Kiffin grew very dissatisfied with the 2d Regiment, the Foreign Legion unit he was initially assigned to, particularly after American volunteer Rene Phelizot was murdered by a fellow Legionnaire. Kiffin obtained a transfer to the 1st Regiment of the Legion, where he was much happier. That unit was preparing for the Battle of the Artois, where it would attack the German lines near the village of Targette in May, 1915. Kiffin wrote that the preparations for the battle included “troops, artillery, many aeroplanes, Zeppelins, captive balloons, etc.” Zeppelins were huge, hydrogen filled airships with rigid frames. The Germans used them for reconnaissance at sea and strategic bombing of England, but did not intentionally fly them over battlefields where they would be subject to intense anti-aircraft fire. The French had no Zeppelins, but they did have smaller, non-rigid blimps which Kiffin may have mistaken for Zeppelins. Blimps were also not flown over battlefields, but Kiffin may have seen one behind the lines. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:L_12.jpg)