After the first battle of New Orleans, the United States transferred all the planes they could spare for patrol of the Eastern and Southern coasts along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. Commercial and passenger airplanes were crossing daily to and from Europe. One foggy night in the month of April, scouting planes flying as high as they could, sighted a large fleet of airships flying toward Savannah, Georgia. They decided that they were enemy planes making for Savannah, to attack it. Commander Rooker in charge ordered his company to sail over the fleet and start dropping bombs. They were quickly destroyed, all falling into the ocean. When our planes descended to see how many had been destroyed and what country they were from, they found that they were not enemy planes at all, but were commercial planes from England, Germany, Austria and Italy. This complicated matters more and diplomatic communications failed to smooth out the difficulties. England refused to accept an explanation or apology and all the other countries took sides with her. Our Cabinet officers held a conference. They decided that England and the other countries, knowing our weakened condition, had intended to join the enemy all along and were only waiting for an excuse, but they now knew that with all these countries against them, without some aid or new discovery, the cause was lost. General Pearson said "Colonel Gordon was right. We should have asked the help of France and Canada long before this. We must now seek aid from any country that is friendly to us. We went to the rescue of the Allies in the darkest days of the World War and surely some of them will stand by us in this, our greatest hour of need." In May, 1931, England, Germany, Italy and Austria joined forces against the United States. The wealth of the United States had caused so much jealousy that it now began to look as tho Uncle Sam were a lone eagle against the world. England began to land her forces and establish a base in Canada, and the War Council, knowing that England would attack the Eastern Coast, made all preparations to try to protect the Northern border and the Eastern Coast, withdrawing forces from other strategic points to try to protect the North and the Eastern part of the United States.