olonel Tjomsen as an assistant. The squadrons,
numbering more than 270, were divided into bombing, chasing, patrolling
and field escadrilles, these last being intrusted with scouting,
photographing, and artillery work, in constant touch with the infantry.
Most of these novelties were servilely copied from French aviation. The
Germans had borrowed the details of _liaison_ service, as well as those
for the regulation of artillery fire, from the French regulations. The
commander of the aeronautical section of the Fifth German Army (Verdun)
said in a report that "a conscientious aviator was the only reliable
informant in action." And his supreme chief, the Kronprinz, commenting
upon this sentence, drew the following conclusions: "All this shows once
more that through methodical use of Infantry Aviation, the command can
be kept informed of developments through the whole battle. But the
necessary condition for fruitful work in the field lies in a previous
training carried on with the infantry, machine-guns, artillery, and
_liaison_ units. The task of the Infantry Flyer is apt to become more
difficult as the weather grows worse, and ground more deeply plowed up,
the enemy more pressing, or our own troops yielding ground. When all
these unfavorable circumstances are united, the Infantry Aviator can
only be effective if he has perfect training. So he must be in constant
contact with the other services, and the Infantry must know him
personally. At a pinch he ought to make himself understood by the
troops, even without any of the usual signals."

But these airplanes, while doing this special work, must be protected by
patrolling escadrilles. The best protection is afforded by the chasing
units, fitted to spread terror and death far afield, or to stop enemy
escadrilles bound on a similar errand. Here again, copying the French
services, Germany strengthened her chasing escadrilles during the whole
winter of 1916-1917, and by the following spring she possessed no less
than forty. Before the war she had given her attention almost
exclusively to heavy airplanes. French types were plagiarized: as the
Morane had been altered into the Fokker, the Nieuport became an
Albatros. Their one-seated 160 H.P. Albatros, with a Benz or Mercedes
fixed engine and two Maxim guns shooting through the propeller, was
henceforth the typical chasing machine. However, the powerful two-engine
Gothas (520 H.P.) and the Friedrichshafen and A.E.G. (450 H.P.) soo