THE WAR IN THE AIR

Aeroplanes, dirigible and other balloons are no longer considered freaks and curiosities, as they were at the beginning of the war. Their use has become an integral part of all military and most naval operations. On all fronts they are employed regularly and extensively, just as any other branch of the military and naval services. In considering, therefore, aerial operations at the various fronts during the six months' period—August 1, 1917, to February 1, 1918—in this chapter we shall treat only of such undertakings in the air which were carried out independent of the general military operations. Those events in the air which formed part of offensive or defensive actions have been mentioned in their proper place as part of the general narrative. In this direction it must suffice to state here that all forms of aerial activities were continuously carried on by all belligerents at all fronts to even a greater extent than before. Statistics as to losses of aeroplanes and of members of the various flying services are very incomplete and more or less unreliable, primarily because each side has been trying to keep the other in the dark as to actual increases or decreases in the effectives of their air service. Such figures as are available, however, will be given a little farther on. They must not be taken as final, even though it has been attempted to compile them with the utmost care.

As in the past, air warfare, independent of military operations, consisted, of course, of German and Austrian attacks on French, English, and Italian territory behind the actual front, and of similar operations on the part of the French, English, Italian, and American air services against German and Austrian territory.

As compared with previous performances, the Zeppelin attacks against English and French territory decreased considerably in number, though apparently not in effectiveness, except that the losses suffered by the attackers were much heavier as a result of improved conditions in aerial defense. There were only two raids over England and none over France. The first Zeppelin raid over England occurred on August 21, 1917. It was directed against the Yorkshire coast, caused little damage and killed one man. On the same day British aeroplanes brought down one of the monster airships off the Danish coast.

During the night of October 19-20, 1917, thirteen Zeppelins raided the eastern and northeastern counties of England. Thirty-four persons were killed and fifty-six injured. On their return journey they were attacked by French airmen and it was announced later that four were destroyed and three captured. Amongst the latter, one, the L-49, was brought down intact, the first one to be captured in this manner since the war had begun.

Figures regarding Germany's Zeppelin strength and losses are, of course, hard to obtain. From German sources there are none. But at the end of 1917, French and English authorities semiofficially published the following data:

Though Zeppelins apparently had practically reached the end of their usefulness, a considerable increase took place in the number and extent of aeroplane raids, especially over England.

A number of watering places on the southeast coast of England were raided on August 12, 1917. Twenty-five persons were killed, fifty-two injured, and two German machines were brought down. Dover, Margate, and Ramsgate were visited on August 22, 1917, killing eleven persons and injuring thirteen. Eight of the attacking machines failed to return home.

The east coast was again raided on September 2, 1917. The following day, September 3, 1917, an English naval station at Chatham, near London, was bombed. One hundred and eight persons were killed and ninety-two wounded, most of them members of the English naval service. The first moonlight raid of London was carried out during the night of September 4-5, 1917. It resulted in the death of eleven persons and in the wounding of sixty-two.

The end of September, 1917, brought a large number of raids on England. On the 24th the southeast coast and the London district were raided. Fifteen were killed and seventy injured. Again on the 25th German machines appeared over London, killing seven and wounding twenty-six. On September 29, 1917, another raid killed eleven and wounded eighty-two; two of the attacking machines being brought down. The next night machines again were over England, killing nine persons.

One of the strongest air attacks was carried out on October 1, 1917. Four German squadrons attacked a number of coast towns, ten persons were killed and thirty-eight wounded. The next raid occurred on October 31, 1917. There were thirty German machines, but only three succeeded in reaching London. Eight persons were killed and twenty-one wounded.

Twenty-five German machines broke through the English air defenses and reached London on December 6, 1917. Two of them were brought down, not, however, until they had killed seven persons and injured twenty-one. Other raids occurred on December 18 and 21, 1917. Each time a number of the German machines were brought down. Ten persons were killed and seventy were injured.

Both on January 28 and 29, 1918, German squadrons attacked England, bombing the Kent and Essex coasts and London. A total of sixty-eight were killed and 183 were wounded. During the night of January 30-31, 1918, Paris experienced its first aerial attack since many a day. The casualties were forty-five killed and 207 wounded.

Besides these attacks by German machines against England and Paris, there were also incessant raids on French cities near the front. Dunkirk, Calais, Boulogne, Nancy, Belfort, and many other towns suffered especially.

On the other hand both the English and French air service were very active. Frequent attacks were made on French and Belgian cities held by the Germans, especially on Lille, Bruges, Ostende, and Zeebrugge. Some of the near-by German cities, such as Metz, too, were frequently attacked. German airdromes also were subjected to continuous attacks, hampering German operations to a considerable extent.

In retaliation for the German attacks on English cities, both French and British air squadrons made many successful raids on German inland cities. Few details are available regarding these raids, however, the German Government having adopted a policy of more or less silence concerning the results achieved. Amongst the German cities attacked were especially: Colmar, Frankfort-on-Main, Freiburg, Stuttgart, TÜbingen, SaarbrÜcken, Lahr, Mannheim, Rastatt, Ludwigshafen, Thionville, TrÈves, Pirmasens, Kaiserslautern, Karlsruhe.

On the Italian front, too, there was greater aerial activity than ever. Pola, the Austrian naval base in the Adriatic, south of Trieste, was the chief aim of the Italian attacks, in which British airmen, having come to the support of the Italians, frequently participated. It was visited many times and much damage was done, both to ships and naval establishments. Trieste, too, was bombarded a number of times with good results.

The Austro-German air services made a number of attacks against Italian cities back of the front. Venice was one of the chief sufferers. The first attack occurred on August 14, 1917. Unfortunately many of these raids on Italian cities resulted in serious damages to churches, palaces, and other monuments of historic fame and value. Another attack against Venice was made on September 7, 1917. Again on November 25, 1917, Austrian or German airplanes bombed the ancient city of the Doges.

In December, 1917, Padua, not very far from the New Austro-Italian front, was the principal recipient of Austrian attentions. It was bombed on December 28, 30, and 31, 1917. About twenty persons were killed and some seventy wounded. Considerable damage was done to the cathedral, many other churches and numerous houses.

During the first few days of January, 1918, Vicenza, Bassano, Treviso, and Padua were bombed, almost continuously. About fifteen persons were killed, and fifty wounded and great damage was done to some of the wonderful old churches and palaces in these towns. During the night of January 26, 1918, Treviso and Mestre were bombed. In the latter city two Americans, William Platt and R. C. Fairfield, attached to the American Red Cross, were killed.

Figures regarding losses of the various air services were growing continuously more scarce and unreliable, a considerable amount of secrecy being imposed on all sides for military reasons.

In August the Germans claimed that during July, 1917, they had brought down 213 Allied aeroplanes and twenty-four balloons, but had lost only sixty machines themselves. From this source it was claimed that during August, 1917, the Germans lost sixty-four against 295 Allied machines, and that during December, 1917, the corresponding figures were eighty-two and 119.

The only official announcement regarding losses suffered by the German air services was made by the French authorities, who claimed that French airmen had accomplished the following results against the Germans:

For the period January to December 15, 1917, French airmen claimed the following figures, brought down in German and French lines: 586 machines; seriously damaged, 583. In practically the same period in 1916 (January-December 31) the corresponding figures had been only 417 and 185.

Some interesting figures also were published from combined English and French calculations regarding the strength of the German air service at the end of 1917. It was claimed that it consisted of more than 200 squadrons with a total of about 2,500 machines, divided as follows:

There were also said to be numerous separate squadrons of aeroplanes and hydroplanes belonging to the German Navy, and about twelve squadrons each for garrison and training purposes.

Amongst other events in the various aerial services a number deserve especial mention. On September 7, 1917, German machines bombed a number of Allied hospitals on the French coast. As a result four Americans, belonging to a Harvard unit, were killed and ten wounded, and another American, a member of a St. Louis, Mo., unit, was killed.

On September 11, 1917, the famous French "ace," Captain Georges Guynemer, was killed in an air battle, after having brought down shortly before his 53d enemy plane.

On November 22, 1917, the British Admiralty announced that a successful air attack in the vicinity of Constantinople had been carried out by a large British bombing airplane, which flew from England to a British base in the Mediterranean in a series of eight flights. The stopping places included Lyons and Rome, and the total distance covered was nearly 2,000 miles. The machine was actually in the air thirty-one hours. This is believed to be a world's record for a cross-country journey and for the weight carried. During some parts of the flight strong winds and heavy rainstorms were experienced, and there was one stretch of 200 miles over a mountainous country where it would be impossible for any machine to land.

Another record long-distance flight was that made by Captain Laureati of the Italian air service in a S. T. A. machine with a 200 H. P. Fiat engine, from Turin to London, a distance of 650 miles. The distance was covered in seven hours, twenty-two minutes, and thirty seconds. No stops were made and one passenger, a mechanician, was carried.

In the latter part of January, 1918, the former German cruiser Goeben, then the Turkish Sultan Selim, having been beached after a fight with British naval forces at the entrance to the Dardanelles was bombed repeatedly by British naval aviators who also bombed Constantinople with success.

As a result of a raid, carried out during the latter part of August, 1917, a member of the famous Lafayette Squadron, Corporal H. B. Willis, Harvard '17, was captured by the Germans after his plane had been shot down behind the German lines.

Another member, Sergeant Douglas MacMonagle of San Francisco, who had joined the Lafayette Squadron in June, 1917, and had received the French war cross on August 9, 1917, was killed in a fight on September 24, 1917.