ade a very hurried departure, and I was unable to find
anyone to whom to give very important reports.

It was at the Battle of the Marne that machines were for the first time
allotted to Army Corps for tactical work, while long-distance
reconnaissance was carried out by other machines operating from
Headquarters. Later on, this system was established as a part of our
permanent organization, squadrons being allotted to, and reporting
direct to, Corps for tactical reconnaissance, artillery co-operation and
contact patrols, and to Armies for longer-distance reconnaissance and
fighting.

The last phase of the war of movement was the race for the Channel Ports
and it devolved upon aircraft to observe the enemy's movements from his
centre and left flank to meet the Allied movement to the coast, to
observe the movements of the four newly-formed corps which came into
action at Ypres and to maintain liaison with the Belgian and British
forces at Antwerp and Ostend. Information was very difficult to obtain
and on one occasion I flew from the Aisne to Antwerp, under Sir John
French's instructions, in order as far as possible to clear up the
general situation when our G.H.Q. was in doubt as to whether Antwerp was
completely surrounded or not. It was an interesting piece of work. There
was a light drizzle, and the forest of Compiegne had to be flown over at
about 200 feet. The B.E. could not make the distance without refilling,
and although only a short halt was made at Amiens for the purpose, it
was too late to fly direct to Antwerp. Instead, a landing was made in a
very sticky field under light plough, which was selected from the air
about 4 miles north of Bruges, to which town I rode on a borrowed
bicycle. At Bruges there was great consternation and uncertainty as to
the position at Antwerp, but the Commander kindly placed a large open
car and its very energetic driver at my disposal to try and get through.
After many difficulties we managed to find our way into Antwerp by
about midnight, and I was received by the Belgian Commander. He
explained that though the Germans had broken through the South-Eastern
sector and his troops were very hard pressed (and pointing repeatedly to
a piece of an 18-inch German shell in the corner of the room, he said,
"Mais qu'est-ce qu'on peut faire avec ces choses-la!"), he hoped to be
able to hold out for a time. After giving him General French's message
and obtaining as much information as possib