"ARCHIE"

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 294, 31 August 1918, Page 8

"ARCHIE"

now HE DOES HIS BIT

(By An Officer.)

The true derivation) of the ranie "Archie" for the anti-aircraft ym is net quite clear Rumour lias it that there is a connection with a veilknown song of which the refrain is "Archie, certainly not." Anyhow, the name has stuck, and even if you aro replying to another wait on the telephono you are quite justified in officially describing yourself as "Archie officer " In the old days "Archie" wrs the subject of much pleasant witticism. On- gunners had to run the gauntlet of sarcastic remarks from the infantry as they passed down the road. One strange medley of words was constantly ,sui:g whenever we wero seen. The '"song" ran like this: — "Parley vous! Parley vous! Archie gunners have a good time, Swinging the lead behind the line, Hitting ono aeroplane out of nine. Parley vous." The real humour of the song, which singers apparently did not realise, was that our averago'should be. up to 'one aeioplane out of nine" I fancy that any Archie 0.0.,'wh0 kept up that record would very quickly get the D.5.0., and other honours.

But of late "Archie" has beeu taken ir.iich more seriously. For one thing it is now realised that unless bo is having a rest ho is certainly not 'behind the line." "Archie'! is right up, and often in unpleasantly hot positions. Thero was once an old fable chalked up in a ruined village, ornamented with an arrow pointing away from the line, "To' safety and tho Archies." But that is very long ago. ''Archies," it is true, finds refugo in movement. He is mobile, and it is to hi 3 credit that after several idioots, which might give away his position, he packs up and moves somowhere else. Ornsequently the Hun does not know when to get at him. The art of choosing a number of favourable forward positions and "moving off," r.ciiber too soon or too late, is one of the cioat features of the game. When other gunners comparo their immobility unfavourably with Archie's lot. they forget that "Archie" has no cover. If ho is shelled, he is out in tho open, with no dug-outs to feel safo in.

The chief criticism against "Archie" rested,- however, on a misunderstanding as to his difficulties and his duties. Tho average speed of his target is 80 miles an hour. Many 'planes 'fly much faster. Consequently he has enormous difficulties to contend with; ho is firing at the hardest 'target imaginable. Added to this, he is a forerunner of a now science. Tho exact speed of tho tarwhich has to be reckoned, tho range or height; tho force of tho wind, tho error of the day, the fault of the gun, are all in tho,nature of guesses. "Archio" is becoming much more- technical, and ho is beginning to carry with him a mass of instruments, which are reducing, the errors.

And above all he is up against a target tho next movement of which he can never toll. If a smart pilot spots the flash, ho can change his courso before the shell has reached him and burst. "Archie" has not yet acquired (though he may do so one day) the gift of infallible prophecy.

But "Archio" is a formidable antagonist. If he does not know when tho "bird" will turn, tho "bird" is equally uncertain when the next shell will burst. Aild when a pilot is out to find battery positions he is considerably worried when "Archio" starts speaking to him. That is an important part of "Archie's" duty—to worry the Hun. The great height at which German aeroplanes now fly over our lines, rendering their power of observing or photographing far more inaccurate, is the highest tribute to "Archie's" existence.

And his duties do not find there. Eo is an "intelligence" agency. His spotters know every 'plane, enemy or friendly, which is "np." records the. same, with estimated height, objective, and direction. The R.A.F. are constantly indebted to him. More than that, ninny a field or heavy battery blesses his nvesenco when it hears his signals and knows k thereby that a 'plane is np to spot its (lashes. The batterv can ston firing, if necessary, until it hears hi-, signal and know it is "all olonr." The eyes of "Archie" for little distant Oleics in a hazv sky iaro net among the least wonderful tilings in the war.