The aeroplane has located its objective and
has returned to the pre-arranged altitude. A red light is thrown
by the airman. It indicates that he is directly over the enemy's
position. A similarly coloured light is shown by the artillery
officer, which intimates to the airman that his signal has been
observed and that the range has been taken.
In observing the effects of artillery fire a code of signals is
employed between the airman and the artillery officer to indicate
whether the shot is "long" or "short," to the right or to the
left of the mark, while others intimate whether the fuse is
correctly timed or otherwise. It is necessary to change the code
fairly frequently, not only lest it should fall into the enemy's
hands, but also to baffle the hostile forces; otherwise, after a
little experience, the latter would be able to divine the
significance of the signals, and, in anticipation of being
greeted with a warm fusillade, would complete hurried
arrangements to mitigate its effects, if not to vacate the
position until the bombardment had ceased.
Sufficient experience has already been gathered, however, to
prove the salient fact that the airman is destined to play an
important part in the direction and control of artillery-fire.
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