FROM VICTORY TO VICTORY
At a later date (September 12, 1916) a writer in the _Daily Chronicle_
remarked: ‘All reports, official and unofficial, concur in warm praise
of the daring, resourceful, and effective work of the British airmen.
Our supremacy over the Germans in the aerial arm is incontestable.
Every day’s fighting brings evidence of it. Not only are the exploits
of our airmen the theme of admiring comment by our own soldiers, but
they also extort reluctant tributes of admiration even from the enemy.
Were it not for the accurate observation of these fearless, hawk-eyed
scouts of the air, the marvellously effective results achieved by our
gunners in the recent fighting would not have been possible, and the
difficulties in the way of our heroic infantry would have been vastly
increased.’
By general consent, then, our aerial scouts far surpass those of the
enemy in this work. Our aeroplanes have constantly hovered over his
lines, his seldom over ours. Casualties have been inevitable in these
perilous enterprises, but such is the dexterity of our fliers that the
price paid has not been nearly so high as the risks run would suggest.
In point of fact, our losses in the air have been less than those of
the enemy, despite the greater enterprise and the bolder initiative of
British airmen. ‘From July 1 to September 17 in France we destroyed no
fewer than 104 German aeroplanes.’ These figures, compiled from the
official reports, are the more impressive when it is remembered that
it is the British rule not to include enemy machines damaged as lost,
but only those that have, in fact, been actually destroyed. It is not
surprising, in the light of the remarkable achievements of the British
air service in the battle-line, that its critics, so loud-voiced a
few months ago, have been silenced. Fresh in everybody’s recollection
is the ridiculous fuss made by some sensational newspapers over the
Fokker and its wonderful qualities. Where is the Fokker now? Where have
those scribes vanished who were daily ‘crabbing’ our air service, now
admittedly the best in the world? Will they, wherever they are, have
the assurance to claim that it is their criticisms that have wrought
what they would call the change? If so, it would be a baseless claim,
absolutely without justification of any kind. Our Air Service has
evolved steadily in strength and efficiency ever since the outbreak
of war. Of course mistakes were made in the process of evolution
and expansion. They could not be avoided in a new service, rapidly
extending, and necessarily involving experimental changes in design
and structure. But the progress has been steady and uninterrupted ever
since the war began.
The truth is, the original expeditionary force was well equipped with
aeroplanes and well-trained pilots. Later came the rapid expansion of
the army, which imposed heavy new demands on the Royal Flying Corps.
Those demands have all been met. It is to the credit of the late Lord
Kitchener that from the first he recognized the great importance of the
aeroplane in this war. ‘When in the early autumn of 1914 authorization
was sought for the manufacture of a sufficient number of machines to
equip thirty new air squadrons he at once doubled the number, ordering
not 720 aeroplanes, but 1,440.’ This was a notable instance of Lord
Kitchener’s prevision as to the scale of the war. Early in 1915 a very
large new constructive programme was embarked upon, and the output
since then has progressively increased. At first we relied chiefly on
France for the engines of our flying-machines. Now some of our best
engines are made at home.
The interim report of Mr. Justice Bailhache’s Committee, issued early
in August, 1916, said: ‘There has been an enormous expansion of the
Flying Service since the war; and all the critics of the Service,
without exception, have borne testimony to the great progress made in
its efficiency—a progress which, although most noticeable since the
beginning of this year is, in the opinion of the Committee, the result
of many months of strenuous work. To this efficiency the recent reports
from the front bear eloquent witness.’
Early in September, 1916, one who enjoyed facilities for visiting
flying centres, and learning at first hand of the progress of aviation
in the country, remarked that ‘there was no need to be an expert to
appreciate the remarkable change that had come over certain districts,
where, what a few months ago were mere country villages or stretches
of pine wood, have been transformed into industrial centres, with as
many signs of bustle and industry as are to be found in the great
shipbuilding centres of the British Isles.
‘A really remarkable thing is the enterprise and adaptability of firms
who had never tackled the job before in organizing their work so that
Britain’s output of machines was marvellously increased. Now the fruits
of long and costly experimental work are being reaped, and the rate of
output increases every week. This applies not to one establishment,
but to the hundreds of works throughout the kingdom. So much is this
the case that a country which at the beginning of war was believed to
be behind in this branch of warfare is able not only to supply its own
needs but also those of its Allies.’
The same careful, persistent, and unobtrusive research work that
has brought British aircraft to the top has also resulted in great
improvements in the construction and invention of bomb sights and
dropping appliances. British engines, too, are now second to none
in point of power, and great improvements are to be recorded in
carburettors and special appliances for flight at high altitudes. The
same progress is to be recorded in the matter of speed. The average
speed of aeroplanes as used by our Air Service two years ago was from
sixty-five to seventy miles per hour. Nowadays it is much higher.
As regards the future, a British officer remarked at the time now in
mind: ‘With all the results achieved so far, and the knowledge gained
by this great war, there is no reason to doubt that the British Air
Service—like the British Navy—will be the premier in the world. That
is our constant aim.’