d by the end of 1915
fighting in the air became the general rule. The first squadron, No. 24,
composed purely of fighting machines, took its place on the Western
Front in February, 1916, and gradually Wings were attached to Armies
solely for fighting and the protection of Corps machines. During the
long months of the Battle of the Somme, for instance, when, though the
Royal Flying Corps dominated the air, the Germans put up a strenuous
opposition, bombing machines were protected by fighting patrols in
formation on the far side of the points attacked. The rapidity with
which fighting in the air developed is shown by the fact that at the end
of 1916 twenty new fighting squadrons were asked for on the Western
Front; the establishment was increased to twenty-four machines per
squadron, and by the end of the war even night-fighting squadrons were
operating with considerable success and, had the war continued, would
have proved a very important factor in air warfare.

The development of aerobatics, air fighting, and formation tactics
brought many airmen into prominence. For example Albert Ball, who
ascribed his successes to keen application to aerial gunnery; J. B.
McCudden, the first man to bring four hostile machines down in a day;
and Trollope, who later on brought down six. Hawker met his death
fighting von Richthofen, who describes the fight in his book _The Red
Air Fighter_ as follows:--

"Soon I discovered that I was not fighting a beginner. He had not
the slightest intention to break off the fight.... The gallant
fellow was full of pluck, and when we had got down to 3,000 feet he
merrily waved to me as if to say, 'Well, how do you do?'... The
circles which we made round one another were so narrow that their
diameter was probably not more than 250 or 300 feet.... At that time
his first bullets were flying round me, as up to then neither of us
had been able to do any shooting."

At 300 feet Hawker was compelled to fly in a zig-zag course to avoid
bullets from the ground and this enabled Richthofen to dive on his tail
from a distance of 150 feet.

This indicates a heavy disadvantage under which our aircraft laboured in
all their work on the Western Front. The prevailing westerly wind which,
while it assisted the enemy in his homeward flight, made it very
difficult for a British machine, perhaps damaged by anti-aircraft fire,
to make its way--still under fire--to its base.

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