This trait became more pronounced as the
campaigns of the Aisne progressed. Accordingly the airman adopts
a daring procedure. He swoops down over suspicious places, where
he thinks guns may be lurking, hoping that the enemy will betray
its presence. The ruse is invariably successful. The airman
makes a sudden dive towards the earth. The soldiers in hiding
below, who have become somewhat demoralised by the accuracy of
the British aerial bomb-throwers, have an attack of nerves. They
open a spirited fusillade in the hope of bringing the airman to
earth. But their very excitement contributes to his safety. The
shots are fired without careful aim and expend themselves
harmlessly. Sweeping once more upwards, the airman regains the
pre-determined level, performs a certain evolution in the air
which warns the observer at his base that he has made a
discovery, and promptly drops his guiding signal directly over
the point from which he has drawn fire.
Operations at night are conducted by means of coloured lights or
an electrical searchlight system. In the former instance three
lights are generally carried--white, red, and green--each of
which has a distinctive meaning.
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