ers.

"France had looked upon aviation as a sport, Germany as a
powerful weapon in war. This is illustrated by the fact that
even in August, 1914, German artillery fire was directed by
airplanes.

"It was only after the retreat from Belgium and the battle of the
Marne that the Allies realized the great importance of aviation.
Between August 15 and 25 the French General Staff thought that
the greater part of the German army was concentrated in Alsace
and that only a few army corps were coming through Belgium. It
was only through the reports of the aviators that they realized
that this was a mistake and that almost the whole of the German
army was invading Belgium.

"Immediately after the battle of the Marne the greatest efforts
were made in France to develop the aviation corps in every
possible way. The English army, then in process of formation,
profited by the experience of the French. Since that time the
allied as well as the German aviation corps has grown constantly.

"A modern army is incomplete if it has not a strong aviation
corps. All the different services are obliged to turn to the
aviation corps for help in their work. An army without airplanes
is like a soldier without eyes. An army which has the superiority
in aviation over its adversary will have the following
advantages:

"It will have constantly the latest information on the movements
of the enemy. In this way, no concentration of troops will be
ignored and no surprise attack will be possible. The attack
against the enemy positions will be rendered easier because all
the details of these positions will be thoroughly known
beforehand. The artillery fire will be much more accurate. Many
enemy machines will be brought down by the superior fighting
machines and the result will be to strengthen the morale both of
the aviators and of the army."

The next question put to the French experts was: "Why do we need
to make a great effort to obtain the superiority in the air?"
They answered with much interesting detail:

"Because the Germans have understood the importance of aviation
from a military point of view and have concentrated all their
forces to develop this service.

"Owing to the large number of scientists and technicians they
possess they are able