Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-02-21
CONTROL OF THE AIR
STILL HELD BY FOE
Americans Unable as Yet TO Com
bat German Flyers for Lack
of Equipment.
~ Associated Press to Every Evening
NNrrf1 rtrr, AnrrtcAM ApMY ~ FRANr1

WrrH rHE AMERICAS ARMY iV FRANCE
FKB 20 DELAYED.
Control of shr air IN the American
sector belongs 10 the enemy. ANY ofhcrr
1T the front will make this declaration
All have made II The control is obvious
German airplanes cornc and 90 over the
American lines almost AZ will
Every time the Germans come over,
their path through is followed by Aoecy
shrapne puffs. but the chances Of hitting
an aIrplane with antI-aircraft shells j. 10
remote that the enemy aviators calmly
fiy along as though on plcastlra tour
Nv ~ now and then airplsnes on this
side attack the enemy They always do
this when thev get a chance But the
Boche is clever while flying and manages
10, come over and take pictures, make Oh
servatIons and do virtually whatever else
he desires and then calmly sail home with
ont interruption Nearly always he is At
an altitude ~ about hrae thousand metres
where nc is comparatively safe from anti
aircraft fire and knows it
1t IL not permitted to name any Of
fcers of the American expeditionary force
II Is not permitted to quote them. II
both were allowed ID would he possible
20 carry quotations from virtually every
officer IT the front urging a speedy APP
| pearance Of large numbers of American
airplanes with American pilots.
For there is only one way to wrest
! contro. Of the air from the enemy, that
is to fight him for it in the sky and TO
hrelieve him Of ii hy force of overwhelming
/ numbers.
| MUST MEET FOR OVERHEAD.
! Right now. Il the Germans knew
| American airplaues were waiting for
| them every time hey came over he line,
I their trips would be less frequent. Neither
| would they dare 70 attempt such a bold
/ piece Of work al when thcv recently flew
over tho line IN an alrpianc disguised
with he Alhcd red. white and blue bull =
eve marking and cut loose with a machine
| gun on American soldiers IN 4 he trenches
Had there been American planes nearby
| the chances 81 the Germans getting back
home after such trick would be small.
/ And 1t IS extremely doubtful, officers say,
| If they ever would have tired IT,
ANY officer also viii say the safety
| of individual soldiers depends upon keep
| ing the enemy from doing rs be pieases
overhead. For days the Germans have
been flying over certain towns where
| American troops have been resting after
periods in the trenches. Once Or-twlce
/ these daylight observation tours nave
been followed the same night by visits
by enemy bombing planes.
So free and unrestricted are the Ger
man airmen that in some towns the
commands are under orders to disappear
under cover the moment a German air
plane IS sighted.
Moreover, officers say, more and more
German planes are appearing in the sky
and IN various quarters there is a growing
belief that these are the first Of the ma
chimes which the Germans have been
building feverishly to Offset the large
number of expected American airplGnes IN
accordance with plans announced in the
United States.
Whether this belief is true or not, the
fact remains that American troops are
holding the sector and are endangered
daily because there are no American air
planes with them. The question most
asked from one end of the American front
TO the other is
when are some American planes COM
lag here"