"230 lee: aviation and the war 



getting ready to leave their aerodrome. He flew right down close 

 on top of them and crashed two machines before- they left the 

 ground. He then went for the third machine and sent that 

 crashing to the earth. But things were then getting too hot for 

 him so he climbed two thousand feet, where he finally got the 

 fourth one. Then to show his independence he went after the 

 fifth. He got the Victoria Cross for that. 



Artillery machines are quite another matter. They have a 

 very hard job and a very interesting one, and it is a job that 

 requires lots of courage because they have to stay in the same 

 place over the batteries and spot the other batteries' fire. They 

 have to keep their eyes on the land, and on a cloudy day the 

 enemy sometimes creeps up on them through the clouds. Gen- 

 erally speaking these men are a little older and are chosen because 

 they have the temperament and are a little more suited to staying 

 over one place and seeing the job out. It is not very pleasant 

 for the men who are accustomed to scouting to have to fly over 

 a certain area and see the same place every day. The artillery 

 nowadays is practically dependent on wireless and aeroplanes 

 for spotting. The total number of aeroplanes you can get now 

 in a definite area is dependent on the wireless you can get into 

 that area without being "jammed," and not on the total number 

 of machines available. 



Coupled with the work with the artillery, these aeroplanes 

 also have duties to perform with the infantry, such as contact 

 patrols. 



The next class is that of the bombing machines. Bombing 

 is one of the most difficult things there is. It is extremely hard 

 to drop a bomb upon a certain object when an aeroplane is travel- 

 ing at such an enormous speed and at such high altitudes. If 

 you should go over Washington in an aeroplane, you would be 

 surprised at the many places where you could drop a bomb and 

 do no damage. With your wide streets and avenues it would be 

 very difficult to drop a bomb on any spot where it would do very 

 much harm. If dropped in the street, it would probably do no 

 more damage than to break a few shop windows. If you struck 

 a definite target it would be with a certain amount of luck. 



