THE 'LIBERTY" AEROPLANE.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 65, 17 March 1919, Page 5

THE 'LIBERTY" AEROPLANE.

NOT A GOOD FIGHTER. NEW YORK, March 16. Major La Guardia. a. member of the House of Representatives, pointing out the American failure in the air, said not a single German machine was brought down by an American-built machine on the western front.—(A. and N.Z. Cable.) Though American factories were reported to be working at full pressure on aeroplane construction from the time of America's entry into the war, it is a notorious fact that the American aerial general handiness to the British and French machines both for scouting and fighting. Deliveries from the factories were slow, the assembling of the standardised parts proved slower still, I the machines when completed were inferior in speed, climbing power and general handiness to the Fritish and French, and so the pilots were compelled to fall back upon their allies' spare machines. They handled them superbly, and accomplished splendid work both in defence and the final attack, but very little of it was done on their own machines. The matter was brought up recently by Governor Allen, of Kansas, who was a Y'.M.C.A. worker with the American troops in the last ten months of the war, and who said that "the lack of artillery support, due to the failure of the horse supply, and a lack.of airplanes were the causes of the _sth Division. Kansas and Missouri troops, being cut to pieces in the Argonne Forest. The Kansas and Missouri boys covered themselves with glory, but at so great a cost that the French military authorities declared the battle was not' ! worth the cost."' When 6,000 horses and mules were needed, only 3,200 were available, and many of these were culls which the French had rejected and were .such poor material that they fell in their traces from exhaustion. The. result, was that the Americans, unable to get up their guns, fought an infantry battle against intrenched Germans well supplied with artillery and machine guns. They won, but, quoting Governor Allen: "It was not good fighting. It was not an economical fight, hence it was a failure from a military standpoint. It was not a successful operation because of the cost in human life."