n action.
They reminded me of bees swarming, as they buzzed and circled around
each other in the air. As they fought they descended, coming nearer to
earth and thus plainer to our vision. Suddenly one dropped out of the
ranks, a struck machine. We knew it was permanently out of commission
the minute it started to fall, for it dropped like a dead bird. It was
a Hun machine and it dropped close to where I was located, so close in
fact that within a few minutes I was inspecting it and taking small
souvenirs to send home from its collapsed wings. Then another dropped,
but it fell far from where we were located and its descent was so
swift that we could not see its insignia and were unable to tell
whether or not it was a Hun machine. Then one came down wounded, but
still able to fly. It was an American machine, for it sought refuge in
back of our lines. And so the fight continued for a few minutes--it
did not last long--until a total of eight machines dropped and several
others flew away wounded. Just what percentage of Hun and Allied
planes fell, I was never able to ascertain, but the best evidence that
the majority of them were Hun machines was the fact that the remaining
enemy planes soon departed from the aerial battle field, leaving the
Allied planes in complete control. The Allied fleet of planes in this
fight was composed mostly of Americans, though our airmen were aided
by a couple of British and a couple of French machines.

We continued our advance throughout the second day, though we did not
proceed as rapidly as on the first day. This was because the roads
were in poorer condition and supplies could not be so rapidly moved
forward and for the further reason that the country was more wooded
and offered Fritz a better opportunity for defense. Our boys were
counter-attacked on several occasions, but each time they sent the
Huns flying to the rear with heavy losses. In hand to hand fighting,
such as often resulted when counter attacks were lodged, the Germans
were no match for the Americans, who seemed to excel in close work
which required bravery, skill and dash. In fact, it was in this kind
of work that our boys showed Fritz what we mean in America by "punch."

On the third day we advanced as far as Thiacourt, which was our
objective. On this day we also met with stubborn resistance. It was
here that we encountered many pill boxes and it required considerable
difficult and accurate work to put them out of business