1n his chapter on "Richthofen and his Cireus/" the author holds the view that while the German aerial equipment was superior to that of the British in 1917, they never really used it tò the best effect. He states:
1t is true that they were shooting down our machines in the ratio of five to one, but what must be remembered When assessing the situation is that We continued to conduct daily recon-Naissances, which. were absolutely necessary for our success, while the mamy remained behind his own fines, and always under the protection of, anti-aircraft defences.
The British throughout the War looked upon the aeroplane as an offensive weapon, while the Germans Tegarded it as a defensive unit; What is the explanation of this somewhat inexplicable attitude on the part of he enemy? Personally, I think the of the offensive spirit may be traced to the stern, pre-War German discipline which cramped, if not killed, all individual initiative. The massed formation and the goose-step obliterated the individual and bred an unquestioning soldier—a robot.
Regarding the Jew, Werner Voss, the author writes:
I do not want to begrudge any of the credit due to Richthofen, who claims to have shot down over eighty fachines—a figure which has been Challenged in many quarters—but in comparing him with our own aces—men like Mannock, Ball and Barker, to quote just a few—his record shows that he secured only a few victims over enemy lines. He was content, to quote his words, "to wait until the English come to us," rather than go ju pursuit of his enemy. On the other hand our pilots sought out the Germans, miles over their lines. It is on record that a number of B.E.'s actually had the audacity to go and bomb the aerodrome of the Richthofen "Circus" at Donal. Richthofen also took care that he did not fight a machine of the calibre of his own, Unlike the redoubtable German Jew; "Werner Voss, who literally tackled anything under the sun.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.