The decoy glider is generally accompanied by
one or two aeroplanes under control, which keep under the cover
of the clouds until the hostile aviators have been drawn into the
air, when they swoop down to the attack. The raiders are fully
aware that they are not likely to become the target of fire from
the ground, owing to the fact that the enemy's artillery might
hit its friends. Consequently the antagonistic airmen are left
to settle their own account. In the meantime the dummy machine
draws nearer to the ground to explode and to scatter its
death-dealing fragments of steel, iron, and bullets in all
directions.
Possibly in no other phase of warfare is subterfuge practised so
extensively as in the concealment of guns. The branches of trees
constitute the most complete protection and guns are placed in
position beneath a liberal cover of this character. The branches
also offer a screen for the artillerymen, who can lurk beneath
this shelter until the aeroplane has passed. To complete the
illusion dummy guns fashioned from tree trunks and the wheels of
useless limbers are rigged up, and partially hidden under
branches, the idea being to convey the impression to the man
aloft that they are the actual artillery.
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