FROM an account of the work of the British
Navy in the war there must not be omitted
some exposition of the gaUant doings of the
men of the Royal Naval Air Service. They have
made their mark in the war, in every theatre of it,
and no one can teU what part they wiU play before
the struggle is at an end. Of some of their work
very little is known. They render "silent" service,
Uke that of the Navy to which they belong. They
do not always carry on their duty alone. On occa-
sions they participate in that of the Royal Flying
Corps of the Army. They have been associated with
the gallant French airmen, and the Americans come
with a new burst of energy. The Germans know
British naval airmen at Zeebrugge and Ostend, and
in all the country behind those places ; at sea also,
when the German raiders return from their exploits ;
£ind on the West front of the Army, too, where
they go at times far behind the hne, spying out
the land, taking number and note of the enemy,
dropping^ bombs on his store and ammunition
dumps, disturbing all his rearward services, and

71



The Achievement of the British Navy

stirring up his aerodromes and the nursing places,
where his fledglings, whom they call "quirks,"
are taking to themselves wings and learning
to fly.
