lling upon.

But even "Bobs", seer and true prophet as he was, could hardly have
foreseen the swift and dramatic development of war in the air. He had
not long been laid to rest when aeroplanes began to be talked about,
and, what is more important, to be built, not in hundreds but in
thousands. At the time of writing, when we are well into the fourth year
of the war, it seems almost impossible for the mind to go back to the
old standards, and to take in the statement that the number of machines
which accompanied the original Expeditionary Force to France was eighty!
Even if one were not entirely ignorant of the number and disposition
of the aerial fighting forces over the world-wide battle-ground,
the Defence of the Realm Act would prevent us from making public the
information. But when, more than a year ago, America entered the war,
and talked of building 10,000 aeroplanes, no one gasped. For even in
those days one thought of aeroplanes not in hundreds but in tens of
thousands.

Before proceeding to give a few details of the most recent work of the
Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service, mention must be made of
the armament of the aeroplane. In the first place, it should be stated
that the war has gradually evolved three distinct types of flying
machine: (1) the "general-purposes" aeroplane; (2) the giant bomb
dropper; (3) the small single-seater "fighter".

As the description implies, the first machine fills a variety of roles,
and the duties of its pilots grow more manifold as the war progresses.
"Spotting" for the artillery far behind the enemy's lines; "searching"
for ammunition dumps, for new dispositions by the enemy of men,
material, and guns; attacking a convoy or bodies of troops on the march;
sprinkling new trenches with machine-gun fire, or having a go at an
aerodrome--any wild form of aerial adventure might be included in the
diary of the pilot of a "general-purposes" machine.

It was in order to clear the air for these activities that the "fighter"
came into being, and received its baptism of fire at the Battle of the
Somme. At first the idea of a machine for fighting only, was ridiculed.
Even the Germans, who, in a military sense, were awake and plotting when
other nations were dozing in the sunshine of peace, did not think ahead
and imagine the aerial duel between groups of aeroplanes armed with
machine-guns. But soon the mastery of the air became of paramount
importance, and so the fighter w