[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] sig,—In the articles that
I have read on the subject of training bombers one important point seems to have been missed. In time of war an open town would have far more to fear from untrained bombers than from expert marksmen. I can speak from experience. I had to drop a number of bombs in the last War on battery positions and difficult targets, and I always missed. But even I, Sir, could not have missed Berlin. On the other hand, only a highly trained pilot could be sure of hitting an objective of military importance in a city, say a railway bridge, and nothing but that object. Even if in some future war the higher command were to order the wholesale destruction of a town, the pilots being human would aim solely at stations and the like, and would hit them only. The citi- zens as a whole would have little to fear except from bad marksmanship. Lastly, the perfected training of bombers might help to prevent war ; for those actually responsible for making war would be in the greatest danger if service pilots could be sure of hitting the mark. I believe that a convention limiting permissible targets would prove of more service to humanity than an attempt to stop the training of bombers.— I am, Sir, &e.,
C. E. YOUNG.
The School House, Wragley Road, Lincoln.
[Even in the dark, when the great majority of raids take place ?—En. The Spectator.]
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