise .above the ] obi. ct aimed at. Io damage or destroy] a hostile aircraft by this means the air-! 'nai> could use an explosive bomb, con- j taining cither an incendiary materia] or I fluid, with time and percussion fuse," s <i ! as to hnr.st a:ter a given number of I seconds, or on striking the target. THE GRAPPLING IRON. i " Another class of projectile suited | !>,;■ use against cither aeroplane or j dirigible, though it can hardly be con- | -idi-red a •bemb." is the javelin or grappling-iron armed with hooks and births tor tearing and cutting the frame-work. win-, and covering material ol an aeroplane, or rioping ihe envelope; of a dirigible and releasing ihe HITTING THE TARGET. ■ \\\ inns: now eoTi-i.i.-r ilie means 01.o 1 . >ceii: ing accuracy in hitting the .'carl: aimed at and this is by no means ; simple a matter a* it would seem al •list .-.Lilit. or a< :i has 11e<(Men: iy been iepr. ; ated in sensational litonuure. Fir.-t ol a!!, we haw to iiear ill mini! that, however bold and even I reekie-s of their own lives the occupants o: an aerial machine may In- in i i h.- intercuts <>'_ their own country and .'•lieir tiivn forces, they are hai'tHy likely t.i approach tile enemy by day'itib; unobserved. and. an aeroplane is of I itttfe u«c —ii j> to ihe present—by niirht. ; it loilow.-. that it tl'iey ale to achieve th. ir object l.ei'-iiv l.cnig themselves deiwrd by arldlery lire Ironi be'ow, •h--y mu.-i keep ;1 i Mich a height as w ill : iv.. ilc.-m the b: si chance ~i' imj ■■"l'nity. in ,-p:;e i|,,. larket liu-y j t.ller. uh-'e still able to s. •- dearly what j 'hey •.henisc.lv. s are aiming at. If the . nciiiy ako have aircraft, they have to j en a look-out lor ; liese alsn. and iiaiie-li the ein.'iiiy s gnnnei-s may in.s--i'l y nut lire tor tear ot injuring their ..km miie[i, i,r ihcir mvn troops be'ow. by In- t s!-"!ls and shrapnel., the i " "idd-l'v bomb-dropp. rs cann»l reckon

on this, ami must ho prepared to ho-! 1-iinip :l i:nvtv themselves at any mo-::n-nt. a friendly cloud being their <m:> , iMis.-il)!,' cover. ; A MATTKH OF JUDGMENT. ! MYe must- realise that the bomb j '1 ropped from an aeroplane or dirigible ; ha- presumably to travel some 30QJ iVei. sav 11)00 yards, before reaching the object aimed at: that the aircrait is at. a considerable .speed, and ilia't tie- project ilo consequently does not drop'vertieaily on to the target, hut describes a curve, the .shape ui wll eh depends on the .speed of the machine at the moment the bomb leaves it : that the projectile must therefore he released forae time before the machine i>. vertically above the target, and that bomb-dropping; instead of being a simple matter, require skill and considerable practice. THE DIFFICULTY OF AIMING. '"Viewed from this standpoint. the tvpioal 'aerial destroyer ol fiction soitiii'_r out- alone, but haleftillv efficient, io wreck ships and forts, strew death broadcast among troops, and decimate the population of .a hostile township, and thou bringing the recalcitrant enemy to his 'knees by the threat of continued destruction on the same Hues, lades into the limbo of the extravagant a>)d the impossible, but very serious possibilities still remain to be reckoned with, and it- is worth our while to go into the question of sighting for the drop of a bomb and the means of release at the right moment. "The ideal method of attack would be to approach tile vicinity of the target at high speed and slow down when within ranee. then hover, immediately over it. sight the object through a telescope, drop one or any required number of projectiles through a special tube in connection with the sighting apparatus —and return to safety as ouiekly as possible. Such a. plan as this might- be l'casibV at nielli, in calm weather, with n d'rigib'e which can stop its engines and float noiselessly."