Great Falls daily tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1895-1921, 1919-07-31
PLANES TURNED
INTO 100000
bONF IRE IN ARMY
War Quiz Uncovers Mys-
terious Waste: of Air
Craft in France.
PR0bERS WILL FOLLOW
TRAIL ACROSS OCEAN

New York, July 30.-A million
dollar fire" in which hundred or more
serviceable airplanes were destroyed By
order Of American army officers, was
described BY several witnesses who
appeared, today. before the house sub
committee which is investigating cruel
ties to prisoners and other alleged army
irregularities.
The hearing was conducted by Rep
resentative r. c. Johnson, of South
Dakota, and Representative Oscar f.
Bland, of Indiana, republicans.
The destruction Of the airplanes took
place at Colombes les Bellies, near Toul,
and details of the fires was supplied by
several former commissioned officers
and men of the air service who were in
the French village at the time. None of
the witnesses could give any reason for
the bonfire or tell under whose orders it
had been conducted.
At the opening of the hearing, Rep
resentative johnson announced that a
cable message from General Pershing to
General March. chief of staff, In which
the head Of the A. r.. L. denied that
any destruction had taken place, would
be read into the record. The cable
message was not available until after
the hearing had closed, and then proved
to be. merely a denial of reported burn
war material at st. Nazare.
Saved Is Cents Worth.
r. Paul L. Lockwood afsF1amford, Conn.
formerly leutenant@af aviation. t-sti-
fled that, upon returning to America, he
met a number of his colleagues in Gar
den City, who told him the planes had
been damaged and then burned. The
engines were chopped out, the witness
sal hfuf fy,fS tr,1I .~Ir H.
tanks and radiators being saved. The
planes then were thrown into pile
and burned. While the fire was in pro-
gress, ar ned guards patrolled the vicin-
ity to prevent photographs being taken.
according to the witness, who estimated
that the salvaged parts were worth about
"15 cents each" Some of the machines.
he had been told, had been flown only 20
minutes.
Alfred T. Rorer. who was n first ser
geant. said that while he was at Colon
bes les Bellies in MAY. he received or
ders to detail from 30 to 10 men for
this work Of destruction. When he left
the camp to return home. he said. the
work Of destruction was still going on
and he saw the ruins of number OF
planes.
The only witness examined who a.
tually saw the fire was John G..
McKague. an enlisted man in the Air
service. He testified that most Of the
machines destroyed belonged to 'out-
fits leaving France for home. They had
been inspected and scme were marked
for salvaging and others were not, but,
| he said. all were burned.
Mckague put the total number OF
planes destroyed at Is and said the cor
flagration was commonly referred to by
the soldiers as 'the S1,00o000 fire "
The witness said certain soldiers took
snapshots of the fire. H promised to
get them for the committee.
Planes Killed FIIers.
Lieutenant Lockwood recalled to tell
about air service conditions at the
front prior to the armistce, said they
were very poor as regards equipment.
especially during the Meuse Argonne of
fensive. the biggest drive of the Ameri-
can army At one time, he said, forty
American pilots were kept on the ground
because Of lack of machines and as Il
result the German airmen came over
the American lines in great numbers.
Conditions in the st. Mihiel sector were
better, the witness said, the Americans
having superiority in the air there.
Representative Bland then stated that
when he visited the front last August
he was told that at one place six Am
erican avators had lost their lives in
sixty days because of defective planes
The investigation into the airplane
fire closed the hearings of the sub
committee in the senate. The inquiry
will continue in France next month