IN THE AIR.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 September 1918, Page 5

IN THE AIR.

BITTER COMBATS. ( % 100 ENEMY MACHINES DOWN IN 48 HOUR'S. ' % '; 'q Wellington, Last Night. * ' sst The weekly official review issued bj'>*M the Ministry of Information states: M After five days' almost perpetual stonjj T *| and rain the week's war culminated ifVV3 n remarkable burst of fighting on th* a 1 British western front and over Germany SS 1 itself. Notwithstanding the unfavorable ft*j air conditions from Tuesday till Satut< > day night, British airmen seized every ,H> s opportunity to press home the advantage , gained in the recent operations. In.tWs '*>% I intervals of fino weather they took many "3* . photos and dropped more than twenty /| tons of bombs on the enemy organise,' '$ , lions behind the lines. ' '% [ On 15th * September the improved # weather produced most marked aerial '"'s [ developments, and large numbers of Gerr ',:! man machines were encountered on enemy side of the line, considering their t ;fe recent heavy losses. The enemy squad* *$ rong' worked in large formations &m '% ( fought bitter combats. In two dayS l : M • fighting 32 British machines were report-''"? t ed missing, but 72 German machines werr, y destroyed, 27 brought down, and one kits *' 'J balloon brought down on fire, making V \% total bag of 100 enemy aircraft in 48 vV hours. ' '-il While these heavy battles were pro- : ceeding, British bombing squadrons were. ' jS most active in dropping mote than 7Q\ 3 ' tons of bombs on military objectives J>o« ' I ' hind the battle line. p t On the 16th, British reconnaissance -ij machines established a record, bringirig . V I back a larger number of aerial photo-. }Z graphs than ever previously recorded v &' rt> a single day's work. j'3 The Royal! Air Force's independent' '$ Force, acting in concert with the French ; > J and Americans, attacked St. Mihiel >j salient, easily surpassing its. own record* . ,|] both in the number of objectives and n'J the weight of bombs dropped. . iS Probably there has never been QOiJe "i formidable or persistent air aesau.lt the Rhine country suifered from British' M , Airmen during the past week. Between *£ ' (ho 13 tli and 10th thirty-four separate f A . raids were made, twelve against the vital £>£ railway junction triangle at Metz Sal)- jjs lons, .and four against Courcelles juac- "$ ' tjon, seven against railways at ' ville, Ehrange, Saarbrueken, Kaiserst-" V(3 1 lauteni, and Mainz, while heavy attacks fcl , were also made on the enemy aerodrome ]y ' at Buhl, Boulay, Fraseaty, and Hagenau: 'A 1 Such repeated attacks on the same places were necessary measures against the «wj i perpetually renewed German repairs attdj }*jj machine production. " W i In addition, destructive raids were aljjo c;M i made on chemical and aeroplane factories ' ( % at Mannheim, the Daimler works at i« Stuttgart, and dock sidings at Karla-\'s rube. Fifty-nine tons of bombs were iij dropped during the five days, which "f more than half the total weijfht o,i"'«V bombs dropped during the whole preced- i^f 1 ing month. Material results are clearly shown by photographic and. other re' \* cords, and a large number of direct hit* Vi were obtained on all objectives. . "*t British airmen continue to do suece->4- ,j ful work in conjunction with the Allied M offensive in the Balkans and m Ttaly Besides maintaining all usual patrols n % they attacked vigorously' all na\a! ant' S" military works at Bruges, Ostend, St - $ Ahille, Maria Saalter, Zevecotc, etij £ Over one of these places on the 16th no '|J fewer than eleven enemy machines wen- >! «ji destroyed and seven driven down, with' vi 1 only two British machines failing to rp; fife tUr "' .' '/fe