y possible way.

During the great advance of the Allied troops in France in March,
1917, unusual activity in the air played an important part. This was
especially the case on March 17, 1917, when the British either
destroyed or damaged sixteen German planes, the French ten, and the
Germans accounted for a total of twenty-two British and French
machines. At this time aeroplanes were active not only in
reconnaissance work, but even attacked with bombs and machine guns
smaller units of the retreating Germans. The British official report
covering March 18, 1917, for instance, contains the following passage:
"Our aeroplanes did much valuable work yesterday in cooperation with
our infantry. Enemy troops were engaged successfully with machine
guns, and bombs were dropped on a number of places behind the enemy
lines," while the French report says: "During the evening of March 17
and the following night a French air squadron bombarded the factories
and blast furnaces at Thionville and in the Briey Valley, as well as
certain convoys of enemy troops which were marching in the region of
Guiscard."

The same kind of aerial activity was an almost daily occurrence during
April, 1917. The last days of that month, however, were red-letter
days for military aeronautics. On April 29, 1917, the British claimed
to have winged twenty German machines, while the Germans stated that
they had shot down during April 28 and 29, 1917, a total of
thirty-four British and French planes.

Again on May 7, 1917, the British accounted for fifteen German
machines, while the French claimed to have brought down during the
week May 1 to 7, 1917, seventy-six German aeroplanes, of which
twenty-five were known to have been destroyed.

During the last days of May, 1917, Allied aeroplanes were especially
active in Belgium. On May 26 and 30, 1917, Hest, Blankenberghe,
Zeebrugge, and Ghent were attacked and considerable damage was
inflicted on railway stations, docks, and other buildings of military
value.

Again on June 4, 1917, British aeroplanes attacked and severely
damaged German vessels in Zeebrugge.

French airmen were busy, too, in June, 1917. The French War Office on
June 21, 1917 published the following statement covering their
activities:

"Fourteen aeroplanes and a German captive balloon were destroyed on
our front in the period from June 8 to 20. Eleven of these machines
were brought down by our pilots during aerial combats, and three of
them