NOTES ON THE WAR.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17283, 26 September 1916, Page 6

NOTES ON THE WAR.

The bringing down of two Zeppelins in the latest raid on the English eastern counties is pretty clear evidence that the defence against aircraft is rapidly reaching a high degree of efficiency. It is quite wrong, orcotirße, to judgo the efficiency of the defensive service merely by the enemy shipa brought to earth, because timo and again raids have been repulsed before tho visitors could do any damage of consequence, and the true test is whether tho raiders are permitted to reach their objectives. Fairly regularly • tho .Zeppelins appear in the period between the last quarter and the first quarter of tho moon, and although strong Hoots aro employed they havo so far failed to strike any buildings of military importance. According to tho German justification of such raids the attackers aim always at objectives of military value and the terrorisation of tho civilian population is no part of the 'programme. On this basis they ought to be getting very tired of the attacks, because the watchful defence invariably drives them off beforo they can do tho damage thoy set out. to do. The bringing dowu of Zeppelins has hitherto been only a secondary purpose with the anti-aircraft services, and the recent successes show that the defence has become really aggressive.

One of the dirigibles brought down is said to be of tho latest type, which may be the super-Zeppelin described recently by a Swiss correspondent. This craft is credited with a length of 750 feet and a capacity of nearly two million cubic feet. Tho 1915 type, according to M. Georges Prade, has a length of 524 "feet and a capacity of 1,060,000 cubic feet. Its engines develop nearly 1000 h.p., and tho five propellers drive it at a speed of over 60 miles an hour. It carries a ton and a half of explosive bombs on a short trip and a ton on a longer voyage. The new craft is known to be an improvement on the 1915 type, mainly in lifting power. Tho attempt to protect, dirigibles against, shrapnel and small gun fire-has added considerably to the weight, and the effect of any such addition is to reduce tho bomb-carrying capacity, the fuel capacity and tho range of action. Consequently it is necessary to increase the lifting power, oven at a sacrifice of speed, and the newer Zeppelins aro all large. The increase in size, however, diminishes the facility of manoeuvre and gives tho defence a larger target, so that the problems to which Count Zeppelin and his engineers have been giving their attention are not simple.

Both tho victims in the latest contest between enemy craft and British defence seem to havo been brought down by gun fire.' The range and precision of anti-aircraft guns has boon rapidly improved, and with the groat penetrating power of the new searchlighta tho defence is tolerably well equipped. Two at a time is tho best result the Allies havo yet attained, but single dirigiblos have been brought down by tho land guns before this. One was crippled by Mr F. F. -Morgan, of the Anti-Aircraft Corps, and subsequently destroyed off Ostend. LZ 15 was discovered and hit thiee times before she reached tho British coast and ultimately fell into tho water at tho mouth of the Thames. LZ 77, brought down from a height of 6000 feot at Rcvigny, in France, was hit by a shell from a gun mounted on a motor truck. The Salonika victim was caught by a. shell from one of the British warships in the harbour. The Zeppelin that was destroyed off tho coast of Norway, again, bad been damaged by a shell. When tho field of fire is safe incendiary shells can be used with effect, but this missile is out of tho question in closely built areas.

The communiquos report an increase in the activity of tho German airmen in France, but their activity is only comparative. Sir Douglas Haig lately spoke of British machines making between two and throe thousand flights over the enemy's lines in a week, whereas only fourteen German machines had crossed the British lines. In these circumstances it is not surprising that a number of British machines should como to grief. In the early stages of the offensive the Germans were absolutely beaten back by the British airmen, and it was impossible for the enemy to observe what was in train behind the British trenches. The enemy relied then on "sausages" or captive balloons, rising to a groat height. One day, however, when twenty of these balloons were in the air a squadron of aeroplanes flow out from the British lines, dropped incendiary bombs and sent all the twenty to earth in flames. This happened on a narrow length of the front, and probably it was typical of the tactics adopted everywhere.

Some of the correspondents at headquarters were permitted to read the official reports of the air operations during the last part of July. They exercise discretion, of course, in the passages they select for publication, but tho prevailing note is the impotence of the enemy's air service. Tho correspondents seem to have been attracted mainly by tho brief references to lights in the air, but the really significant fact is the rarity of the report of a German attempt to cross the British lines. One day no fewer thni> tweuty-fivo German machines did make short flights. They were all attacked. "No decisive results of the fighting woreseen," says the official document, "as the flights followed one another so quickly. The fighting was all iu our favour, however, and the enemy formations were in every case dispersed and driven off. Two of his machines were believed. to have been destroyed, but thero is no confirmation. Several were driven down. The work of cur corps machines u-as not interfered with."

The correspondents remark that the enemy machinea in the Sommo region have been outnumbered from tho start of the offensive, and although there was a rash of aeroplanes to the threatened sectors during the first half of July the Germans were still far from being able to match the strength of the British and French squadrons. They employed many fighting machines behind their own lines in the hope of beating back the reconnoitring planes of tho Allies, but although the Allies buffered losses the reconnaissance work nev.er .ceased, and tho enterprise of the aviators was beyond all praise.

The eamo conditions aro apparently still obtaining, tho losses of tho Allies being due to tho daring and persistence of tho aviators. Relatvely to tho number of machines employed tho Allies' losses arc very slight compared with those of tho enemy, and it is noteworthy that most of the Gorman losses occur in fights behind their own lines.