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The bombardment kept on increasing in effect and importance. On one occasion, a heavy counter-attack was being prepared by the Germans against the right of our line northeast of Verdun, at and near a place called Rambevillers. Troops, supplies, and all the necessary things for a determined counter-attack had been accumulated, and it was about to start. To help us in holding up this attack, I requested the use of the bombardment aviation of the French Air Divisions, which was acceded to at once. Two formations of some 170 aeroplanes each, consisting of three-seater bombardment Coudrons for protection of the flanks of the bombardment groups, together with pursuit squadrons to attack the enemy pursuit, were sent, which combined with our units already acting against this position. The October day on which this attack occurred was clear, and, as this great aerial armada went over the troops, at an altitude of about 15,000 feet, our med cheered them from the trenches, as it gave a feeling of power which could be felt in no other way. The Germans saw it coming, and massed all their units available to counteract it. The blow came so swiftly, however, that they were able to make no effect on it. Not one of the Allied aeroplanes was lost or forced to land on the enemy side in this attack, while twelve enemy ships were shot down and destroyed, and many others driven out of control. Thirty-nine tons of bombs were dropped in this one expedition, which, combined with thirty tons which our other units threw down during the rest of that day and the night, made a total of sixty-nine tons of bombs thrown down within the twenty-four hours, which, I believe, is the greatest weight of aerial projectiles ever launched in one day on a battlefield. The impending German attack was entirely stopped; it was indeed the dawn of the day when great air forces will be capable of definitely effecting a ground decision on the field of battle.
In thinking back over various battle panoramas that I have seen from the air, and it must be remembered that from the air one sees the whole thing on a clear day as if it were laid out on a table, my mind harks