headlam: developments in artillery 317 



Aeroplane observation. Almost simultaneously the aeroplane 

 observer entered the field. The story of how the present system of 

 communication between aeroplanes and artillery has been gradu- 

 ally developed is in itself a subject for a lecture. Now not only 

 does the observer in the air observe our fire, he also proves the 

 correctness of his observation by bringing in a photograph of the 

 result, which is used also by comparison with the zone of the guns 

 to check the accuracy of the work of the battery. I need hardly 

 refer to the science that has been devoted to developing the means 

 of communication and prefecting the system, but all those who 

 have had real experience, whether they belong to the Flying Corps 

 or the Artillery, will I am sure agree that success will never be 

 attained without the closest possible personal touch and sympathy 

 between the observer in the air and the gunner below. They must 

 know each other — without the personal equation, half the benefit 

 of science is lost. 



But practical experience showed the danger of relying too 

 exclusively on aeroplane observation as liable to be put ouf of 

 action by bad weather, while in any case the number of machines 

 which can work on any given front is strictly limited. Great 

 efforts are now therefore being made to develop all other possible 

 means of observation. The balloon — the first cousin to the aero- 

 plane — is of course very restricted in its zone, but it has the great 

 advantage that the observer in it is in direct telephonic com- 

 munication with the artillery — indeed it is nothing but an ob- 

 serving station in the air, which can be occupied by any artillery 

 officer. 



Observing stations. The ordinary observing stations have been 

 developed in the one direction by camouflage which was first 

 directed to this end, rather than to the concealment of the guns 

 themselves; then to their elaboration — instead of the officer 

 covering behind his precarious screen of tobacco leaves, he would 

 be in a comfortable splinter-proof tower which had been ingeni- 

 ously built inside the ruins ; or sitting in the cellar, with his eye 

 to a giant periscope, or perhaps a camera obscura. 



Flash-spotting and sound-ranging. In the elaborately equipped 

 observatories of the ' 'flash spotters" the burst of every round may 



