e and antiaircraft guns of the garrison, and French aviators
proceeded to the attack, beating off the Germans, who returned again
later in the day discharging another shower of shells over the
fortress.

On December 29, 1915, the Germans reported that they had shot down an
English biplane in an aerial flight near Bruges, and the occupants of
the machine were killed. The English machine had been flying over the
district of Lichtervelde, south of Bruges, and had dropped several
bombs, one of which had hit a munitions depot with disastrous effect.
A German aeroplane intercepted the British machine on its return, and
in the course of the battle both machines were disabled and crashed to
earth. The same day the Germans reported the loss of two aeroplanes by
the British, one of which was forced to descend at a point to the
north of Lens, and the other, a large battle aeroplane, was shot down
in a fight north of Han, on December 27, 1915, and three British
aeroplanes were destroyed by fire west of Lille. The Berlin report on
December 29, 1915, stated that on the whole front artillery and
aeroplanes were active. The enemy's aircraft attacked the towns and
railroad stations of Wervick and Menin, Belgium, without, however,
doing military damage. A British aeroplane was shot down in a fight
northeast of Cambrai, and on January 6, 1916, the Allies made an
aircraft attack upon Douai, which failed, and two British aeroplanes
were shot down by German aviators. One of these was brought down by
Lieutenant Boelke, and was the seventh aeroplane that he had disabled.
January 10, 1916, a German air squadron attacked the warehouses of
Furnes. On this same day an interesting air battle occurred, involving
a series of fights, with casualties on both sides, between the French
and German aeroplanes above the lines of the latter near Dixmude.
Three French avions cannon (Voisin steel biplanes armed with
37-millimeter quick-firing guns at the bow) fought with German
scouting aeroplanes of the Fokker type. The attack was brought on by
the Fokker assailing a French machine which was forced to descend, but
one of its companions straightway attacked the German and brought him
down by machine gunfire at a distance of twenty-five meters. A third
French machine was also successful in attacking another Fokker, which
fell in the forest of Houthulst, southeast of Dixmude.

On January 11, 1916, a French battle aeroplane was attacked by German
rifle fire and