Aeroplanes and Dirigibles of War

F >> Frederick A. Talbot >> Aeroplanes and Dirigibles of War

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15

If a message--written in code--or a map is to be dropped from
aloft it is enclosed within a special metallic cylinder, fitted
with a vane tail to ensure direction of flight when launched, and
with a detonating head. This is dropped overboard. When it
strikes the ground the detonator fires a charge which emits a
report without damaging the message container, and at the same
time fires a combustible charge emitting considerable smoke. The
noise attracts anyone in the vicinity of the spot where the
message has fallen, while at the same time the clouds of smoke
guide one to the point and enable the cylinder to be recovered.
This device is extensively used by the German aviators, and has
proved highly serviceable; a similar contrivance is adopted by
French airmen.

There is one phase of aerial activity which remains to be
demonstrated. This is the utilisation of aerial craft by the
defenders of a besieged position such as a ring of fortifications
or fortified city. The utility of the Fourth Arm in this
province has been the subject of considerable speculation.
Expert opinion maintains that the advantage in this particular
connection would rest with the besiegers. The latter would be
able to ascertain the character of the defences and the defending
gun-force, by means of the aerial scout, who would prove of
inestimable value in directing the fire of the besieging forces.

On the other hand it is maintained that an aerial fleet would be
useless to the beleaguered. In the first place the latter would
experience grave difficulties in ascertaining the positions of
the attacking and fortress-reducing artillery, inasmuch as this
could be masked effectively, and it is thought that the aerial
force of the besieged would be speedily reduced to impotence,
since it would be subjected to an effective concentrated fire
from the ring of besieging anti-aircraft guns and other weapons.
In other words, the theory prevails that an aerial fleet, no
matter how efficient, would be rendered ineffective for the
simple reason that it would be the initial object of the
besieger's attack. Possibly the stem test of experience will
reveal the fallacy of these contentions as emphatically as it has
disproved others. But there is one point upon which authorities
are unanimous. If the artillery of the investing forces is
exposed and readily distinguishable, the aerial forces of the
beleaguered will bring about its speedy annihilation, as the
defensive artillery will be concentrated upon that of the
besiegers.

CHAPTER IX
THE AIRMAN AND ARTILLERY

There is one field in which the airman has achieved distinctive
triumphs. This is in the guidance of artillery fire. The modern
battle depends first and foremost upon the fierce effec tiveness
of big-gun assault, but to ensure this reliable direction is
imperative. No force has proved so invaluable for this purpose
as the man of-the-air, and consequently this is the province in
which he has been exceptionally and successfully active.

It will be recalled that in the Japanese investiture of Port
Arthur during the Russo-Japanese war, thousands of lives were
expended upon the retention and assault of 203 Metre Hill. It
was the most blood-stained spot upon the whole of the Eastern
Asiatic battlefield. General Nogi threw thousands after
thousands of his warriors against this rampart while the Russians
defended it no less resolutely. It was captured and re-captured;
in fact, the fighting round this eminence was so intense that it
appeared to the outsider to be more important to both sides than
even Port Arthur itself.

Yet if General Nogi had been in the possession of a single
aeroplane or dirigible it is safe to assert that scarcely one
hundred Japanese or Russian soldiers would have met their fate
upon this hill. Its value to the Japanese lay in one sole
factor. The Japanese heavy guns shelling the harbour and the
fleet it contained were posted upon the further side of this
eminence and the fire of these weapons was more or less
haphazard. No means of directing the artillery upon the vital
points were available; 203 Metre Hill interrupted the line of
sight. The Japanese thereupon resolved to capture the hill,
while the Russians, equally appreciative of the obstruction it
offered to their enemy, as valiantly strove to hold it. Once the
hill was captured and the fire of the Japanese guns could be
directed, the fate of the fortress was sealed.

Similar conditions have prevailed during the present campaign,
especially in the western theatre of war, where the ruggedness of
the country has tended to render artillery fire ineffective and
expensive unless efficiently controlled. When the German Army
attacked the line of the British forces so vehemently and
compelled the retreat at Mons, the devastating fire of the
enemy's artillery was directed almost exclusively by their
airmen, who hovered over the British lines, indicating exactly
the point where gun-fire could work the maximum of havoc. The
instant concentration of massed artillery fire upon the indicated
positions speedily rendered one position after another untenable.

The Germans maintained the upper hand until at last the aerial
forces of the British Expeditionary Army came into action. These
airmen attacked the Teuton aerial craft without the slightest
hesitation, and in a short while rendered cloudland absolutely
unhealthy. The sequel was interesting. As if suddenly blinded,
the German artillery fire immediately deteriorated. On the other
hand, the British artillery, now having the benefit of aerial
guidance, was able to repay the German onslaughts with interest,
and speedily compelled that elaborate digging-in of the infantry
lines which has now become so characteristic of the opposing
forces.

So far as the British lines are concerned the men in the trenches
keep a sharp look-out for hostile aeroplanes. The moment one is
observed to be advancing, all the men seclude themselves and
maintain their concealment. To do otherwise is to court a raking
artillery outburst. The German aeroplane, detecting the tendency
of the trenches describes in the air the location of the
vulnerable spot and the precise disposition by flying immediately
above the line. Twice the manoeuvre is repeated, the second
movement evidently being in the character of a check upon the
first observation, and in accordance with instructions, whereupon
the Tommies, to quote their own words, "know they are in for it!"
Ere the aeroplane has completed the second manoeuvre the German
guns ring out.

The facility with which artillery fire can be concentrated
through the medium of the aeroplane is amazing. In one instance,
according to the story related to me by an officer, "a number of
our men were resting in an open field immediately behind the
second line of trenches, being in fact the reserves intended for
the relief of the front lines during the following night. An
aeroplane hove in sight. The men dropped their kits and got
under cover in an adjacent wood. The aeroplane was flying at a
great height and evidently laboured under the impression that the
kits were men. Twice it flew over the field in the usual manner,
and then the storm of shrapnel, 'Jack Johnsons' and other tokens
from the Kaiser rained upon the confined space. A round four
hundred shells were dropped into that field in the short period
of ten minutes, and the range was so accurate that no single
shell fell outside the space. Had the men not hurried to cover
not one would have been left alive to tell the tale, because
every square foot of the land was searched through and through.
We laughed at the short-sightedness of the airman who had
contributed to such a waste of valuable shot and shell, but at
the same time appreciated the narrowness of our own escape."

The above instance is by no means isolated. It has happened time
after time. The slightest sign of activity in a trench when a
"Taube" is overhead suffices to cause the trench to be blown to
fragments, and time after time the British soldiers have had to
lie prone in their trenches and suffer partial burial as an
alternative to being riddled by shrapnel.

The method of ascertaining the range of the target from the
indications given by the aeroplane are of the simplest character.
The German method is for the aerial craft to fly over the
position, and when in vertical line therewith to discharge a
handful of tinsel, which, in falling, glitters in the sunlight,
or to launch a smoking missile which answers the same purpose as
a projectile provided with a tracer. This smoke-ball being
dropped over the position leaves a trail of black or whitish
smoke according to the climatic conditions which prevail, the
object being to enable the signal to be picked up with the
greatest facility. The height at which the aerial craft is
flying being known, a little triangulation upon the part of the
observer at the firing point enables him to calculate the range
and to have the guns laid accordingly.

When the aerial craft has been entrusted with the especial duty
of directing artillery-fire, a system of communication between
the aerial observer and the officer in charge of the artillery is
established, conducted, of course, by code. In the British Army,
signalling is both visual and audible. In daylight visual
signalling is carried out by means of coloured flags or streamers
and smoke-signals, while audible communication is effected by
means of a powerful horn working upon the siren principle and
similar to those used by automobiles. Both flags and
sound-signals, however, are restricted owing to the comparatively
short distances over which they can be read with any degree of
accuracy. The smoke-signal therefore appears to be the most
satisfactory and reliable, as the German airmen have proved
conclusively, for the simple reason that the trail of smoke may
be picked up with comparative ease, even at a distance, by means
of field glasses. The tinsel too, is readily distinguishable,
particularly in bright weather, for the glittering surface,
catching the sun-light, acts some what in the manner of a
heliograph.

The progress of the airman is followed by two officers at the
base from which he started. One is equipped with the director,
while the second takes the range. Directly this has been found
as a result of calculation, the guns are laid ready for firing.
In those cases where the enemy's artillery is concealed perhaps
behind a hill, the airman is of incalculable value, inasmuch as
he is able to reveal a position which otherwise would have to be
found by considerable haphazard firing, and which, even if
followed by a captive balloon anchored above the firing point,
might resist correction.

The accuracy of the airman's work in communicating the range has
been responsible for the high efficiency of the British and
French artillery. The latter, with the 75 millimetre
quick-firing gun, is particularly adapted to following up the
results of the aeroplane's reconnaissance, especially with the
system of rafale fire, because the whole position can be searched
through and through within a minute or two. According to
information which has been given to me by our artillery officers,
the British system also has proved disastrous to the enemy. The
practice is to get the range as communicated by the aeroplane, to
bring the artillery into position speedily, to discharge salvo
after salvo with all speed for a few minutes, and then to wheel
the artillery away before any hostile fire can be returned. The
celerity with which the British artillery comes into, and goes
out of, action has astonished even our own authorities. This
mobility is of unique value: it is taking advantage of a somewhat
slow-witted enemy with interest. By the time the Germans have
opened fire upon the point whence the British guns were
discharged, the latter have disappeared and are ready to let fly
from another point, some distance away, so that the hostile fire
is abortive. Mobility of such a character is decidedly unnerving
and baffling even to a quick-witted opponent.

In his search for hostile artillery the airman runs grave risks
and displays remarkable resource. It is invariably decided,
before he sets out, that he shall always return to a certain
altitude to communicate signals. Time after time the guns of the
enemy have been concealed so cunningly from aerial observation as
to pass unnoticed. This trait became more pronounced as the
campaigns of the Aisne progressed. Accordingly the airman adopts
a daring procedure. He swoops down over suspicious places, where
he thinks guns may be lurking, hoping that the enemy will betray
its presence. The ruse is invariably successful. The airman
makes a sudden dive towards the earth. The soldiers in hiding
below, who have become somewhat demoralised by the accuracy of
the British aerial bomb-throwers, have an attack of nerves. They
open a spirited fusillade in the hope of bringing the airman to
earth. But their very excitement contributes to his safety. The
shots are fired without careful aim and expend themselves
harmlessly. Sweeping once more upwards, the airman regains the
pre-determined level, performs a certain evolution in the air
which warns the observer at his base that he has made a
discovery, and promptly drops his guiding signal directly over
the point from which he has drawn fire.

Operations at night are conducted by means of coloured lights or
an electrical searchlight system. In the former instance three
lights are generally carried--white, red, and green--each of
which has a distinctive meaning. If reliance is placed upon the
electric light signalling lamp, then communications are in code.
But night operations are somewhat difficult and extremely
dangerous, except when the elements are propitious. There is the
ground mist which blots everything from sight, rendering
reconnaissance purely speculative. But on a clear night the
airman is more likely to prove successful. He keeps a vigilant
eye upon all ground-lights and by close observation is able to
determine their significance. It is for this reason that no
lights of any description are permitted in the advance trenches.
The striking of a match may easily betray a position to the alert
eye above.

So far as the British Army is concerned a complete code is in
operation for communicating between aeroplanes and the ground at
night. Very's lights are used for this purpose, it being
possible to distinguish the respective colours at a distance of
six miles and from an altitude of 2,000 feet. The lights are
used both by the aeroplane and the battery of artillery.

The code is varied frequently, but the following conveys a rough
idea of how communication is carried out by this means under
cover of darkness. The aeroplane has located its objective and
has returned to the pre-arranged altitude. A red light is thrown
by the airman. It indicates that he is directly over the enemy's
position. A similarly coloured light is shown by the artillery
officer, which intimates to the airman that his signal has been
observed and that the range has been taken.

In observing the effects of artillery fire a code of signals is
employed between the airman and the artillery officer to indicate
whether the shot is "long" or "short," to the right or to the
left of the mark, while others intimate whether the fuse is
correctly timed or otherwise. It is necessary to change the code
fairly frequently, not only lest it should fall into the enemy's
hands, but also to baffle the hostile forces; otherwise, after a
little experience, the latter would be able to divine the
significance of the signals, and, in anticipation of being
greeted with a warm fusillade, would complete hurried
arrangements to mitigate its effects, if not to vacate the
position until the bombardment had ceased.

Sufficient experience has already been gathered, however, to
prove the salient fact that the airman is destined to play an
important part in the direction and control of artillery-fire.
Already he has been responsible for a re-arrangement of strategy
and tactics. The man aloft holds such a superior position as to
defy subjugation; the alternative is to render his work more
difficult, if not absolutely impossible.

CHAPTER X
BOMB-THROWING FROM AIR-CRAFT

During the piping times of peace the utility of aircraft as
weapons of offence was discussed freely in an academic manner.
It was urged that the usefulness of such vessels in this
particular field would be restricted to bomb-throwing. So far
these contentions have been substantiated during the present
campaign. At the same time it was averred that even as a
bomb-thrower the ship of the air would prove an uncertain
quantity, and that the results achieved would be quite contrary
to expectations. Here again theory has been supported by
practice, inasmuch as the damage wrought by bombs has been
comparatively insignificant.

The Zeppelin raids upon Antwerp and Britain were a fiasco in the
military sense. The damage inflicted by the bombs was not at all
in proportion to the quantity of explosive used. True, in the
case of Antwerp, it demoralised the civilian population somewhat
effectively, which perhaps was the desired end, but the military
results were nil.

The Zeppelin, and indeed all dirigibles of large size, have one
advantage over aeroplanes. They are able to throw bombs of
larger size and charged with greater quantities of high explosive
and shrapnel than those which can be hurled from heavier-than-air
machines. Thus it has been stated that the largest Zeppelins can
drop single charges exceeding one ton in weight, but such a
statement is not to be credited.

The shell generally used by the Zeppelin measures about 47 inches
in length by 8 1/2 inches in diameter, and varies in weight from
200 to 242 pounds. Where destruction pure and simple is desired,
the shell is charged with a high explosive such as picric acid or
T.N.T., the colloquial abbreviation for the devastating agent
scientifically known as "Trinitrotoluene," the base of which, in
common with all the high explosives used by the different powers
and variously known as lyddite, melinite, cheddite, and so forth,
is picric acid. Such a bomb, if it strikes the objective, a
building, for instance, fairly and squarely, may inflict
widespread material damage.

On the other hand, where it is desired to scatter death, as well
as destruction, far and wide, an elaborate form of shrapnel shell
is utilised. The shell in addition to a bursting charge,
contains bullets, pieces of iron, and other metallic fragments.
When the shell bursts, their contents, together with the pieces
of the shell which is likewise broken up by the explosion, are
hurled in all directions over a radius of some 50 yards or more,
according to the bursting charge.

These shells are fired upon impact, a detonator exploding the
main charge. The detonator, comprising fulminate of mercury, is
placed in the head or tail of the missile. To secure perfect
detonation and to distribute the death-dealing contents evenly in
all directions, it is essential that the bomb should strike the
ground almost at right angles: otherwise the contents are hurled
irregularly and perhaps in one direction only. One great
objection to the percussion system, as the method of impact
detonation is called, is that the damage may be localised. A
bomb launched from a height of say 1,000 feet attains terrific
velocity, due to the force of gravity in conjunction with its own
weight, in consonance with the law concerning a falling body, by
the time it reaches the ground. It buries itself to a certain
depth before bursting so that the forces of the explosion become
somewhat muffled as it were. A huge deep hole--a miniature
volcano crater--is formed, while all the glass in the immediate
vicinity of the explosion may be shattered by the concussion, and
the walls of adjacent buildings be bespattered with shrapnel.

Although it is stated that an airship is able to drop a single
missile weighing one ton in weight, there has been no attempt to
prove the contention by practice. In all probability the
heaviest shell launched from a Zeppelin has not exceeded 300
pounds. There is one cogent reason for such a belief. A bomb
weighing one ton is equivalent to a similar weight of ballast.
If this were discarded suddenly the equilibrium of the dirigible
would be seriously disturbed--it would exert a tendency to fly
upwards at a rapid speed. It is doubtful whether the planes
controlling movement in the vertical plane would ever be able to
counteract this enormous vertical thrust. Something would have
to submit to the strain. Even if the dirigible displaced say 20
tons, and a bomb weighing one ton were discharged, the weight of
the balloon would be decreased suddenly by approximately five
per cent, so that it would shoot upwards at an alarming speed,
and some seconds would elapse before control was regained.

The method of launching bombs from airships varies considerably.
Some are released from a cradle, being tilted into position ready
for firing, while others are discharged from a tube somewhat
reminiscent of that used for firing torpedoes, with the exception
that little or no initial impetus is imparted to the missile; the
velocity it attains is essentially gravitational.

The French favour the tube-launching method since thereby it is
stated to be possible to take more accurate aim. The objective
is sighted and the bomb launched at the critical moment. In some
instances the French employ an automatic detonator which
corresponds in a certain measure to the time-fuse of a shrapnel
shell fired from a gun.

The bomb-thrower reads the altitude of his airship as indicated
by his barometer or other recording instrument, and by means of a
table at his command ascertains in a moment the time which will
elapse before the bomb strikes the ground. The automatic
detonator is set in motion and the bomb released to explode
approximately at the height to which it is set. When it bursts
the full force of the explosion is distributed downwards and
laterally. Owing to the difficulty of ensuring the explosion of
the bomb at the exact height desired, it is also made to explode
upon impact so as to make doubly sure of its efficacy.

Firing timed bombs from aloft, however, is not free from
excitement and danger, as the experience of a French airman
demonstrates. His dirigible had been commanded to make a
night-raid upon a railway station which was a strategical
junction for the movement of the enemy's troops. Although the
hostile searchlights were active, the airship contrived to slip
between the spokes of light without being observed. By
descending to a comparatively low altitude the pilot was able to
pick up the objective.

Three projectiles were discharged in rapid succession and then
the searchlights, being concentrated, struck the airship,
revealing its presence to the troops below. Instantly a spirited
fusillade broke out. The airmen, by throwing ballast and other
portable articles overboard pell-mell, rose rapidly, pursued by
the hostile shells.

In the upward travel the bomb-thrower decided to have a parting
shot. The airship was steadied momentarily to enable the range
to be taken, the automatic detonator was set going and the bomb
slipped into the launching tube. But for some reason or other
the missile jambed.

The situation was desperate. In a few seconds the bomb would
burst and shatter the airship. The bomb-thrower grabbed a tool
and climbing into the rigging below hacked away at the bomb-
throwing tube until the whole equipment was cut adrift and fell
clear of the vessel. Almost instantly there was a terrific
explosion in mid-air. The blast of air caused the vessel to roll
and pitch in a disconcerting manner, but as the airman permitted
the craft to continue its upward course unchecked, she soon
steadied herself and was brought under control once more.

The bomb carried by aeroplanes differs consider ably from that
used by dirigibles, is smaller and more convenient to handle,
though considering its weight and size it is remarkably
destructive. In this instance complete reliance is placed upon
detonation by impact. The latest types of British war-plane
bombs have been made particularly formidable, those employed in
the "raids in force" ranging up to 95 pounds in weight.

The type of bomb which has proved to be the most successful is
pear-shaped. The tail spindle is given an arrow-head shape, the
vanes being utilised to steady the downward flight of the
missile. In falling the bomb spins round, the rotating speed
increasing as the projectile gathers velocity. The vanes act as
a guide, keeping the projectile in as vertical a plane as
possible, and ensuring that the rounded head shall strike the
ground. The earlier types of bombs were not fitted with these
vanes, the result being that sometimes they turned over and over
as they fell through the air, while more often than not they
failed to explode upon striking the ground.

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15