| Show AIRCRAFT PLA PLAY Y THRILLING PART PA PARTIN TIN IN EUROPE'S FIERCE 3 WAR I British Headquarters France Aug A 14 A crack and a whish which through the air No sound is more familiar at t the front where the artillery is never silent the silent the sound of a shell breaking from a gun gUll gun muzzle and its s shrill flight toward the enemy's line to pay the Germans back for some shell they have sent Only y tins tin's whish which did not pass out over the landscape in a long g parabola or toward the German German German Ger Ger- man lines Jines It went right up tip into the heavens at about the angle of a skyrocket for skyrocket for k t was Archibald Archibald Archi Archi- bald who bald who ho was on the job 4 the British Six or seven thousand feet over ovel trenches there was something as big as your hand against the light Jig blue of the summer sky This was the tar target target et- et German aeroplane By the cut of its wings in ings Ts you you ou knew it was a r Taube just as you ou know a meadow lark Jark from a swallow So high was it that it seemed almost station station- an ary nut Lint it was going somewhere between fifty and ninety miles an hour It seemed to have all the heavens heave to itself and to the British it was a sinister prying ruing g eye It wanted to see sec if the they were building building- any new trenches if the they were inov moving bodies of troops or of transport in sonic some new direction and where their batteries Were ere in hiding That aviator three miles above the earth had man many waiting guns at his command A few signals from his wireless and they would let Jet loose on the thc target he indicated Other features of life at the front may r grow commonplace but never the work of the planes planes- the these e wings wing of the tile army's intelligence In the hide and seek digging and dodging an and l countering countering counter counter- ing mg of siege e warfare the sight of a plane under shell fire never nc loses Joses its thrill DEAD LINES IN THE AIR AIRI I If r f the planes might fly as low as thc they pleased pleas d they might might- know all that was going on over ver the lines They flier must keep up so high that through the aviators aviator's glasses a man on the road is the size of a pin head To descend low is as ascertain ascertain ascertain certain death as to put your head over a parapet of a trench when the thc enemy's trench is only a hundred yards away There arc are dead lead lines in inthe inthe inthe the air no less Jess than on the earth Archibald the antiaircraft gun sets the dead line He watches over it as a cat watches a mouse The Tiie trick of sneaking up tip under the cover over of a noonday cloud and all the other man-bird man tricks he lie knows A couple of seconds after that crack a tiny puff of smoke breaks about a hundred yards behind the Taube A soft thistle blow against the blue bloc it tt seems at that altitude but it wo wouldn't if it were about your ears cars Then it would sound like a bit hit of dynamite on an anvil struck by by a ahammer ahammer ahammer hammer and you von ou would hear the of scores of bullets bullet and fragments ab about mf your cars ars The rhe smoking brass shell case is out of Archibald's Arch- Arch steel throat and another shell case with its charge slipped hi iii li it its place and st started on its way ray ay before the first puff breaks The aviator knows what is ming coning He knows knows' that one means many once he lie is in ili range Ar Archibald rushes the fighting it is the business business bus bus- iness mess of the Taube to sidestep The Tile aviator can can cannot trot not hit back hack except through h its allies the German German German Ger Ger- man batteries on the earth The They would take care of Archibald if they knew knew knew- s' s where here he was Hut But all that the aviator can sec see is mottled land land- From his side Ar Archibald flies no goal flags flags- He is one of IO tiny objects under the aviators aviator's eye GUN GUM d THAT FIGHTS BY DAY DAY y Archibald's 1 propensities are are peripa peripa- He ilc is the he va vagabond a ond of the army lines Locate Locate Locate Lo Lo- cate him him and and h he is gone I His home is where ni night ht finds him and the days day's duties take him All the others others great great and small raucous voiced and amI shrill voiced voiced fire fire at any hour night or day Aeroplanes do not go up at at night at-night night an and when no aeroplanes arc up p Archibald has no interest in inthe inthe inthe the war tit nut he is is on the alert at the first flush of f dawn lawn on the lookout for game with the avidity avidity avid avid- it ity of a pointer log dog for the aviators a are also abo u up P early Why he was nam named d Archibald nobody knows but if thus there were antiaircraft guns ins in inthe inthe inthe the British ar army iy everyone would be known as an Archibald Archibald the British expeditionary force went to France it had none All the British British Brit Brit- ish could do w was s to bang bang- away ay at with thousands of rounds of rifle bullets which might fall in their own lines and amI with the field guns guts I It was pie in those days for the It was easy to keep out of the range rang o oJ oboth both rifles and ind guns and ob observe ene well I If f the Germans did c W r Attl t 1 r Ja S f f ef Nr x K Kh h s f. f fv A 7 1 1 as y d r c H i j t 2 H r I IN N t 4 f fr Y 1 not know kno knothe the progress of the British retreat from on high it was their own fault Now the business of firing at is left entirely to Archibald When hen you see how hard it is for Archibald after all his practice to get a Taube you ou understand how foolish it was wa the for field guns gun to try to get one AEROPLANES DO SCOUTING Archibald who is quite the thing in inthe inthe the army has his own private car built especially especial especial- I ly for Jor him While the cavalry horses back of the lines grow sleek from inaction the aeroplanes aeroplanes aero aero- planes s have taken th their h place All the romance and rind risk of scouting ar are are theirs They get most of the fun there is in this kind of warfare If Ifa a British aviator gets a days day's leave he lie does not take a train and steamer He rises from the aviation grounds about and is at home hone in England for dinner an and return after lunch the next day All the action the cavalry see is when the they go into the trenches as infantry Such of the cavalry's former part as the planes do not play Archibald plays He keeps off the enemy's scouts Do you seek teamwork spirit of corps and smartness in this theatre of France where all the old glamour of war is lacking You will find itin the attendants of Archibald They have pride elan alertness pepper and all the other appetizers and condi condi- ments They arc are as neat as a private yachts yacht's crew and as lively as an infield of a major league lague team The are arc naturally bound to think rather well of themselves Watch Vatch them there ever every man knowing his part as the they s send nd their shells after the T Taube ube There isn't enough waste motion among the lotto lot lotto lotto to tip over O the range finder or the telescope or orthe orthe orthe the sc score re board or any of the other par paraphernalia pher- pher nalia asistin assisting the man who is looking through the sight in knowing where to aim next as a screw answers softly to his touch MAN-BIRD MAN FOR TARGET I Is the sport of war dead Not ot for Archi Archi- bald Here you OU see your target which is so rare tle these e days das when British infantrymen have stormed and taken trenches without ever seeing a German and German and the target is a bird a man Puffs of smoke with bursting hearts heats of death are clustered around the Taube Th They y hang where they broke in the still air ir One follows another in quick succession succession for fo for more than one is firing firing before before your your entranced eye You are staring like the crowd of a country fair at a parachute act For the next puff maget ma- ma may get him Who Vho knows this better than the aviator He is likely an old hand at the game or if he isn't he has all the experiences of other veterans to go by His sense is the same as that of an escaped d prisoner who runs from the fir fire of a guard in m a zag zig-zag course and more than that If a puff comes near on the right he hc turns to the left if Pone lone comes near on the left he turns to the right if one comes under he rises over he dips This means that the next shell fired at the same point will be wide of the target FINDING THE RANGE Looking through the sight it seems easy to hit a plane But heres here's the difficulty It takes two seconds say for the shell to travel to the range of the plane The gunner must wait for its burst before he can spot his shot Ninety miles an hour is a mile and a half a minute Divide that by forty and you your have about a hundred hundred hun hun- dred yards the plane has traveled from the time the shell left the gun in muzzle till tm it burst It becomes becomes becomes be be- comes a a matter of discounting the aviators aviator's speed and guessing from experience which way he will turn next That ought to have got him the him the burst was right fight under him No o Ie I-Ie rises Surely that one got him anyway anJay The puff is right in front of the Taube partly hiding it from view You see the plane trembled led as if struck by a violent gust of win wind Close Within thirty or forty yards the telescope says But at that range the naked eye is easily deceived about distances Probably son some sone e of the bullets have cut his plane But you must hit the man or machine in a vital spot in in order to bring down your bird A British avi avi- These pictures illustrate in part the office of ol the birdman m trio mo I European U s 11 rugg U IU e. e u a upper upper P pie pIC 1 turc tore at the left shows the birdlike structure of the Taube aeroplane used by the German army this machini machin I I having been captured and exhibited in the streets of Paris Below it is a a. view of the II Archibald gun now used to bring down the daring air scout w who o ve ventures within its range The small picture at the at-the the le lei left t tiN I shows the manner of attaching bombs to aircraft Immediately below iN oeR W o o i r 14 1 is an an actual picture of a a a- French Trench aeroplane in pursuit of a Ger German n T Taube ue The lower picture is that of an ar armored airship in the British Bring f q service k f 71 Y 1 4 7 F Or v 5 J. J f. f nt 1 f ti ji t f tty f r- r f L q 1 J il j 4 J f f ft i T 1 l f 1 3 d f fJ t. t W ft tj t i i j. j to Z i if f fi j rJ fr i S J 1 3 7 r i J t tY 6 f t. t y j ff Y riy Yr f t tY i r li Y y i. i i vf r r. r z n nd x J y M Y JN 13 l 34 d 7 p s. s 2 1 R 1 f Cis s i Jr fL Lr ff 4 r t r d 1 Ite- Ite kC ir s Jc f K I sy 1 1 tf 1 t iY Z L ed tw 1 J. J 1 r i rf 1 J 1 J r t r. r a Jf i I I rr v I i rr t tv 4 4 v k f Y w 1 iv 1 f r 5 ir k r y r YS d s y y t 0 n r 1 F t tn t tj j 5 Y fi r f t flY it fr Yf x t Y rA ta sr rs t S 'S O I Ar d V 1 Z 1 r r ai x v 2 c i e r 4 i v ator the other day had a piece of shrapnel jacket hit his coat its force spent and rolled into his lap The explosions must be very close to count It is amazing how much shell fire an aeroplane can stand Aviators are arc accustomed to the of shell fragments and bullets and to have Kaye their planes punctured and ripped Though their engines engines engines en en- gines are put out of commission and frequently though wounded they are able to back to the cover of their own lines To make a proper story we ought to have brought down this particular bird But Rut it had the luck which most planes British or German have in escaping antiaircraft gunfire It had begun begun begun be be- gun edging edging- away after the first shot and soon was out of range Archibald had served the purpose of his ex ex- He had sent the prying prying a aerial eye eve home BATTLES BY BIRDMEN A fight between planes in the air very rarely rare rare- I ly happen Planes do not go up to fight other yI w I rr Jr r-n r r s r. r r w W nw h. h It fy riZ LN M l fj Zt f. f i mj b z e ill l. l uti i J l i W X t t. t tt N w x IM I r rJ r J t. 7 t t Z r J V t 1 r J E a t al 1 f h r 1 Y f I A I J t M f f c L t i F n t i if f 9 iG 7 y T i y 8 2 W K n Rf r r Y a ij yr da id f J mo o oN N d f y rf L c. c I Jm JN i k f r r. r 2 J t i 1 irr r r J r f td tY Y 1 t. t oj r 4 9 1 4 N Yak tN 2 v. v k fm K Y of cf t w w C f. f c fib 7 r. r N iS WrY fh I i R J F W CV waA j r t. t M fy ft f 4 r 2 i 1 g t 1 i Mf S f tJ y i f. f 1 i ii J f J 1 t. i r tf i o NC J- J NI y X w r rl l 1 L i F i f 4 rr 4 qi i r J. 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S rl nt w 4 acs f. f W o d. d r j y Nr v r rw The p is t a re s shows h t the h e elaborate ra to decorations i ens th that at w were e re pre prepared for thein the ceremony of bestowing iron crosses on several soldiers fighting in Flanders Note the patriotic of ot the German v ai me u emblems and nd fl flags draped from iron the trees and the replica of the d decoration co in the center cente pf f tho rho st std stage ge e. e I i planes but for observation Their business business' is to see and learn and bring bring- home their news But Butt there have been real aerial battles between Gertman Gert man airships and airships of the alli allies s. s Only x re-x rev it was reported six German aeroplanes at at JJ al-JJ tacked a fleet of fifteen French planes a and t s skirmishes between German and French are frequent as they try to chase each oth r away from their scouting expeditions 3 The other day in the communicating tren trench between the frontal and support trenches ish shell were screaming screaming- overhead into the thc Ger Geri J Ger-J man elan trenches and German shells were screaming scream scream-j ing overhead into the British trenches It was a pretty lively half an hour Four or five thousand and feet up p were two British pl planes with a Ji 1 swarm of puffs from German shells them Two or three e thousand feet higher wa wasa was was-aj I German plane They maintained their relative e j 1 altitudes and kept on with their work each spot spoUting 1 i ting t the e ht bursts i of the shells fired by its side an an correcting the maulers gunners gunners' amt aim b by wireless |
