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Show HUGE BOMBS USED BY U. iFLIERS Can Be Dropped Only When Machine Is 8,000 Feet in Air Concussion Is Great.. BEHIND THE AMERICAN LINES IN FRANCE, Oct. 3 (Correspondence of the Associated Press.) Bombs of an incredible size are now carried by American aircraft, and some idea of their destructive capacity may be gained from the fact that they cannot bo dropped at a lower altitude than S000 feet, so greatly is the air disturbed dis-turbed by the explosion. An amusing incident occurred when the first of these Tvas dropped on enemy ene-my territory, which Is much harried by American bombers and consequently consequent-ly bristles with searchlights and antiaircraft anti-aircraft batteries. So terrific was the explosion that every searchlight went out instantly, and the airman was deprived de-prived of the landmarks on which he had counted to find hJs way. Americans Have Great Success. Americans in this squadron have had remarkable success. In two weeks they accounted for twenty-six enemy machines, seventeen of which were crashed, and one balloon. All arc im-huprl im-huprl with the Idea of maintaining the offensive under all circumstances. Recently two of them, finding themselves them-selves cut off by twenty of the enemy while returning to camp, refused to seek safety in flight. Instead, they swept up at the German machines, which were all above them, and so rattled rat-tled the enemy by their unexpected daring that they actually brought down four of his machines and, though not undamaged themselves, were able to land behind our lines. Attack Enemy Aerodrome. A successful attack was made by members of this squadron not long ago upon a troublesome enemy aerodrome which long had evaded discovery, so cleverly was it concealed in the grounds of a chateau. The chateau served as the. headquarters of the officers of-ficers of the German squadron, and the hangars were hidden in the edge of the woods about the house. The American Amer-ican squadron was acting as escort to the bombers charged with the destruction de-struction of the aerodrome. In the field about half a dozen ene my airplanes were discovered, most of them with their prolellers running and preparing for flight. The American machines swooped down within a hundred hun-dred feet of the ground and circled about the field, sweeping with the fire from their machine guns until all of the German machines were blazing and the men attending them either shot or driven into a nearby wood. Meantime bombs had been dropped on all the hangars and on the chateau itself, which burned like a torch and lighted the attackers on their return journey. ' |