Nevertheless, every squadron of German airplanes sent to England was
attacked by British aviators, and in those attacks the Germans suffered
many losses.
[Illustration: Map]
THE FIRST GERMAN ARMY WHICH INVADED FRANCE (1,200,000) WOULD HAVE
STRETCHED FROM PARIS INTO RUSSIA (1,200 MILES) IF MARCHING IN SINGLE
FILE
The worst raid of all those made was one on June 13th, which was
directed upon the city of London. On that occasion ninety-seven persons
were killed and four hundred and thirty-seven wounded. These airplane
operations differed from the Zeppelin expeditions in being carried on in
the daytime, and this raid took place while the schools were in session
and large numbers of people were in the street. Only one of the
attacking airplanes was brought down. The raiding machines were of a new
type, about three times the size of the ordinary machine, and there were
twenty-two such machines in the squadron. The battle in the air was a
striking spectacle and in spite of the danger was watched by millions of
the population. The raiders were easily seen and their flight seemed
like a flight of swallows as they dived and swerved through the air.
The raids on England were not the only raids conducted by the Germans
during the war. Paris suffered, but as soon as the warning sounded, the
sky over the city was alive with defense airplanes.
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