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009 - British Navy The navy and army transport The navy that flies · Military Strategies Mountain and Naval Warfare

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Speaker 1: Part nine of two essays on military history, strategy and
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Speaker 1: Tactics Mountain Warfare nineteen o nine and Naval Strategy nineteen
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Speaker 1: seventeen by various This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.
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Speaker 1: Part nine British Navy, Chapter seven, The Navy and Army Transport.
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Speaker 1: What of the mark? Ah seek it not in England?
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Speaker 1: A bold mark, an old mark, is waiting over sea,
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Speaker 1: where the string harps in chorus and the lion flag
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Speaker 1: is orus. It is there our work shall be, Sir
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Speaker 1: a Conan Doyle. The stupendous and scarcely calculable operation of
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Speaker 1: transporting by sea the enormous armies which are employed in
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Speaker 1: many theaters of the hostilities is the index and measure
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Speaker 1: of the greatest of all the triumphs of naval power
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Speaker 1: in the war, namely that of establishing and maintaining essential
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Speaker 1: command of the sea. Against this bulwark the enemy's naval
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Speaker 1: forces have battled in vain. The submarine a may in
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Speaker 1: some degree and in some circumstances, affect command of the sea,
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Speaker 1: but it cannot exercise it. It is difficult to realize
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Speaker 1: all that the transport of millions of men organized as
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Speaker 1: armies and provided with all that armies require has meant
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Speaker 1: to the Allies, or to bring home to ourselves a
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Speaker 1: full sense of what the responsibilities of the navy have
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Speaker 1: been in safeguarding them. The armies of Frederic and Napoleon
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Speaker 1: were pigmies compared with the vast hosts which are set
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Speaker 1: in the field today. When Frederick invaded Silesia, he had
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Speaker 1: with him not more than thirty thousand men. The Motley
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Speaker 1: army with which Napoleon invaded Russia, the greatest that had
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Speaker 1: ever been brought under a single command, did not greatly
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Speaker 1: exceed six hundred thousand on a liberal computation. Wellington in
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Speaker 1: the Peninsula never commanded fifty thousand men. But in March
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Speaker 1: nineteen sixteen, Mister Balfour, then First Lord of the Admiralty,
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Speaker 1: said that four million combatants had already been transported under
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Speaker 1: the guardianship of the British Fleet, with one million horses
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Speaker 1: and other animals, two million, five hundred thousand tons of stores,
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Speaker 1: and twenty two million gallons of oil for a British
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Speaker 1: use and the use of the Allies. In January nineteen seventeen,
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Speaker 1: Admiral Sir John Jellico, first Sea Lord, said that over
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Speaker 1: seven million men had been transported, together with all the guns,
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Speaker 1: munitions and stores they required. Six months later, when the
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Speaker 1: United States troops began to arrive, the figure may be
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Speaker 1: estimated to have reached ten million. The victory of Germany
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Speaker 1: would have been swift and decisive if the great armies
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Speaker 1: represented by these figures had not come to the support
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Speaker 1: of France, which troops from Northern Africa and the East
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Speaker 1: also joined her brave army. Because transport in the Mediterranean
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Speaker 1: was secure. The Great Army of Russia could have made
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Speaker 1: no offensive movement if she had not received the immense
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Speaker 1: supplies of guns, munitions, motors, and other materiel which came
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Speaker 1: to her from abroad. Because of British supremacy at sea
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Speaker 1: and the shipping that consequently came there, Archangel from being
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Speaker 1: a sleepy harbor, developed into one of the busiest ports
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Speaker 1: on the continent of Europe. Italy could have made no
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Speaker 1: headway if many of the things she required had not
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Speaker 1: come to her by sea. Greece would have remained permanently
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Speaker 1: on the side of the enemy if sea power and
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Speaker 1: the troops transported there had not rallied her to the Allies.
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Speaker 1: The German colonies would not have been occupied if fleets
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Speaker 1: had not carried to them the troops for their subjection. England,
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Speaker 1: by virtue of sea command guaranteed by her fleet, has
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Speaker 1: gathered her armies from India, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and
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Speaker 1: from every colony and possession, and has sent them to
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Speaker 1: serve in France, Belgium, Greece, Gallipoli, Egypt, Palestine, Macedonia, Mesopotamia
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Speaker 1: and Africa. Not a soldier has gone afloat, but a
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Speaker 1: seaman has carried him on his back. Before we can
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Speaker 1: appreciate this aspect of the work of the Navy in
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Speaker 1: the war, we must gain some idea of what is
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Speaker 1: implied by the military service of these armies in the field.
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Speaker 1: It is not enough to despatch armies. They must be
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Speaker 1: maintained and supplied. The communications of an army are vital
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Speaker 1: to its operations, and the communications of all the armies
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Speaker 1: that England is employing are by sea and are guarded
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Speaker 1: by the Navy. It would not be an easy thing
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Speaker 1: to estimate the vast requirements of fighting forces, but that
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Speaker 1: is unnecessary. They are on an infinitely greater scale in
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Speaker 1: proportion to the strength the troops employed than in any
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Speaker 1: previous war. Guns are far more numerous and much heavier
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Speaker 1: than they were. The expenditure of ammunition has gone beyond
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Speaker 1: all anticipation, and a real fleet is required for its transport, horses, mules,
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Speaker 1: many descriptions of heavy and light ordnance and ammunition for them,
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Speaker 1: warlike and general stores of innumerable kinds, aeroplanes, balloons, the
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Speaker 1: gigantic tanks, hospitals and hospital requisites, clothing, food forage, camp equipment,
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Speaker 1: transport vehicles, traction engines, pontooning, railway, telegraph, building and mining material,
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Speaker 1: locomotives of many kinds, petrol, and one hundred other stores
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Speaker 1: and things are necessary, and they must day and night
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Speaker 1: be in transit without rest or pause. It will illustrate
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Speaker 1: the gigantic nature of the operation if we record that
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Speaker 1: between November nineteen sixteen and June nineteen seventeen, two thousand
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Speaker 1: miles of complete railway track were shipped with nearly one
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Speaker 1: thousand locomotives and other supplies by railway companies. Labor and
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Speaker 1: work for one hundred different services have to be provided. Also,
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Speaker 1: the United States and other countries have contributed enormous supplies,
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Speaker 1: and with the coming of the American Army. The volume
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Speaker 1: of the ceaseless Torrent, the veritable Niagara will increase still more.
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Speaker 1: History has no parallel for such operations, this vast business
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Speaker 1: being the charge of the British Navy and of the
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Speaker 1: navies allied with it. We see how great an object
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Speaker 1: it must be of the enemy to strike at the
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Speaker 1: mines of supply. That they have completely failed would appear
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Speaker 1: almost miraculous if we did not know that the reasons
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Speaker 1: for the failure are altogether of a practical character. It
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Speaker 1: was inevitable that there should be some losses when submarines
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Speaker 1: and mind layers were at work, but the destruction effected
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Speaker 1: has been a mere fraction of the whole, and the
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Speaker 1: influence upon the campaigns is entirely negligible. The Ministry of
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Speaker 1: Munitions imports one million, five hundred thousand tons of materiel
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Speaker 1: every month. The most considerable loss due to attack has
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Speaker 1: been in the matter of shell components, but it did
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Speaker 1: not amount to more than five point nine per cent
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Speaker 1: of the whole supply. From the beginning of the submarine
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Speaker 1: campaign up to June nineteen seventeen, the most serious disasters
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Speaker 1: were in the Mediterranean, where submarines sank the French transport's
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Speaker 1: province to a Galia and engaged in the Salonica Expedition,
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Speaker 1: with the loss of about sixteen hundred lives. The enemy
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Speaker 1: will certainly continue his efforts. Never was a more seriously
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Speaker 1: planned attempt made than that of June twenty second, nineteen seventeen,
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Speaker 1: when General Pershing's American Expeditionary Force was crossing the Atlantic.
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Speaker 1: German submarines in considerable force made two attacks upon the transports,
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Speaker 1: and on both occasions were beaten off with every appearance
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Speaker 1: of loss. One submarine was certainly sunk, and there was
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Speaker 1: reason to believe that the accurate fire of the American
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Speaker 1: gunners sent others to the bottom. For purposes of convenience,
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Speaker 1: the expedition had been divided into contingents, each composed of
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Speaker 1: troop ships and a naval escort designed to keep off
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Speaker 1: such raiders as might be met with, and ocean rendezvous
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Speaker 1: was arranged with the American destroyers then operating in European waters,
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Speaker 1: in order that the passage through the danger zone might
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Speaker 1: be attempted by every possible protection. There was reason to
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Speaker 1: believe that the Germans had secret intelligence of the course
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Speaker 1: taken by the transports to the rendezvous and of the
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Speaker 1: time appointed for their arrival there. The first attack occurred
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Speaker 1: at ten thirty PM at a point well on the
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Speaker 1: American side of the rendezvous, in a part of the
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Speaker 1: Atlantic which might have been presumed free from submarines. The
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Speaker 1: heavy gun fire of the American destroyers scattered the enemy boats,
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Speaker 1: and five torpedoes were seen. The second attack was launched
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Speaker 1: a few days later against the other contingent on the
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Speaker 1: European side of the rendezvous. Not only did destroyers hold
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Speaker 1: the boats at a safe distance, but their speed resulted
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Speaker 1: in sinking. At least one submarine bombs were dropped, firing
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Speaker 1: a charge of explosive time to go off at a
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Speaker 1: certain distance under water. In one instance, the wreckage covered
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Speaker 1: the surface of the sea after a shot at a
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Speaker 1: periscope protected by our high seas convoy destroyers and by
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Speaker 1: French war vessels, said the Secretary of the United States Navy.
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Speaker 1: The contingent proceeded and joined the others at a French port.
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Speaker 1: The whole nation will rejoice that so great apparel has
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Speaker 1: passed for the vangal guard of the men who will
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Speaker 1: fight our battles in France. This incident illustrates the method
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Speaker 1: of protection chiefly employed by the British Navy. When the
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Speaker 1: original expeditionary force was sent to France, the Grand Fleet
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Speaker 1: was in readiness if the high Sea Fleet should venture
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Speaker 1: to issue to sea. Cruisers, destroyers, naval aircraft and submarines
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Speaker 1: were on watch and guard in the North Sea and
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Speaker 1: the Channel, and the patrol was maintained day and night
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Speaker 1: without intermission until the army had been effectively transported. The
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Speaker 1: patrol was then organized upon a greater scale as the
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Speaker 1: transport grew in volume. The Dover Patrol undertook a work
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Speaker 1: of the highest importance and was instrumental in holding off
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Speaker 1: all destroyer attacks from the eastward. Cruisers, destroyers, armed motor launches,
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Speaker 1: mine trawlers and drifters and other vessels have been constantly
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Speaker 1: at work and observation. Balloons and seaplanes no never ceased
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Speaker 1: their vigil. The triumph has been complete, the enemy submarines
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Speaker 1: have never penetrated the guard, and the channel communications of
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Speaker 1: all the armies in France have been made secure. There
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Speaker 1: are certain features of this organization which cannot be dealt
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Speaker 1: with here. The same system has been carried into the
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Speaker 1: Mediterranean and elsewhere, and the French, Italian and Japanese navies
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Speaker 1: have shared in the work in this matter of transport protection.
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Speaker 1: The British Navy has rendered magnificent service to all the allies.
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Speaker 1: General Sir Charles Monroe, after the evacuation of Gallipoli, said
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Speaker 1: it was a stroke of good fortune for the Army
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Speaker 1: to be associated with a service whose work remained throughout
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Speaker 1: this anxious period beyond the power of criticism or cavil
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Speaker 1: and General Sir Ian Hamilton reported that one tiny flaw
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Speaker 1: in the mutual trust and confidence animating the two services
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Speaker 1: would have wrecked the whole enterprise. This is true not
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Speaker 1: only of Gallipoli, but of every place in which the
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Speaker 1: Navy has been serving as the guard of the communications
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Speaker 1: and the base and support of the military forces. It
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Speaker 1: will be understood that the Transport Department of the British
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Speaker 1: Admiralty undertook a colossal work at the beginning of the war.
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Speaker 1: It possessed the unrivaled experience gained during the South African
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Speaker 1: War eighteen ninety nine to nineteen o one, when about
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Speaker 1: two hundred and seventy five thousand men were dispatched and
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Speaker 1: supplied with all army requirements over a distance of seven
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Speaker 1: thousand miles of sea and land. Then there was no
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Speaker 1: enemy afloat, but the operation was greater than any previously undertaken,
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Speaker 1: and evoked the admiration of the world as a revelation
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Speaker 1: of resource energy, organization, national spirit, good management, and business
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Speaker 1: like capacity. What will be said when the now incalculable
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Speaker 1: work of the Transport Department in this war can be
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Speaker 1: estimated and described. The inspection and selection of ships and
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Speaker 1: the conversion of them for the accommodation of troops and
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Speaker 1: horses was a great business. In eighteen ninety nine it
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Speaker 1: was estimated that a satisfactory transport should be capable of
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Speaker 1: carrying a number of men equal to twenty five percent
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Speaker 1: of her tonnage. What is the rule now? One cannot say.
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Speaker 1: There are important considerations of ballasting, speed, coal consumption, and
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Speaker 1: other matters in such business, and the removal or adaptation
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Speaker 1: of existing fittings and the allotting of space for various
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Speaker 1: purposes have occupied the Admiralty officers and officials. It was
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Speaker 1: a business both of embarkation and dis embarkation on both
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Speaker 1: sides of the channel, and special provision was required for
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Speaker 1: the wounded and sick. The naval transport and embarkation officers
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Speaker 1: have had a very exhausting and anxious time in taking
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Speaker 1: up fitting, coaling, and otherwise preparing vessels for sea, and
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Speaker 1: in giving orders for the movements of ships at the
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Speaker 1: ports on arrival and departure, as well as in providing
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Speaker 1: for the safety and expedition of all embarkations of men,
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Speaker 1: horses and stores, and arranging for docking and like matters.
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Speaker 1: They merit the gratitude of the country and the allies.
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Speaker 1: It may be said that in all the naval and
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Speaker 1: commercial ports of the United Kingdom, and in the French
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Speaker 1: ports as well, work of this or like kind has
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Speaker 1: been in progress uninterruptedly since the beginning of the war.
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Speaker 1: It is strictly naval work and has set on an
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Speaker 1: excellent and satisfactory footing by the Admiralty. But as the
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Speaker 1: war progressed and the pressure grew greater, imposing additional duties
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Speaker 1: on the Transport Department, some matters dealt with by certain
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Speaker 1: of its branches, and concerned with ship construction, modification and repair,
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Speaker 1: were placed in charge of competent civilians. Chapter eight. The
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Speaker 1: Navy that flies heard the heavens fill with shouting, and
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Speaker 1: there reigned a ghastly due from the nation's airy navies
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Speaker 1: grappling in the central Blue. Tennyson, from an account of
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Speaker 1: the work of the British Navy in the war, there
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Speaker 1: must not be omitted some exposition of the gallant doings
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Speaker 1: of the men of the Royal Naval Air Service. They
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Speaker 1: have made their mark in the war in every theater
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Speaker 1: of it, and no one can tell what part they
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Speaker 1: will play before the struggle is at an end. Of
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Speaker 1: some of their work very little is known. They render
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Speaker 1: silent service, like that of the Navy to which they belong.
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Speaker 1: They do not always carry on their duty alone. On
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Speaker 1: occasions they participate in that of the Royal Flying Corps
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Speaker 1: of the Army. They have been associated with a gallant
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Speaker 1: French airmen, and the Americans come with a new burst
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Speaker 1: of energy. The Germans no British naval airmen as Abruga
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Speaker 1: and Osten, and in all the country behind those places
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Speaker 1: at sea, also when the German raiders returned from their exploits,
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Speaker 1: and on the west front of the army too, where
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Speaker 1: they go at times far behind the line, spying out
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Speaker 1: the land, taking number and note of the enemy, dropping
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Speaker 1: bombs on his store and ammunition dumps, disturbing all his
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Speaker 1: rearward services and stirring up his aerodromes and the nursing
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Speaker 1: places where his fledglings, whom they call quirks, are taking
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Speaker 1: to themselves wings and learning to fly. The Royal Naval
16:45
Speaker 1: Air Service has lent its aid to the Italians, has
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Speaker 1: provided unpleasant experiences for the Bulgarians, has dropped bombs on
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Speaker 1: the Turks at Gaza and thereabout, has rendered good service
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Speaker 1: in the Mesopotamia in business, and was invaluable in spotting
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Speaker 1: for the guns which destroyed the fugitive German cruiser Gernicksburg
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Speaker 1: in the jungle clad reaches of the Refuji River. From
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Speaker 1: dawn to dusk, these Nights of the Air have been
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Speaker 1: flying in many parts of the world, and night flying
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Speaker 1: is their particular pleasure when there is great work to
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Speaker 1: be done. Their game book is very full of astounding
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Speaker 1: episodes of fighting, which, in exciting experiences, put into the
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Speaker 1: shade the thrilling narratives which for generations have delighted the
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Speaker 1: hearts of boys. Few people know the sleepless vigil which
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Speaker 1: the Naval Airmen keep all round the British coasts, constantly
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Speaker 1: flying to keep watch upon the enemy, to spot his submarines,
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Speaker 1: to discover his mind fields, and to defeat any efforts
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Speaker 1: he may make when transports are moving at sea. Such
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Speaker 1: is an outline of the occupation and duties of the
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Speaker 1: Royal Naval Air Service, an Air Department at the Admiralty
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Speaker 1: before the war, and a Navy wing of the Royal
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Speaker 1: Flying Corps with its Central Air Office, its Flying School
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Speaker 1: at Eastchurch, and seaplane and aeroplane stations at six places
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Speaker 1: on the coast, as well as airships at Farnborough and
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Speaker 1: Kings North at the Royal Inspection at Spitthead of the
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Speaker 1: Great Mobilized Fleet. Just before the war, naval aeroplane, seaplanes
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Speaker 1: and airships gave a fine display. Development was rapid. The
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Speaker 1: Royal Naval Air Service came into independent existence, and there
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Speaker 1: is now the Fifth Sea Lord at the Admiralty, charged
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Speaker 1: with the supervision of the Royal Naval Air Service and
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Speaker 1: representing it on the air board. Some of the most
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Speaker 1: useful work of the Royal Naval Air Service is in
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Speaker 1: spotting for the guns of the warships. Its officers made
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Speaker 1: a methodical photographic survey of the coast from Newport to
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Speaker 1: the Dutch frontier early in the war, to assist the
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Speaker 1: monitors which were then bombarding the coast, and to observe
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Speaker 1: and correct their fire. They worked from a height of
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Speaker 1: about twelve thousand feet, constantly observing the development of the
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Speaker 1: enemy's gun in placements. All in despite of hostile airplanes
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Speaker 1: and shells. That survey has been continued, and the result
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Speaker 1: is the finest thing in aerial cartography which has ever
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Speaker 1: been achieved. It will illustrate this part of the special
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Speaker 1: work of the sea planes if we describe how they began,
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Speaker 1: which we are enabled to do by a lively witted
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Speaker 1: official scribe who examined the records of their operations and
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Speaker 1: has given his impressions. I can't see where they're pitching,
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Speaker 1: said the Navy that floats, referring to the shells of
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Speaker 1: the monitors bursting twelve miles away. What about spotting for us,
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Speaker 1: old son, that will do, replied the Navy that flies,
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Speaker 1: and more Also, but I shall have to work khaki,
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Speaker 1: because it's done out there by everybody, apparently where anything
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Speaker 1: you like, replied the Navy that floats, As long as
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Speaker 1: you help us to hit those shore batteries. Only because
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Speaker 1: you wear khaki. The Royal Naval Air Service does not
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Speaker 1: usually wear khaki and sea life. Don't forget. You're still
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Speaker 1: the same old Navy as it was in the beginning.
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Speaker 1: Is now and ever shall be the Navy that flies,
20:27
Speaker 1: added amen and said that it wouldn't forget wherever its
20:32
Speaker 1: squadrons were based. They rigged a flagstaff and flew the
20:35
Speaker 1: white ensign at the peak. They erected wooden huts and
20:39
Speaker 1: painted them service gray, labeling them mess deck, wardroom, gun room,
20:44
Speaker 1: et cetera, as the case might be. They divided the
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Speaker 1: flights into port and starboard watches and solemnly asked leave
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Speaker 1: to go ashore for recreation. They filled in shell holes
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Speaker 1: and level the ground for aerodromes. They ran up hangers
20:59
Speaker 1: and excavated dugouts. Whither they retired in a strong silent rush.
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Speaker 1: The expression is theirs. When the apprehensive Bosh attempted to
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Speaker 1: curtail their activity with bombs, not all the good work
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Speaker 1: of the Royal Naval Air Service in its cooperation with
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Speaker 1: the fleet comes into public notice. It rendered excellent service
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Speaker 1: at the Dartanelle, the seaplane carrier ARC Royal being present.
21:25
Speaker 1: There were many fine achievements, including the bombing of a
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Speaker 1: transport in the Straits by Flight Commander C. H. K. Edmunds,
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Speaker 1: Royal Navy. Seaplanes may take the place of scouting cruisers
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Speaker 1: as the eyes of the fleet, and relieve destroyers of
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Speaker 1: some of their scouting duties. What would Nelson not have
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Speaker 1: given for the help of seaplanes when he was crying
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Speaker 1: out for frigates and was groping for the French in
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Speaker 1: the Mediterranean in seventeen ninety eight and came unknowingly within
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Speaker 1: a short distance of them, or again when in eighteen
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Speaker 1: o five they eluded him off to lent. Intelligence of
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Speaker 1: the movements of our enemy is of the utmost importance
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Speaker 1: to officers commanding at sea, and this is the service
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Speaker 1: which the naval airmen have been rendering. At the beginning
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Speaker 1: of the war, the Germans enjoyed an advantage in the
22:16
Speaker 1: possession of some dirigible airships which sailed in calm airs
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Speaker 1: unimpeded over the North Sea, surveyed its full extent, and
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Speaker 1: reported what they saw to the German naval authorities. Their
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Speaker 1: number rapidly increased. Thus the British fleet was to a
22:33
Speaker 1: certain extent hampered in its operations. Now the situation is changed.
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Speaker 1: The enemy's airships know the peril of coming within range
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Speaker 1: of anti aircraft guns, and they dread the hornets, which
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Speaker 1: carry special means of setting them on fire. There are
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Speaker 1: British airships too, and observation captive balloons fixed and towed,
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Speaker 1: as well as seaplanes maintained inadequate numbers. The seaplane played
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Speaker 1: a useful part in the Battle of the Jutland Bank,
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Speaker 1: and craft of the class will astonish the enemy in
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Speaker 1: any subsequent naval engagement. The dropping of bombs by the
23:13
Speaker 1: seaplanes or aeroplanes of the Royal Naval Air Service has
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Speaker 1: become the most prominent of its activities. The machines are
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Speaker 1: of great power and acting in numbers, they have been
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Speaker 1: able to drop an enormous weight of bombs on the
23:27
Speaker 1: enemy positions, particularly in the districts behind the coast of
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Speaker 1: West Flanders. Within the space of four or five months,
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Speaker 1: seventy tons of explosives were dropped on the German aerodromes
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Speaker 1: in northern Belgium. Brave naval airmen in July nineteen seventeen,
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Speaker 1: from a height of eight hundred feet, dropped bombs on
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Speaker 1: the Gubbon and other enemy warships at the Golden horn
23:53
Speaker 1: and hit the Turkish War Office. Also in this work
23:56
Speaker 1: the young officers for the service demands use have given
24:01
Speaker 1: proof of exceeding keenness. It would be difficult to catalog
24:05
Speaker 1: the expeditions of the naval airmen on the Belgian coast.
24:09
Speaker 1: They have assisted in most important operations. How far such
24:14
Speaker 1: work may be continued, to what range carried, or what
24:18
Speaker 1: will be the full effect, We do not know. The
24:21
Speaker 1: navy that flies will leave nothing undone that is capable
24:25
Speaker 1: of accomplishment. It has operated an association with the work
24:29
Speaker 1: of French flying men on many occasions, at the bombardment
24:33
Speaker 1: of Zebruga and elsewhere. It will find a powerful co
24:38
Speaker 1: worker in the new and gallant allies, who are bringing
24:41
Speaker 1: all their forces to bear from beyond the Atlantic. The
24:45
Speaker 1: United States Air Service will develop with extraordinary rapidity, and
24:49
Speaker 1: its co operation will be warmly welcomed by British naval airmen.
24:53
Speaker 1: So abundant is the confidence of Americans, so strong and
24:58
Speaker 1: virile their faith in themselves, that some of them look
25:01
Speaker 1: to the aeroplane to end the war. Readmo. Bradley Athisk
25:05
Speaker 1: has demanded an immediate naval attack on the German fleet
25:09
Speaker 1: and submarine bases in the Baltic by a monster fleet
25:13
Speaker 1: of aeroplanes and seaplanes. He believes that the importance of
25:17
Speaker 1: naval aerial operations is not sufficiently realized by the Allies,
25:22
Speaker 1: and that Essen may be destroyed by bombardment from the air.
25:26
Speaker 1: The field of speculation does not fall within the scope
25:30
Speaker 1: of this little book, the object of which is to
25:32
Speaker 1: illustrate the work of the Fleet and its associated services
25:36
Speaker 1: in all the theaters of war. The Royal Naval Air
25:40
Speaker 1: Service is still young and has undoubtedly a great future.
25:44
Speaker 1: Already it has proved a valuable auxiliary. It has assisted
25:48
Speaker 1: in the important business of providing complete strategical observations. It
25:53
Speaker 1: has aided the work of the commercial blockade in making
25:56
Speaker 1: more easy on many occasions the operation of the much
26:00
Speaker 1: tried Examination Service. Undoubtedly, the transport of the armies and
26:06
Speaker 1: their stores across the Channel and in many seas, which
26:10
Speaker 1: was the subject of the last chapter, would have been
26:13
Speaker 1: conducted with less certainty and perhaps with less confidence, if
26:17
Speaker 1: it had not been for the active cooperation as the
26:20
Speaker 1: eyes of the fleet of the naval flying men, the
26:25
Speaker 1: long range gunnery of warships against permanent fortifications, both at
26:29
Speaker 1: the Dardanelle and on the Belgian coast, has gained an
26:34
Speaker 1: accuracy from the observation by the aircraft of the Navy.
26:38
Speaker 1: This subject might have been pursued further, but enough has
26:42
Speaker 1: been said to show that among the agencies employed by
26:45
Speaker 1: the British Fleet in the accomplishment of the supreme duties
26:49
Speaker 1: which it exercises for the safety of the country and
26:52
Speaker 1: the support of the Allies, the Royal Naval Air Service
26:56
Speaker 1: holds an important place. It has evoked enthusias chasm among
27:00
Speaker 1: its officers, who have maintained in a high degree in
27:04
Speaker 1: many a battle in the air, the fearlessness, resource and
27:08
Speaker 1: daring of the Naval Service to which they belong, and
27:13
Speaker 1: apart nine