By the summer of 1917, the introduction of the next generation of technically advanced combat aircraft (such as the SE5, Sopwith Camel and Bristol Fighter) ensured losses fell and damage inflicted on the enemy increased. Close support and battlefield co-operation tactics with the British Army were further developed by November 1917, when low-flying fighter aircraft co-operated highly effectively with advancing columns of tanks and infantry during the Battle of Cambrai.  1917 saw 2,094 RFC aircrew killed in action or missing. The disastrous defeat of the Italian Army by Austro-Hungarian and German forces in the Battle of Caporetto led to the transfer of 3 RFC Sopwith Camel fighter squadrons (28, 45 and 66), two two-seater squadrons (34 and 42, with RE8s) and No. 4 Balloon Wing to the Italian Front in November 1917. No. 139 Squadron (Bristol Fighters) were added in July 1918. RFC Squadrons were also deployed to the Middle East and the Balkans. In July 1916 the Middle-East Brigade of the RFC was formed under the command of Brigadier General W G H Salmond, concentrating RFC units based in Macedonia, Mesopotamia, Palestine and East Africa under one unified command. In the Middle East units had to make do with older, often obsolete equipment before being given more modern aircraft. The Palestine Brigade of the RFC was formed in October 1917 to support General Allenby's ground offensive against the Ottomans in Palestine. Despite their relatively small numbers the RFC gave valuable assistance to the Army in the eventual defeat of Ottoman forces in Palestine, Trans Jordan and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The German Offensive in March 1918 was an all-out effort to win the war before the German economy collapsed from the pressures exerted on it by the Royal Navy's blockade and the strains of war In the weeks following the launch of the attack, RFC crews flew unceasingly, with all types of aircraft bombing and strafing ground forces, often from extremely low level, meantime also bringing back vital reports of the fluid ground fighting. The RFC contributed significantly to slowing the German advance and ensuring the controlled retreat of the Allied Armies did not turn into a rout. The battle reached its peak on 12 April, when the newly formed RAF dropped more bombs, and flew more missions than any other day during the war. The cost to halting the German advance was high however, with over 400 aircrew killed and 1000 aircraft lost to enemy action. On 17 August 1917, General Jan Smuts presented a report to the War Council on the future of air power.