was to take part in the contemplated
offensive, on his own magic airplane--which he brought from Fismes on
the 23d--for the Storks Escadrille had been incorporated into a fighting
unit under Major Brocard. No disease could be an obstacle to a Guynemer
when an offensive was in preparation. In fact, all the Storks were on
the spot: Captain Heurtaux, now recovered from his wound received in
Champagne in April, was in command, and Captain Auger (soon to be
killed), Lieutenant Raymond, Lieutenant Deullin, Lieutenant Lagache and
_sous-lieutenant_ Bucquet were there; while Fonck and Verduraz,
newcomers to the squadron but not by any means unknown, Adjutants
Guillaumat, Henin, and Petit-Dariel, Sergeants Gaillard and Moulines,
Corporals de Marcy, Dubonnet, and Risacher, completed the staff. As
early as June 24 Guynemer had soared again.

In order to realize the importance of this new battle of Flanders which,
begun on July 31, was to rage till the following winter, it may not be
out of place to quote a German appreciation. In an issue of the _Lokal
Anzeiger_, published at the end of September, 1917, after two months'
uninterrupted fighting, Doctor Wegener wrote as follows:

How can anybody talk of anything but this battle of Flanders? Is it
possible that some people actually grow hot over the
parliamentarization, or the loan, or the cost of butter, or the
rumors of peace, while every heart and every eye ought to be fixed
on these places where soldiers are doing wonderful deeds! This
battle is the most formidable that has yet been fought. It was
supposed to be ended, but here it is, blazing afresh and promising
a tremendous conflagration. The Englishman goes on with his usual
doggedness, and the last bombardment has excelled in horrible
intensity all that has been known so far. Even before the signal
for storming, the English were drunk with victory, so gigantic was
their artillery, so dreadful their guns, so intense their
firing....

These lines help us to realize how keen was the anxiety caused in
Germany by the new offensive coming so soon after the battles of
Champagne in April. But the lyricism of Dr. Wegener stood in the way of
his own judgment, and prevented him from seeing that the battle on the
Marne which drove the enemy back, the battle on the Yser which brought
him to a standstill, and the battle round Verdun which effectually wore
him out, were each