SECRETS OF THE GERMAN WAR OFFICE.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 4, Issue 24, 26 March 1915, Page 1 (Supplement)

SECRETS OF THE GERMAN WAR OFFICE.

REVELATIONS ABOUT THE KAI-

SER'S AIRSHIPS,

"THE Germans," says the London Tit-Bits, "have marvellously organised their aerial army In silence. They have more aviators than we suspect, and excellent aircraft Consequently they are able to start to count on a splendid scouting service. They were over our positions at nignt and at dawn their artillery showed by its deadly work how careful and accurate had been their reconnaisSa ThTs report from a French aviator who has token part in aerial reconSsances, first in Alsace then in Belgium, and more recently'in tne battles of the Marne and the.Atone, hears out what has been known to for years past—viz., that Germany, recognizing, like other Powers that the mastery of the a r would play a very important part in modern warfare ha£ been secretly striving to build up a fleet of aeroplanes and airships which would be superior to that of any other country in the world. And there does not seem to be much doubt that she has succeeded in doing so.

900 Aeroplanes. At the beginning of thenar Germany possessed between 700 and 800 K monoplanes and 100 biplanes ihile we ha/c it on the best autho.ity that before the outbreak of hostilities Germany had no fewer than 37 airships-Zeppelins and other types—ready for action, to which m!st be added ten privately-owned airships belonging to passenger-com-panies, which had been subsidised by the Government on the condition that should war be declared they would be placed at the disposal of the authorises In addition, Germany had many other airships in course of construction For some time past the respective merits of airships and aeroplanes in actual battle have been hotly argued and manv experts have expressed the opinion that dirigible airships can be easily out-manoeuvred and destroyed in warfare by aeroplanes Germany, however, evidently does not think so, her contention being that the latest Zeppelin monsters, which are 524 feet long, able to maintain an average speed of sixty miles an hour carry a crew of twenty-four men, a bomb magazine containing "fifty' bombs, and mechanism for dropping twelve bombs from each side simultaneously, have nothing to fear from any present-day flying machine. German Spy's Startling News. The German authorities have made vast and exhaustive trials in comparing airships and aeroplanes, and the fact that they have redoubled their efforts in building the former clearly shows that they have great faith in their usefulness and effectiveness. .. Some astounding facts regarding the manner in which the Germans have secretly constructed their fleet of battle airships, and their powers and capabilities, are given by Dr. Armgaard Karl Graves, late spy of the German Government, in The becrets of the German War Office (Werner Laurie). "Germanv." he says, "without doubt has the most up-to-date aeria fleet in the world." which bears out of the French aviator already alluded to. She has, according to Dr. Graves, been spending ne at the rate of £1.000,00 a year on her aerial fleet, and had faftj huge airships ready for the war. One reason why Germany has persevered with the construction of Zeppelins and other types of airships is that they have been able by certain secret devices, to overcome three serious defects which "critics of the ?™BdWglbte.WlU»fOOltoWl»to the French aeroplane superior, have alluded to-vlz.. bulk and ; neavmws of structure, inflammability of the gas StafflStathem. and inability to .tore enough gas to stay in the air the desirable length of time without comm- T be°'have," continue- Dr. Graves, .•oven e'-c the condition of bulk and heaving of structure by their Govpmncv chemists devising the formula of a material that is lighter • bin aluminium, yet which possesses H ll of thi-t metal's density, and winch bis also the flexibility of steel. This formula is a Government secret and England or France wo Id give thousands of pounds to possess it. Amazing Zeppelins. "The objection to inflamraabilit> or the lifting power has also been overcome The poM of the ordinary hydro-en gas in all its various forms has been multiplied threefold by a row dioxygen gas discovered at the Rp-ndau Government chemical laboratory. The gas has also the enormous advantage of being absolutely non-inflammable. I have seen experiments made with it. It cannot be used for illuminating purposes. "Dirigibles enuipned with it are not liable to the awful explosions that have characterised flights under the ordinary svstnn. Another enormous advantage is that ibe gas has a liquid form To produce the gas it is only necessary io lei the ordinary atmosphere cor." into contact with the liquid. Carried in six cylinders, 2ft. long :ikl with a diameter of fiin., it is obvious that enough of tins liquid can »)« carried aboard the Me war rtjritrib'es to permit their refilling in

mid-n ; r." These discoveries have, according to nr.V.i es. riven the German type 0 c pij-n-aff "an importance mi'lrep.med of P .|,i i>-suspected by the rest, of the world." Certainiv some of Hi" voyae.es W hi,-H have been made by Germany's airshi-.s seem to bear out the statements regarding their power and capacity made by Dr. Graves. On several- occasions they have made voyages of over 1,000 miles, and at the end it is said, had enough fuel left to continue flight for many more

hours. . , , . Dr. Graves says: "Secret trial trips of a fully-equipped Zeppelin like XIS,

carrying a crew of twenty-four men, six quick-firing guns, and seven tons of explosives, have extended from Stettin over the Baltic, over SVendborg, in Sweden, recrossing the Baltic, and landing at Swinemunde with enough gas, fuel, and provisions left to keep aloft another thirty-six hours. The distance all told covered on one of these trips was 1,180 kilometres (about 750 miles). This fact speaks for itself. The return distance from Heligoland to London, or any Midland town in England, corresponds with the mileage covered on recent trips. Neither the historic wooden walls of. Nelson's day, nor the steel plates of her modern Navy, could help England or any other nation against the inroads of the monsters of the air."

What Sir Hiram Maxim Says. On the other hand, we should like to point out that experts like Sir Hiram .Maxim contend that an airship raid on London would meet with very little success. Sir Hiram says, "Personally I am not at all convinced that it is within the powers of German Zeppelins to get to London, and even if they did succeed in reaching London, I do not believe that many of them would get back to their base For one thing, a Zeppelin, in spite of all the Germans claim for it, is limited in its petrol-carrying capacity A little buffeting about over the North Sea, and these airships would run short of the spirit which supplies their motive power." As to their dropping bombs, Sir Hiram Maxim points out that they would be obliged to fly so high in order to keep out of the range o our guns that they would not be able to inflict any damage worth speaking about on us or our property. lam convinced," he says, "that a Zeppel n attack on London would be little more than an annoyance to u\ "As to being able to drop bombs into Woolwich Arsenal, or to wreck he 9 Admiralty wireless masts the idea to my mind, is very problematical. If'they tried to blow up Woolwich Arsenal, they would do well if they wrecked a porter s lodge. Do We Know Enough? It will thus be seen that, unless our exports have been greatly misled S the secrecy with which the German airships have been built and perfected the possibility of an effective raid on London or any other of our towns is rather remote. At the same time, however, the statements made by Dr Graves in his book wojld seem to point to the fact that our knowledge of German aircraft is rather limited. . . "The dirigible balloon centres in Germany," he says, "are five and they are situated at vitally strategic points There are two on the French border, one on the Russian border, one on the Atlantic coast, and a central station near Berlin. The exact places are Strassburg, Frankfort-on-the-Main. Posen, Wilhelmshafen, and Berlin. This does not include the marvellous station at Heligoland, in the North Sea, this being a strategic point in relation to Great Britain. No one but those on official business are permitted within a thousand yards of This Heligoland station is guarded in the most strict and careful manner, not only by sentries, but by electrified barbed wire, elaborate alarmbell systems, and other precautions sufficient to keep out the most enterprising agent or spy. By certain means, however, Dr. Graves was able to obtain information regarding the airships and sheds and Heligoland, and relates how, by means of elaborate reflectors, it is possible with searchlights to flood the station with daylight in the middle of the night, so" that an ascension can be made safely at any hour of the twentyfour, while the sheds which house the Zeppelins can be moved to an angle of 45 deg. by a method similar to that of a railroad engine turn-table. Thus, with the veering of the wind, the sheds can he turned so that the doors will be placed advantageously for the removal of the airships froni its place of shelter. Only the most intelligent and bravest officers, smartest mechanics and artificers are allowed to join the German Aerial Corps, which consists of ten battalions, each numbering 350 men. and everything that human ingenuity can devise concerning the dirigible has been applied to the making of a fleet of airships the deadliness, power, and capacity of which have yet, judging by Dr. Graves's book, to be revealed to us.