Aerial artillery spotting, with the name of the artillery battery on the tail.

Artillery was fired from great distances away, many miles in most cases, so there was no direct way for the gunners to know what they hit. Balloons, airplanes and even manned kites(!) were used to help spot the fall of the guns,with a complex system of signals (fly in circles so many times, telling the direction and various movements to tell the distance. Needless to say this was done by pilots flying directly over enemy lines where there was a constant threat of gunfire, from below, and falling shells from your own artillery!

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