ement against a
powerful European army, so that the work they did from the time when
they arrived at Maubeuge to the time when they settled at
Fere-en-Tardenois has a unique value. The French Commander-in-Chief paid
tribute to their skill. His message ran: 'Please express most
particularly to Marshal French my thanks for the services rendered to us
every day by the English Flying Corps. The precision, exactitude, and
regularity of the news brought in by them are evidence of their perfect
organization and also of the perfect training of pilots and observers.'

The weather during the early part of the Marne battle had been excellent
for flying. The air had been still and the heat tropical. On the 9th of
September, the critical day of the battle, the weather broke, and for
the next few days there were violent storms and heavy rains which
greatly impeded air work of any sort. The worst of these storms occurred
on the night of the 12th of September, when the squadrons had newly
arrived at Saponay. Four machines of No. 5 Squadron were completely
wrecked, and others damaged. Lieutenant L. A. Strange saved his Henri
Farman machine, which had made a forced landing, by pushing it up
against a haystack, laying a ladder over the front skids, and piling
large paving-stones on the ladder, using hay twisted into ropes for
tying down the machine. A diary of No. 3 Squadron records that when the
machines of that squadron arrived at Saponay, about five hours before
the transport, 'a terrible storm was raging, and before anything could
be done to make the machines more secure the wind shifted, and about
half the total number of machines were over on their backs. One Henri
Farman went up about thirty feet in the air and crashed on top of
another Henri Farman in a hopeless tangle. B.E.'s of No. 2 Squadron were
blowing across the aerodrome, and when daylight arrived and the storm
abated, the aerodrome presented a pitiful sight. The Royal Flying Corps
in the field had probably not more than ten machines serviceable that
morning.... Hangars were not yet issued.' The protection of machines
from accidents like this became comparatively easy when the line of
battle was stabilized and fixed aerodromes were made.

On Sunday, the 13th of September, the Allied armies had crossed the
Aisne, but were held up by the enemy line of defence which, ran along
the heights from east of Compiegne to north of Rheims. There was dogged
fighting, with attacks and c