§ 8. Mr. JOYNSON-HICKSasked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether a lieutenant of the Royal Flying Corps was recently sentenced in Germany to twelve months' hard labour for referring in a letter to the Germans as Huns; and, if so, what steps the Government proposes to take?
§ Mr. HOPE (Lord of the Treasury)The officer referred to by my hon. Friend is presumably Sergeant E. A. Boyd, Royal Naval Air Service, who was reported by the German Press to have been sentenced to a year's imprisonment for referring in a dispatch previous to his capture to the Germans as "Huns." According to the official German report, Sergeant Boyd was sentenced for "insulting a superior and a subordinate." His Majesty's Government have asked for full details of the trial. I regret that so far no satisfactory reply has yet been received.
§ Mr. JOYNSON-HICKSMay I take it that the Government will continue to press for proper information?
§ 9. Mr. JOYNSON-HICKSasked the Under-Secretary of State for War if ho can now give any details as to our recent successful air raids into Germany?
§ Mr. MACPHERSONSince October we have made thirty-eight effective raids into Germany, and we have dropped 48 tons of explosives—a remarkable achievement under the circumstances. The conditions under which these raids have been carried out during the winter have been extremely difficult. In the 785 Lorraine region, throughout the winter, it is only on rare occasions that flying can be successfully carried out.
Low clouds, high winds, rain, and snow are the normal features of the weather in this area, whilst, when the weather is otherwise fine, heavy mists lie over the valleys and render the location of targets extremely difficult. This is particularly so in the case of the valleys in which the German ironworks and factories are situated. Intense cold has been experienced, machine guns have been frozen, and there have been several cases of frostbite. Stress must be laid on the difficulty of finding the way in an unknown country, more particularly where clearly defined landmarks are absent.
Approximately 250 flights have been made in the course of these raids, during which only ten machines have been lost.
There has been a steady increase in the number of raids carried out and the amount of explosive dropped, whilst the increased distance to which raids have been carried into Germany is most satisfactory. This is particularly so in the case of the recent raids during March, which have so far been eight in number.
I would point out that the majority of raids by British machines have been carried out in broad daylight, and photographs have been taken of the bursting bombs, placing the accuracy of the reports received of their effect beyond all shadow of doubt. Further, by attacking in daylight, it has been possible to concentrate attack on objects of actual military importance—a striking contrast to the promiscuous methods adopted by the enemy.
During the night raids our machines have descended to low heights, and fired at searchlights, trains, and railway stations. A steady increase has been observed in the enemy's anti-aircraft defences, the number of searchlights, guns, and aeroplanes. These latter have been defeated with loss whenever they have attempted to intervene.
On other occasions our pilots have attacked enemy machines drawn up on the aerodromes, preparatory to making bombing raids into France. The following report on a recent raid is typical of the results obtained: