Lieutenant von Bülow, with twenty-eight victims, and First Lieutenant Dostler, with twenty-six, were reported missing. At the beginning of the offensive in March, Germany claimed 102 army aviators, each of whom had brought down more than seven airplanes or balloons in battles, and that the total number of victims up to May of these star fliers was 1,698. In this period forty-three of these aces had been killed and three were missing. Others probably had been disabled and were no longer in service. Of those still alive, whether still in the service or not, the ones with the best records were then Lieutenant Bongartz with thirty-three victories, Lieutenant Bucker also with thirty-three, and Lieutenant von Richthofen, brother of the dead ace, with twenty-nine. FRENCH AND BRITISH "ACES" France has produced a number of brilliant military airmen, the latest to come into special prominence being Lieutenant René Fonck, who in one day (May 10) brought down six German airplanes. This achievement had not been equaled even by the late Captain Guynemer, of whom Fonck has become the successor in daring, skill, and resourcefulness as an air fighter. On June 4 it was announced that Lieutenant Georges Madon had won his twenty-eighth aerial victory. A British airman with an extraordinary record, Captain James B. McCudden, who is only 23 years of age, was awarded the Victoria Cross on March 29 "for most conspicuous bravery, exceptional perseverance, keenness, and very high devotion to duty." He had already won nearly every decoration awarded in the British Army, including the Military Medal, the Military Cross, and the Distinguished Service Order. He went to France with the first British army in August, 1914, and, having had some experience of the air, was pressed into service as an observer at Mons and gave valuable information of enemy movements during the retreat. As a Sergeant he was officially promoted to be an observer, and quickly won fame for his expert handling of guns in several stiff fights. As the pilot of a single-seater scout McCudden has had over 100 fights and some wonderful escapes without sustaining the slightest hurt. The crack German pilot Immelmann was a deadly rival, and they had three duels, but the fight was broken off on each occasion without either man being able to claim an advantage. In the official announcement of the award of the V. C., it was stated that Captain McCudden had then accounted for fifty-four enemy airplanes, forty-two being definitely destroyed. The official statement added: On two occasions he has totally destroyed four two-seater enemy airplanes on the same day, and on the last occasion all four machines were destroyed in the space of one hour and thirty minutes.