A novel use of aeroplanes was made after the entrance of the United States into the war. On April 4, 1917, it was stated that British and French aviators dropped large numbers of German translations of President Wilson's war message over the German lines and Italian aviators did the same over the Austrian lines.
On a few occasions aircraft violated the neutrality of countries adjoining belligerent territory. In one case a French aeroplane dropped bombs on a Swiss town. A prompt and complete apology on the part of the French Government followed. On March 13, 1917, Dutch troops shot down a German plane which had flown over Sluis in Holland, ten miles northeast of Burges. Before they could capture the aviator, he succeeded in restarting his machine and in making his escape to the German lines. On June 1, 1917, a Zeppelin appeared first over Swedish territory near Malmö and then over Danish territory south of Copenhagen. Swedish torpedo boats and Danish troops fired on it successively and it quickly disappeared in a southerly direction.
One remarkable enterprise of Russian airmen was reported officially on April 3, 1917, from Petrograd and deserves, on account of its highly adventurous nature, detailed repetition. The statement read: "On the Black Sea on March 27, 1917, during a raid by our seaplanes on Derkas, one of them was hit by the enemy. The petrol tank being punctured, the machine was compelled to descend.
"The aviators, Lieutenant Sergeev and Sublieutenant Thur, seeing a Turkish schooner, attacked it by opening machine-gun fire. The crew thereupon left the schooner. Our aviators, having sunk their machine after taking from it the compass, machine gun, and valuable belongings, boarded the schooner and set sail for our shores.
"They encountered a heavy storm during their adventure, but arrived with the schooner at the Duarlidatch Peninsula, west of Perekop, on Sunday. From this place our aviators returned to Sebastopol on a torpedo boat. The only provisions available on the schooner consisted of a few pieces of bread and a little fresh water."
Naturally interest in the activities of American airmen in the French service continued unabated. They continued to cover themselves with glory. During the second half of May, 1917, members of the Lafayette Escadrille engaged in twenty-five combats with German machines. Adjutant Raoul Lufbery was engaged five times, Sergeant Willis Haviland (Minneapolis) twice, Sergeant Dovell three times, Corporal Thomas Hewitt (New York) twice, and Corporal Kenneth Marr (San Francisco) twice.
As a result of these activities an official report announced the decoration of Adjutant Lufbery with the Military Medal by the King of England, and cited the meritorious conduct of this aviator and also of Sergeant Haviland, Sergeant Charles Johnson (St. Louis), and Lieutenant William Thaw (Pittsburgh).
In June, 1917, the American aviators flying under the French flag were even more active. In the short period from June 10 to 16, 1917, they made fifty-four patrol flights and fought nine air battles, of which Adjutant Raoul Lufbery, Edwin Parsons, and Sergeant Robert Soubiran each fought two, and Stephen Bigelow, Sergeant Walter Lowell and Thomas Hewitt each fought one.
Unfortunately death claimed two American flyers. On April 16, 1917, Pilot Edmond C. C. Genet of Ossining, N. Y., was killed during a fight with a German aeroplane over French territory. Genet was twenty years old and was the great-great-great-grandson of Governor Clinton and the great-great-grandson of Citizen Genet, who was French Minister in the days of Washington. He had originally fought in the Foreign Legion, but had later been transferred to the aviation service.
In March, 1917, Sergeant J. R. McConnell, also a member of the Escadrille, had been killed in action. On May 24, 1917, it was announced that the commander of the Escadrille, Captain de Laage of the French army, had been killed while flying near Ham on the Somme front.