WAR IN THE AIR.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2361, 18 January 1915, Page 4

WAR IN THE AIR.

. According to a recent cablegram from Europe fierce battlcß in the air are expected when the weather is favourable. Tho prediction is in taany respects interesting. At one time, apart from their admittedly great value as scouts, which has always been recognised, aircraft wcro looked upon as having very important possibilities as instruments of attack upon ships and upon forts and other positions on land. The experience ol tho war, whiio it has triumphantly demonstrated tho utility of aircraft, has at tho same time set limits to the probable range of their activities. Aerial Beouts have proved so immensely Useful to the Armies engaged that they must be reckoned as absolutely .indispensable. An Army with an air service opposed to one Without that adjunct would enjoy an advantago- which might almost be Compared to that which a man enjoying normal vision would have over an opponent who was blind. As instruments of destruction aircraft have accomplished relatively little. The longpromised German Zeppelin raidupon Ehgland has hot yet materialised, afld While it is wiso to take nothing for granted) tho fact that more tlian fivo months of war have gone by without these so-called Dreadnoughts., of the air making their threatened descent upon* England must be accounted in some degree significant. Bombardment frbM the aiir has, of course, bedotne a, feature .of the war, but it cannot be claimed that it has become a feature of first-rate importance. German aircraft have dropped bombs iii a number of French and . Belgian tbwns, but the results, frbfn a military standpoint; secta te have been in every recorded Instance, comparatively negligible. More important damage was apparently infliotcd by British' aviators, at Dußseldorf, and in the recent raid on Ouxhaven, but it is noteworthy that in caoh case the.attack was chiefly diredtod at airship sheds, which offer ah exceptionally favourable target for airattack. Airships in thetnsfilVes ai'6 fragile and their sheds could only be inadb bomb-proof at very great cbst, but ordinary land defences are not So easily penetrated. The vulnerability of the airship shed is a factor making distinctly against Germany which possesses more Zoppelins and other bulky, lighter4hanair ships than any of the qther Powers engaged in the war. The prediction of fierce battles in the air clearly, bears a direct relation to the established value of aircraft, and t especially the aeroplane, in military scouting. ' Aeroplanes have, in fact, become .so useful in this Rapacity that the air fleet Of One belligerent could not possibly "render it a greater service than by [destroying the air fleet of its opponents. An Army deprived of its air' scouts could not possibly make good the loss since there is no other method Which can compare/with air reconnaissance for obtaining speedily accurate and comprehensive- information regarding the movements of the enemy. There is thus 'every in-, centive. to launch aircraft against aircraft in an effort to. Obtain'that command of the air which is just as important in its degree as command of the sea. Some such conflict, and upon a grand scalej is apparently considered to. bo in prospect and on available evidence the Allies should, enter it with Well-founded expectations of emerging victorious. Disasters in the air, and disastrous descents from the air, have not, it is true', been confined to German aircraft, but time after 'time instances have been reported in which French, British, or Belgian aeroplanes have engaged enemy aircraft arid destroyed or driven them off. In the latest instance, a very striking one, twb Belgian aeroplanes engaged Seven German craft in the region of Dunkirk and destroyed one and compelled the others to retreat. This incident is one of a long series in which German aviators have suffered. at the hands of their enemies, "Germany's Zeppelins, the pride of hen air fleet, nave as yet accomplished practically nothing. It would be premature to discount them as a worthless asset, but the ease with whioh two of them were repelled by the light cruiser and destroyer squadron which raided Ouxhaven at least suggests that they are not likely to'take a very effective part in naval warfare. If they accomplish anything it will probably be by a." swift raid in the hoursof darkness.. As to.daylight, operations' authorities seem to be generally agreed that the speedier aeroplane is more than a match for any Zeppelin or other (lighter-than-air craft. Germany, like tho other Powers engaged in the war, has so far relied mainly upon the aeroplane in scouting and in such raids as have been undertaken, and as has ■been said, her aeroplanes have upon the whole fared badly in conflict with those of the Allies. That being so, although extended aerial conflicts Will necessarily entail serious losses to all engaged, the Allied aviators should have good prospects of maintaining their present superiority.