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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



that more ammunition was brought up 

 to them, or even drop ammunition and 

 food to them in some cases. 



DIFFICULTIES IN SIGNALING FROM THF AIR 



The airplanes, when they reached the 

 point where they thought the troops were, 

 would fire a certain kind of a rocket, and 

 the troops would answer by putting out 

 a panel, or a piece of cloth of a certain 

 dimension and color, on the ground, in- 

 dicative of the unit to which they be- 

 longed. 



It took a long time to get this branch 

 of the Observation Air Service and the 

 troops working together, because the 

 troops all thought that when the airplane 

 shot the rocket it indicated its position to 

 the enemy and called their attention to 

 that locality ; and then when they showed 

 their panel, that the enemy knew exactly 

 where they were. 



Observation aviation is the branch 

 above all others where coordination with 

 the ground troops is. essential, and on ac- 

 count of the many and diversified appli- 

 ances, such as radio, photography, and 

 signal devices of all kinds, it is very 

 difficult to maintain in an entirely efficient 

 condition. 



THF AIRPLANF/S SPFFD ADVANTAGE) OVFR 

 THF BATTLESHIP 



During the war almost all aviation was 

 used over the land, because that was 

 where it would have the maximum effect. 



After the Armistice, however, and 

 particularly after the British airship R-34 

 had flown across the Atlantic from Eng- 

 land to New York and back again, and 

 the transatlantic flight had been made by 

 airplanes, attention was drawn to the 

 possibility of using aircraft for protect- 

 ing the sea communications of a nation 

 in very much the same way that navies 

 are today; so that the first problem pre- 

 sented is what effect aircraft would have 

 against heavily armored ships — warships. 



There never was any question that, 

 even with small aerial bombs, unarmored 

 vessels can be sunk and disposed of at 

 will — that is, within the radius of opera- 

 tion of the airplane. Airplanes have 

 from five to eight times the speed of 

 battleships, and therefore can always 

 catch up to them when and where they 



