SECURITY FROM ZEPPELINS

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 8, Issue 85, 8 April 1916, Page 3

SECURITY FROM ZEPPELINS

The French have means a means of successfully combatting Germany's air navy, and a sense of security pervades the city. Aerial attacks are not feared, and Zeppelins are thought of with mingled indifference and contempt. For a year the capital has been comparatively free from anxiety. It ha s had but one Zeppelin visit, a so-called attack, which was only an incident, and netted the. enemy nothing. Complete details of the Paris system of defence,are not known publicly. Most information of this character has naturally been withheld by the censors. The general idea of the plan, however, is partially understood, as are some of the ingenious instruments used for detecting the approach of hostile airships and ascertaining their ranges. Prior to the opening of hostilities aerial defence was nonexistent. Almost all progress in this direction has been recent, and therefore constitutes not only an important but a very new phase of the latest methods of warfare.

Organisation- forms the basis of the

defence system of Paris. Observation and artillery posts are arranged in long chains, which extend throughout the city, and radiate from it in all directions towards every part of the distant firing line. Each point is in telephonic communication with a central bureau situated in the city. The instant an enemy flying machine is sighted by any cne of the numerous lookouts, it is known at headquarters. Immediately an alarm is sent out to the posts in various zones. At scattered points squadron's of swift aeroplanes are in readiness to spring into the air and give chase to an invader, while at all the stations covering the country b°:ween the city and the bnttit- front aerial guns are trainee a::d range finders prepared to cope with the enemy. During the first few months of the war Paris was repeatedly besieged by the German aeroplanes. The crd-t made their appearance continually, much to the anxiety of citizens and military authorities alike. A former head of the aeroplane department \va« recalled to the capital to devise a system of protection, and the present Scheme is the result. Since its inauguration, the city has felt no danger although numerous airmen have endeavoured to reach it on many occa sions. The vigil is maintained day and night constantly at the outposts. Efficient organisation, the utilisation of clever subterfuges, trained corps of aerial fighters, special instruments and good marksmanship, in the main, constitute the aeronautical defences of France.