THE WHIR OF WINGS

Shortly after a bugle call the following order was posted in the
general mess hall for all concerned to read.

"Members of Bombing Squadron No. - will carry out the following order.
10 a.m., 12 midnight, 2 a.m. are the respective times to start. At
each time three machines, each carrying eight 25 pound bombs, will bomb
respectively R-----, C------, L------. Secrecy is imperative. Each
member of the three squads thus assigned will be ready at Hangars No.
-, No. -, No. - at times mentioned above."

Meantime each aviator, with his observer, had been privately notified
by the Sergeant in person. This was an every-day operation order and
was taken as a matter of course. These night raids are mostly for the
purpose of keeping the Boche busy and nervous after hard days and
nights in the front trenches, thus supposedly lowering his morale.
Usually the points thus selected are the shell-torn villages back of
the front, where Fritz has been sent for a brief period of rest before
being sent to the front again. About the time he lies down in the
half-ruined house that is his billet, and dreams of home and conquering
peace, a bomb falls inside. The walls are further shattered, some of
his comrades killed or maimed, he perhaps among them. Other bombs
fall, heavy explosions result, and Fritz finds that his night's rest is
lost in general turmoil. This continues night after night and the
damage to German morale is enormous.

From the point of view of the air-service, things are different. These
night raids are a matter of course with the pilots. It is part of the