The Washington herald., 1918-08-04
AIRMEN HARRY
ENEMY ALONG
ENTIRE FRONT
English Alone Put l95
Planes Out of Commis-
sion in Week.

Within the last four weeks allied
air fighters have become one Of the
most menacing OF the shadows of ul-
innate defeat fast falling athwart the
Kaiser's cause. The brilliant land
fighting of the men Foch Is send
ing against the army of the crown
prince, and that their feats can be
clearly summarized on pictured maps,
has for the moment caused general
attention to be distracted from the
great strides being made by the men
Of the air.
But in that group of allied military
strategists, assigned to service here,
which believes that the war will be
won in the air. the events Of the past
thirty days have been thrilling In
their promise OF results.
Day by day the reports from the
fighting fronts and from the naval
bases of France and England have
continued to tell in brief sentences
OF the work of the men in the air.
Daily these reports have grown more
and more significant. But it Is not
until one totals the achievements of
a single week that the true realiza-
ton of the superhuman efforts now
being put forth by the allied aviators
Is brought home.
As yet no sign has come from
Germany to indicate the terrible
havoc which tons of allied bombs
have created at the sources of mu-
nitions supply and equipment, OF
poison gas and other supplies neces-
sary to trench warfare. But no un-
certain evidence Is at hand to attest
the destruction which the German
fliers have suffered at the hands of
the intrepid Italian, French. Brit
ish and American duelists Of the
air.
Huns Admit Trouble.
Within the week a signed order
from German headquarters was
found upon a captured German. The
order was dated June 20 and in terse
words tells the story of the difficult
ties which the Kaisers forces are
encountering in seeking out the
raw materials for aircraft. The or
der reads:
The increased difficulties which
We are experiencing in procuring
the necessary materials for avia-
tion purposes force US to be spar
ing with our machines. In order to
meet the difficulty our avions will
only be employed for carrying out
operations of vital importance in
the battle. All officers are instruct
ed to avoid keeping the machines
up in the air longer than is alb
solutely."
The record of a single week shows
the amount of work and the telling
blows which are being rained upon
the Hun from the sky. In a recent
week on the Western front the
British alone brought down l22 enemy
planes and sent seventy-three to earth
out Of control. In that week the
British lost fifty-two planes.
Drop Many Bombs.
During the same period the allied
aviators dropped 219 tons of explosives
upon railway centers, transports on
roads, ammunition dumps, billets,
rest camps and aerodomes. The losses
which they inflicted upon the Ger
mans mounted into the millions of
dollars. No estimate of the number
of casualties they inflicted is, of
course. possible.
In this work the fiers raided four
teen Industrial towns. They also were
successful in six attacks against the
German aerodome at Boulay, and
made four attacks on the Metz-Sab-
Ions railway triangle, four against
Mannheim, three against Saarbrucken
and hurled bombs on the manufac-
turing plants at Diedenhofen, Troyes.
Frescaty, Karthaus. Hagenaum, Ro-
milly, Zweibrucken, Ludwigshafen.
Offenburg and Karlsruhe.
In their attacks against the seacoast
towns In Belgium they were equally
effective, the navy fliers showing that
wind and weather no longer are the
handicaps they once were.
So successful are the navy fliers
that there is a belief in many quar-
ters that the aviators operating from
British posts may sonse day force the
German high seas feet to come out
for a stand-up battle.