Abergavenny Chronicle

WAR BALLOONS. What They Do in the War. [By LIEUT. RICHMOND TEMPLE.] Together with the original four squad- rons of aeroplanes that went to France in 1914, the first Naval (Spherical) Balloon Section formed the nucleus of the Royal Air Force of to-day, whose aero- planes and observation balloons are now numbered by the thousand. Probably the first great battle in which balloons were used on a large scale was that of Verdun, in May and June, 1916, where the French used large numbers of them. It was in this battle that their fine counter-battery work, namely, ability to locate German batteries and then to register French guns on them until the batteries were destroyed, and also skill in obtaining intelligence of train and troop movements behind the German lines, at once established their position as one of the most vital weapons of the armies. When the Somme battle started, the great British air offensive was initiated by the destruction of no fewer than four- teen German observation balloons on the first day of July, 1916. On the Franco- British side of the lines there were counted twenty-five balloons at one time, hanging over the battle and closely watching and reporting every movement of the Germans. But the work of the balloons of the Royal Air Force is not only with the Armies. With the Navy they have been performing such varied tasks as sub- marine and mine locating, convoy work with the merchantmen, and scouting. As to how the Germans value and appreciate the work of their balloons (when the British and French aeroplanes allow them to stay up), this is best described by themelves in the language of Ludendorff, who, in the first days of the great battle of St. Quentin, in March this year, in an Order of the Day, con- gratulated the German air service in- cluding our observation balloons, which swiftly conveyed invaluable information to Headquarters of the enemy's move- ments, and of the progress of our own victorious troops." In addition, however, to all this "contact" work, marking the progress and position of the British and German troops, and telephoning the information straight through, from the air to Divisional or Army Corps Headquarters, in a battle, the observation balloons have work to do which keeps them busy, and taking advantage of every minute of visibility, on the quietest as well as on the busiest fronts. The observers have to learn, and know as intimately as the palm of their hands, every inch of the German held country in front of them; they have to watch while up, with the keenest eyes in the world, every known German battery; and, if one fires, or one in a new position is located, they have at once to report and then to direct and range the fire of a British battery on to it, until it is put out of action. All train movements are watched and immediately reported, and move- ments of bodies of troops or transport along roads, on to which, if they are within range, the destructive fire of British batteries is directed. These and the manifold amplifications and tasks they imply are among the uses of those fish-shaped balloons that ;re to be seen in the North Sea and in the Mediterranean, or hanging over the battle along the entire length of the Western front, from the Channel to the Vosges, and from dawn to sunset.

TAKING THE WATERS. [British Official. Royal Scots Greys giving their horse. a refresher In France.

IN ALBERT CATHEDRAL. Wrillsh Official This view, from a photograph taken Inside the Cathedral, 5h(;W8 what Albert looked like half an hour after we had pushed the Germans out.

TOURING PROPAGANDA VANS. 35 [By permission of the Autocar. The start of the tour of the National War Alms Committee's cine-motors, which or;, Cscribed on this pare. The illustration shows (from left to right) Capt. Quest, M. P., Capt. Barber (In khaki), Mr. o. W. Thompson, J Col. Saaders, M.P., Mr. Ja*. Parker, M.P., and Mr. Thos. Cox, Secretary to the Committee

Thrilling Incidents of the Fighting on Land, cn Sea, and in the Air I I A Wireless Operator's Heroism. To the many deeds of gallantry which have been performed at sea by wireless operators is to be added that of Wire- less Telegraphist Richard Holdsworth, R.N.V.R., who lost his life in endeavour- ing to save Lieut. 11. Law, R.N.R., during the sinking of H.M. Trawler Achilles II." in June last. The Achilles II. while mine sweep- ing, struck a mine and sank in a few minutes, the Captain and twelve members of the crew losing their lives. Just after the explosion, Holdsworth found Lieut. Law in a dying condition near the winch, and at once endeavoured to get him to the side of the vessel in the hope of obtaining assistance. Twice, the telegraphist was told to leave the ship and save himself, as it was then apparent that the Lieutenant was dead. He was, however, persisting in his endeavour to remove the body when the vessel sank. Holdsworth, who, by his devotion to the officer, had not had time to put on his lifebelt, was drowned, after having sustained injury. According to members of the crew, had Holdsworth not stayed to yefc the Lieutenant's body out of the ship lie might have saved himself. The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty have sent a letter to Mrs. E. A. Holds- worth, of 97, Headley Wood Road, Burnley, the mother, in the course of which thev say:—" Their Lordships are of opinion that your son displayed the utmost gallantry and devotion to duty at a time when the ship was in course of abandon- ment in remaining by Lieut. H. Law, R.N.R., who had been wounded, and I am to express to you their Lordships' warm appreciation of his most unselfish and gallant conduct." Second Bar to D.S.O. Conspicuous devotion to duty has gained for Lieutenant-Colonel C. W. H. Birt, D.S.O., of the Border Regiment, a second bar to his D.S.O. decoration. In the course of six days of hard fighting, his courage and example repeatedly saved the situation. For most of the time he was present in the front line, and was able to kp hold of his men. On one occasion, when our flanks had been forced back, he covered their withdrawal and afterwards skilfully drew his battalion from a position that could not possibly be held, re-estab- lishing it in a position in the rear. An M.P. Decorated. The Distinguished Service Order has been awarded to Capt. Colin Reith Coote, who sits in Parliament for the Wisbech Division of Cambridgeshire. During an enemy attack, he displayed conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. By his personal example and coolness be held his men together at a critical time and led two counter-attacks, inflicting many casualties and thus staying the enemy's advance and enabling the situation to be reorganised. He did very fine service. Captain Coote became M.P. in December last. When the war started, he enlisted as a private, being then about twenty-one. Afterwards he received a commission in the Gloucester Regiment, and was wounded on the Somme. Brave Attack on a Zeppelin. Three officers and a private have been decorated for a courageous attack on a Zeppelin off the North-east coast of Eng- land. The story of the incident was related the other day to a Press representa- tive by the mother of the private in ques- tion He is Second Gunlayer Arthur Tom Harman, of Edmonton, who told his mother the circumstances when he was home on leave recently. I knew that he I '?* k e this, said the would do something like this," said the proud mother. Lieutenant Keys chose my son to accompany him. At a tfeight of 17,000 feet they attacked a Zeppelin, and my son fired fatal shots, while Lieutenant Keys piloted the machine. Their descent was thrilling. Lieutenant Keys has been awarded the D.F.C. and my son the D.F.M." An Extraordinary Escape. One of the most remarkable ex- periences of the war is that of a British stoker petty officer who escaped from a British su bmarine which sank in home waters through an accident. Alone, in almost complete darkness, with the gradually rising water, receiving electric shocks, and towards the end suffering from chlorine gas and a badly-crushed hand, he worked for nearly two hours, keeping his head to the last, and at the seventh attempt to open the batch suc- ceeded in escaping. When the vessel began to sink he remained on board to see that the men were out of the engine- room. Then his only hope of escaping drowning, was to shut himself in that room. He conceived the idea of opening the hatch and floating to the surface, but he found that the tremendous pressure of the water outside prevented him from moving the hatch. He had always ac- cepted the theory that the pressure inside a sunken air-locked vessel could be greater than that outside. Therefore, in order to increase the pressure inside he opened a valve and admitted more water. When he considered the pressure sufficient to blow him out, he opened the hatch, but it instantly closed again. With his shoulder, exerting all his strength, he lifted the hatch, but again it slammed to, crushing his ifngers. With difficulty he released them, and once more opened the valve and admitted water un- til the engine-room was flooded ri£h, up to the coaming of the hatch. The air in this confined space was under enor- mous pressure, greater than that of the water outside, so that he was able to open the hatch, was shot out, and rose rapidly to the surface, where he was picked up by a destroyer. Hun Regiment's Quaint March. There was something surprising a bout the incompetence of the German officers at St. Mihiel the other day. The Prt's, Association's correspondent with the American Army mentions a case where an entire German regiment, with its com- mander and hi's staff, were captured. The regiment suddenly found Americans 'on all four sides of it. After surrender- ing, the commander requested that his roll should be called, so that he might dis- cover how heavy had been his losses. When it was called, every one answered to his name but one officer and a private. The commander then suggested, as hi? command was so disconcertingly com- plete, that he should march it off in what- ever direction his captors desired. So it came to pass that one was met by tn8 astonishing spectacle of an entire German regiment marching off the field of battle under its own officers and words of com- mand, guarded by a few joyous but ridiculously inadequate troopers, who looked, with their cowboy seat and reck- less good humour, like highland drovera herding home a drove of cattle.

I PROPAGANDA TOURS. In order that people in every part of the United Kingdom, including the most remote villages, may obtain a fuller knowledge of the events of the war and why we have still to continue it, a num- ber of cinematograph motor-cars have left London to show films throughout, the land These cars—cine-motors is their shortened name—belong to the National War Aims Committee. Thej number twenty in all, ten of which start- ed out during the latter part of SeptRill- ber. The illustration at the bottom of this page depicts the scene on the Horse Guards Parade, London, on September 18th, when the departure of the cars was witnessed by Capt. the Hon. Frederick Guest, M.P. (chairman of the War Aims Committee), Col. R. A. Sanders, M.P., Mr. Ian Malcolm, M.P., Mr. James Parker, M.P., Mr. Wallace Carter and Mr. G. W. Thompson, hon. secretaries of the Committee, Mr. Thomas Cox, secretary, and others interested in the success of the tours. The films displayed show the Navy ? submarines and other war vessels, the building of the standard ships, and such operations as laying mines and sweeping up enemy mines. There are pictures of the Army in France, Mesopotamia. and other war areas. War-flving and the training of aviators are the subjects of films, together with pictures of muni- tion workers, women at work on the land, and various departments of activity con- nected with the carrying on of the war. The cars stand in the open air and the exhibition is, of course, free to the pub- lic. No larger pictures have ever shown out of doors; the screen is 25 ft. in width, so that a large audience see everything without crowding upcu one another. Vibration is reduced to a minimum, and no one need fear the unpleasant effects of looking at pictures that flicker and irritate the eyes. Each cine-motor has its own electrical generat- ing plant. These tours are to last during t bi) autumn and winter, dates having been booked as far ahead as March. In Octo- ber the cars visit Anglesey, Denbigh, Carnarvonshire, Merioneth, Montgom- eryshire, Flintshire,- the Holderness a:vi Buckrose areas of Yorkshire, Doncast^r, Hemsworth, Daventry, Weliingboro f Peterboro'. Kettering, Cirenccff. Cheltenham, Gloucester, Stroud, Thorn- bury, Hereford, the Forest of Dean, Lichfield, Burton-on-Trent, Grantham, Lincoln, Gainsborough, Brigg, Louth. Chester, Wirral, Birkenhead, Liverpool. Widne-s, Bolton, Leigh, Stretford, Sal- ford, Eccles, Farnworth, Penrith, Cocker- mouth, Whitehaven, Workington, ana Carlisle. Discharged soldiers or men medically rejected are managing the cars, and a lecturer accompanies each vehicle Us describe the films to the audiences.