Volunteer "Warning Net"
Successfully Tested by Army Air Manceuvres Fort Bragg, Oct. 10.
Eighteen "enemy" bombing planes swept out of the east today in an effort to cripple the great industrial centres along the Atlantic seaboard, but the United States Army's new volunteer "warning net" repulsed the invaders.
Anti-aircraft units of the coastal defence were credited with "downing" at least six of the eighteen bombers and disabling many others during the first phase of the Army's autumn air manœuvres.
The "enemy" bombers left Langley Field at 4 am, and at 4.15, volun-leer observer Captain Fred, J. Gillikan of the Cape Lookout Coast Guard, reported that three of the planes were tying westward, The telephone teletype flashed the "alert" signal throughout the area. As other reports poured in, the army's giant 60-inch, 8,000,000 candle-power searchlights spotted the planes and then were extinguished to avoid revealing the defense pattern.
1 Warning Net Successful 1 At dawn, pursuit squadrons roared into the skies and made contact with the "invaders" As soon as the "planes were sighted, anti-aircraft units went into action and repulsed the bombers.
Defence officers said they were "delighted" with operation of th: volunteer warning net which has been established over the entire eastern area of the United States Radio operators, Coast Guard members and other volunteers have been organized to set up a look-out "net" over the area and to warn of the pac of raiding aircraft.—Unitec
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.