Downloaded by [University of Toronto Libraries] at 17:06 07 March 2015 Officer, the third, as regard artillery observation, with the Brigade Major, Corps Heavy Artillcry. One reason for this division was that it gave the third flight thc easiest artillcry obscrvation, work over the 'arca they knew, and tasks which would not conflict in the battle with their infantry co-operation. Counter battery work was more diflicult, as the prearranged targets were harder to scc; obscrvcrs had to find new

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... gets, and pilots had to work further over the line. There was usually a fixed counter battery programme and trench bombardment programme, examples of which are given in the Manual of Co-operation bctwecn Aircraft and Artillery. Orders for tlic next day's.work were received between G o'clock and 10 o'clock in the evening, and usually superseded the fixed programme. These orders (largely bawd on tlie results of thc day's shooting' and on the day's air intelligence reports) were received from tlic Counter Battery Staff Officer and Corps Heavy Artillcry through tlic Squadron Artillcry Officer. There was always a certain amount of work to bc done in connection with thcsc orders before they could be rc-issued to Flight Conimandcrs, and before pilots received their tasks, thcrc was naturally a further delay. Thc pilots, who werc going up on the first flights, say. at 3.30 or 4, had then, apart from-any work that might be required on machines, to prepare photographs and maps, to warn their batteries and to warn the central wvirclcss station of time of start and of the batteries with which each was going t o work. If, therefore, orders wcrc received late from the corps, the first pilots started with the disadvantage of having had an exceedingly short night. I t was a help if corps issued preliminary orders to cover the first threc hours of the day. Good communications were essential to succcss.