LORD SYDENHAM'S VIEWS

Levin Daily Chronicle, 11 October 1917, Page 1

LORD SYDENHAM'S VIEWS

Writing last month from Sun Francisco, a correspondent of a New Zealand paper says that interest continues to increase throughout the United States regarding the immense aircraft programme which America is launching in an effort to contribute the deciding factor in the European war on the side of the Allies. Lord Sydenham, the eminent English authority on aviation, lias just expressed his views on the subject to Washington, and in the course of his remarks said: —If the Allies were possessed of an absolute sufficiency of aircraft, the enemy could be expelled from France and Belgium quickly and with certainty. It would be practicable, as Howard Coffin pointed out, to blind and storm their strongest positions with minimum loss. Put a scientific sustained attack on their lines of communication, and it would compel a retreat which might be converted into a rout. Air power had given indication of what it was capable of before the battle of the Marne. Even since, its importance has grown by leaps and bounds, and it is known that there are no limitations, except those arising from a shortage of machines and trained men to use j them, or impossible weather conditions. On land it has been the de- 1 termining cause of victory and lifesaving. If its use at sea had been I well-developed earlier, little would have'been heard of Zeppelins. It has actually formed a worthy antagonist to the submarine, and an adequate number of machines employed to the best advantage could largely reduce the number of victims of German piracy. Air power has, therefore, proved capable of exercising a dominant influence in the war, but this was realised too late to permit of the provision of the huge number of aircraft required to produce a decisive effect. One lesson has been learned in America, and will now be applied without stint. "While numbers are essential, the human factor alone can command success. The Germans have produced a limited number of experl lighters, but their airmen as a whole have fallen far short of the Allies in qualities of individual initiative and almost reckless daring which characterises the Anglo-Ger-niau race." Our psychology is better suited to the service of the air than that of the Teuton. American pilots have greatly distinguished themselves already, and the service which is now being built up will be peculiarly formidable. "For the rapid construction of machines, America possesses unrivalled resources and organising power. With wise discretion it may be possible to place a large number of soldiers in the field within a few months, and rapidly to reinforce them. Until such a time as an American Army corps can be thrown into the battle 1 line, no form of help to the Allied armies in France and Flanders would be comparable to that which one thousand aeroplanes would af - j ford, and no other arm would be nearlv so effective." j