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Show U. S. HAS THOUSAND AIRPLANES II FRANCE Time Is Eagerly Awaited When American Air Offensive Of-fensive Will Begin. By ROBERT S. DO MAN, International News Service Staff Correspondent. PARIS, April 15. (By man). How many American aviators and American aeroplanes are In France? The American Ameri-can army is guarding the secret well. Until Secretary of. War Baker's trip nothing noth-ing was permitted to be said regarding America's aerial status in France. The subject was as much under the censor's ban as that other vital arm of the American Amer-ican force, the tanks. Kow it is known, however, that the 100 aeroplanes which took to the air during Secretary Baker's visit were but a tenth of the total air forces in France. And those who are well informed are aware that the statement thai there are a thousand American avmtors and machines ma-chines in France is a modest one. "When will the American air offensive start? There are some who say that every American aviator now in France is so perfectly trained that there are possibilities possi-bilities that many of them will go stale before they reach the front. Hundreds of American aviators are now sitting behind machine guns in French aeroplanes. Others are operating observation obser-vation graflex and stereoscopic cameras above the German lines beside French pilots. There are all-American machines ma-chines at the front with American pilots, mechanics and machine gunners In them. But the entire American force is eagerly awaiting the day when a hundred hun-dred American escadrilles will move up behind the united American sectors and commence the last phase of the war. The imminent appearance of American Ameri-can aviators and Liberty machines on the American front seems to have inspired in-spired the British flying corps with a sudden access of furor Britannlcus. British Brit-ish aviators visiting Paris in mid-March were unanimous in their prediction that by the end of March the total score of enemy machines brought down since January Jan-uary 1 would exceed 1000. And the fact that the dav is fast approaching ap-proaching when America's air fleets will be thrown into the scales also has encouraged en-couraged tho French. French escadrilles were never more busy than they are at present. The British aerial successes have spurred French aviators on to greater efforts. |