AIR OFFENSIVES.

Hokitika Guardian, 18 August 1917, Page 4

AIR OFFENSIVES.

(By a British Airman.)

During the great offensive on the Somme, aeroplanes were, of course, carrying on an offensive too. One ol their cheerful duties was to go and sit over the tops of Hun aerodromes at about 2,000 ft or so, and shoot down any machine that tried to rise, while every kind of gun available was blazing away at them.

Now 2,000 It is an uncomfortable height at which to fly; it is much too low Almost all classes of war aeroplanes spend their time from 8,000 ft to 20,000 ft up, and at 2,000 ft a pilot feels as if he were going to knock all the trees out of the ground- there is not much elbowroom.

It was useful work, however, for it blinded the Hun commanders; indeed, at times, not a Hun machine was to be seen in the air. But it was expensive work too —we lost a lot of good pilots. One scheme the Huns evolved was to get up a bit earlier and get out of sight, and then dive on our machines as they circled above their aerodromes. This meant stiff and sharp fighting. 1 Modem machines travel anything front one to two miles a minute level, and much faster when diving. They are practically invisible at about two miles distance. Conse queutly there is little time to act once an assailant is upon y r ou. In one,such offensive action, a typical case of many’ which were going on all round at the time, a pilot found himself attacked by three at once.. One was diving on him in front, to the left ; one was diving on his tail; and one was coming up from the aerodrome below. They’were all firing at him. He was flying a fast but clumsy machine. He dived straight at the machine below him and fired into the pilot’s back. Then he pulled the machine up and “zoomed” straight up at the one on his front and blazed at that. Sweeping straight on up and over in a sideways loop,.he brought a side-gun to bear on the one behind, and again fired into the pilot’s back. •# . * # * *

Another form of offensive, .most vigorously carried on, was continual bojnb raids. 100 miles and more over the lines. That is where good piloting conies in. It is not an easy thing to lead a squadron over unknown ground. greatly altered by the developments of war, for two hours or more, and get them to a pre-arranged spot—say, an ammunition dump (which, of course, will be carefully’ concealed) —and then bring them hack again without losing the way’.

Some pilots have almost an instinct for this sort- of-thing. One, man led his squadron for two hours ; over clouds which blotted* out all landmarks. There were the usual troubles with side winds, which van: in strength and direction at 'different heights. None the less ‘ when they saw him descend through the clouds they knew their objective was at hand—and there it was, about five miles away, three flight. Pilots follow such men anywhere.

To make more sure of getting: direct hits it was a common practice with some squadrons to descend to 500 ft over the place to be .bombed. If a bomb hits a dump from that height the machine that threw it gets tossed about like a feather in a cyclone. One pilot just missed ashed that it was not really in the orders to bomb. News came to hand afterwards that it had been packed full of high explosive ! “ I am sorry I missed it,” he said. “It would have been, one ot the -biggest things of the war —but I expect I should have witnessedvit from Heaven! ”