Show CAMERA IS REAL EYE OF ARMY photographer must encounter battle perils practically without fighting chance IMPORTANT PLACE IN III WAR hundreds of snapshots taken from air are cunningly fitted together to make complete photograph of any given section Loxi london dorl to call the alie british airmen the eyes of the army Is a common metaphor even at the beginning of 0 the war they did much observation for the artillery besides playing the leading part in general reconnaissance but their present value in all matters of observation greatly exceeds anything that was expected at the beginning without aircraft in important numbers and without aircraft whatever their numbers which can hold their own against the enemy an army la Is practically blind and without their cameras airmen would not be the all seeing eyes that they are for as the airman Is the eye ot of the land forces so the camera Is the eye ot of the airman it at least provides that part of his vision which Is most penetrating and accurate A series of photographs from the air Is a wonderful piece of work hundreds of snapshots go to make it and these are so cunningly fitted together that a complete photograph Is obtained so the work goes on section by section and by degrees Is procured a picture which cannot lie of the whole of the defenses from flank to flank of his lines As his dispositions are constantly changing or at least being elaborated in important respects there Is no rest for the aerial photographers and no end to their work every day on which there Is a reasonable visibility until the end of the war they must fly into the face of danger to discover new secrets with their cameras the danger Is of a particularly unpleasant kind because throughout the operation they are within effective range of archibald the antiaircraft gun which Is the flying mans most inveterate it if not his most deadly enemy to take a series ot of photographs of an enemy position needs a special coolness and nerve A trip with the eye this Is a typical quiet mornin morning in aday a day of the photographers of the air A machine Is run out from the sheds and pilot and observer vr mount to their places it Is not a fast airplane as speed Is now counted but each man Is armed with a machine gun and attack from the air will be met with stout and efficient resistance attack from the ground cannot be answered it can only be evaded by maneuver through a liole hole in the fuselage or body of the machine a camera points earthward capable of reproducing a considerable area on each plate exposed the device by which the snapshots are taken Is as simple as it Is ingenious and it Is almost fool proof in half an ail hour or so the machine has crossed the lines tit at it a height of little more than feet vat far above are small fast scouts ready to attack any aerial enemy that may attempt to interfere with the work below from the first antiaircraft guns are uncomfortably fort ably attentive but the bursts can at this stage be defeated by climbing diving or swerving movements it Is when the actual objective of photographic attack has been readied reached that the real difficulties and dangers come further dodging and diving are no longer practicable since an accurate pictorial record can only be obtained by steady flying the airplane must be as level as possible when a snapshot Is taken yet the enemy knows the purpose of the invader and chooses this moment to make his utmost effort to destroy him the bursts tire are thicker than ever the range has been bee nicely judged the bursts ore are well aimed under difficulties in the midst ot of them the two must do their work as steadily and quietly as it if the air were still up and down over the narrow section of ground whose secret roust must be won the pilot steers for the most part an even course shells burst closely round them on this side and that beneath and above at moments the pilot is forced to swerve but he must quickly get level arid alid resume ills his ordered course meanwhile the observer studies III n bently the pitted earth below which would appear to the uninitiated as indefinite as a huge plowed held field but ill his practiced eye picks out its essential features and regardless of the shells lie he presses his lever at carefully timed intervals at last the deed Is done just as a shell bursts close under their tall tail and tosses them upward as a wave might lift a cork fortunately the damage Is slight Mills finished lied asks the pilot through his telephone finished says the observer observe 1 and they swing for home with an inevitable sense of relief it Is all in the days work a very ordinary joli job but even the airmans most ordinary job Is out of the common as a risky experience As for the knowledge obtained it may prove of vital importance the camera Is more than an eye it Is a weapon and the hand that controls it must be as purposeful and steady as if it held a rifle |