HEROES OF THE AIR

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 37, 7 November 1917, Page 7

HEROES OF THE AIR

A CHAPTER OF THRILLING INCIDENTS

SKY TACTICS AT GIDDY r ALTITUDES

(Written by & lieutenant in tho li.F.C,) About an. hour before sunset on August 11, while on north lino patrol at AijOO t'eot, two of our aeroplanes were attacked by two Albatross scouts, which Jived at thorn through a gap in the clouds, firing continuously. Corporal J—, tho observer in ono of our machines, shot down big opponent, and saw tlio machine burst into ilames at tiOOO feot. and crash on the canal immediately to tho left of Doulomont Tho second onemy soout attacked Captain 11.l 1 . s machine from tho ' side, and ono bullet passed through both the 1 main ■petrol tanks and wounded Captain P. ■seriously in the back. Private S— Jus observer, got in a double drum (100 rounds) at the enemy soout from v«;ry ~® Quarters, and saw it crash four iielda to the left of tho first machine. .Captain P, then fainted; and his .*n(i- . Rhino got into a spin. As Private S. could liot mako him 'hear he climbed ,over tho side and forward along tho plane to tho pilot's cockpit, and found ; tho stiek (i.e., tho foro and aft and (.lateral control) wedged botwoon Captain ;P. s legs., Hs pulled Captain P. baok 'and pushed tho stick forward. The rtaihine camo out of tho spin, and Captain •P. almost 'immediately recovered and . taought Jthe machino back ever ttlio Jme.i and landed near Poperinghe. Memtors of tho 16th Divisional Ammunition ■Column, where Captain P. came down, . saw' Private S. standing on the s'do of the machino and heard him encourag- ; ing Captain P., saying, "Pull her up, ■sir," as tliey were about to ora6h into jjsome liop-holes. Captain' P. did pull iiher up, and landed on the other side 'jrith very little damage. Such is tho [Jjald official report, but it speaks for siteelf. Similar thrilling experiences aro •(happening every day at anything from 20 feet to 20,000 feet, and often many raniles over the German lines. Hundreds i 'of machines aro coming and going* from i'the aerodromes all day long, sometimes i .alone, sometimes in pairs, or fours, ■or i larger formations. They are absent for I •their two, three, or four hours, tomo t ■hack, make out their reports, and treat I ■ the whole thing as a matter of course. | Nothing remarkable has happened. They have merely done their job. Here are c some of the reports: ' i

1 A Thrilling Battle. . Captain W., leading a patrol of four 5.E.5'6, crossed the lines at Ypres at 7.30 p.m. at 14,000 feet. ' Nine enemy scouts were observed below, so the a.E.5 formation dived at them. Captain W. drove one 6cout down in a spin and followed it, but he was 'himself attacked by two.. more scouts, and one of his guns failed to work. He was driven down to 4000 feet, but Lieutenant M., who saw tho position, dived and shot down one of the attacking scouts out ofcontrol. Shortly after, :when at 8000 feet, and a long distance over the lines, Captain W. was attacked by an enemy. 6cout, which was painted a brilliant red ally overhand was clearly handled by a fkilful pilot and an experienced fighter. (To quote. Captain W.: I still had only my. top gun working, and was driven down to about 1000 feet by the enemy machino diving on me and zooming away. Each time the German pilot did a climbing turn to dive on my tail again, I was able to fly straight towards the sun, as I was too low to distinguish landmarks.. The enemy pilot noticed that I always made towards our lines , while he went round for his next dive, so the third time after hie dive lie did a, straight zoom and stall at the top' and' dived,again as I was flying straight for the lines. The

next time he dived I throttled back and he overshot me. He zoomed up straight as, usual, and I zoomed lip after him. I got directly bekw, ana with my top gun pulled down fired about fifty rounds at a range of twenty feet. This was' the first opportunity that the enemy pilot.had given me to/fire at him. His mar chine went down vertically into the ground and crashed about two miles west of Roulera.

After this another Gorman machine got on to , the captain's tail, and .ho found his top' gun had also jammed. He had to swerve from right to, left, and he dived into fields and zoomed' over hedges :n oraer to avoid the fire that the German pilot •kept uij. After a while, however, the captain succeeded in getting his front gun to work, and at ■ that time the enemy pilot stopped firing, apparently laving run out or ammunition, and the captain turned round and opened fire on him. The fight was so near the ground that in turning to avoid being shot down the German pilot flew right, into a tree, at. the edge of a forest and crashed. After this the captain flew towards the sun and eventually crossed the trenches at about fifty feet.

• Twenty Germans put out of Action. On the same evening there was very heavy fighting all along the line, which resulted in the German maohines being literally driven out of the 6ky. At least twenty Hun machines were destroyed and many more driven down out of control. Lieutenant C., on an 5.E.5, dived at a black and white enemy' machine which lie shot down out of control, but was immediately attacked from, the side 1 by another, so zoomed' up and did a half-loop, and then, engaged his opponent, but with no decisive results. After this lie saw a German machine manoeuvring in circles behind one of our Sopwith scouts, so followed on the outside of the German aeroplane, then throttled baok, crossed the circle, and fired baok at very close range, and the enemy maohine fell to pieces and crashed.

Next morning Lieutenant P. flew to Houthem and came'down to 100 feet. He engaged a staff motor-car, which at once turned into a 6ide road and went as fast as it could to Terhand, where it stopped outside a house. Lieutenant P. followed it all the way, firing at it with his inachine-gun. He olearly saw me of thti acupants firing his revolver at him When the car stopped two people got out and dragged a third into 'ho house. He then saw some troops crossing a bridge over Heulebecke stream and fired at them. They were all scattered, leaving five corpses on tho bridge, •

A Nineteen-year-old Hero. A youth of 19, who has just Juft college, when flying an 5.E.5 it a great height, observed five enemy aircraft flying west. He waitod until they , were nearly over our lines, and then dived at them. In tho course of.the fighting one of the enemy machines gained a favourable position on his, tail, but this machino was in turn attacked by the young officer's Flight Commander, and destroyed. The youth then attacked a largo green machine and drove it down eu.t of control. He then attacked an Aviatik, and in the course of tho fighting drove it down to 3000 feet. He then had to break off tho engagement owing to engine trouble, but a comrade from tho same squadron arrived on the scone, {low in front of the German machine, opened fire, and forced it to 'and ncrth of Armentieres, whore both occupants were captured. In the evening the samo young officer and his Flight Commauder, flyiug 200 h.p. S.E.S's, observed about twenty enemy aircraft over Routers, so flew round to the cast of them and attacked. Although vastly outnumbered, tiic.v had a slight advantage in speed. Both succeeded in. driving down ono German machine completely out of control, but finding the number of opponents too great they returned. While oa a practice flight on a Spad, Major R. saw an enemy machine alone at 21,000 feet over Lillo. Ho made a wide circuit, climbing steadily, in order to intercept the German machine. ITe then attacked from underneath. Apparently the occupants were hit by .his first burst, for the machine wont down completely out of control, and was seen to crash.

Shipwreck, and Race to Safety, Owing to heavy ground mist, ono of otir two-seater service machines went a long way over tho lines in order to T&cato hostile batteries near the coast, they '.vere heavily engaged by machinegun fire and anti-aircraft guns. Ono ioachino-gun was observed on top of a

house, 60 the pilot dived at it and silenced it. His machine was then hit by eholl-fire, and the engine damaged. The pilot glided iu a westerly direction, under heavy liro, and landed in hostile territory, '309 yards on the enemy's side of tho canal (No Man's Land). Tho machine turned over, and tlio observer was thrown clear, but .tho pilot had to bo helped out. After tlii3 they both rail along tho beach under heavy fire from rifles and machine-guns, and pursuod by eight Germans. They threw off their heavier garments and dived into tho canal. On the other side barbed wire greatly retarded their progress, but Eventually they reached our infantry lines. Machine-guns were turned on some of the pursuing Germans, ivho had taken Bhclter in some barrels near the remains of an old bridge, and tho artillery opened firo on tho lost machine and destroyed it. , , . Two days later Lieutenant A. dropped a largo bomb from 500 foet on a J ll . 07 " 1 ! train, and blew ono truck completely of tho line, tfe then kept up a wntinuous machine-gun firo on tho train, which was full of German troops. , From a low altitude another pilot fired at troops who were closely packed in «oT". man trenchos. He then observd an oilicer standing behind a concrete macmneguu emplacement, so oponed firo on him, and ho was seen to fall. _ Second Lioutenant S., in a Spad, attacked two big Gorman machines, and shot ono down completely out of control. Ho was then wounded,_ and fainted, and on recovering found his machino upside down at 4000 feet, with enemy aeroplanes still firinpr at him. Ho succeeded in ' evading tho German maohines and returned. . Lioutenant P. flow to Marike aerodrome in tho dark, and at dawn dropped a bomb from lOOl'eot right in tho middle of a group of machines on tho aerodrome. I He then drooped bombs on .troops a? a siding near by. He saw an Albatross scout get.oft' tho aerodrome, so nftacked it. and saw it crash on (lie houses north-east of tho aerodrome. On

turning round ho saw another machine getting off tho aerodromo. This ho also attacked, and it mado a half-turn, sideslipped, and crashed on tho aerodrome. Ho then silenced a machine-gun which was firing at him. "Whilst watching the result of a heavy counter-attack at a very low altitude one of our service machines was struck by a shell. The observer was wounded, the wireless transmitter destroyed, and almost all the> controls shot away.- In spite of this they wrote out the information they had gained, dropnerl the message at Headquarters, and then returned to the aerodrome in the almost uncontrollable machino. Lieutenant M. flew over a troop of cavairv. and in doing so his nnder-car-riage nit the officer leading, and ho scattered the troon with machine-gun fire, and many of the horses bolted.

A Sky-Bombers' Day. The following is the report of a scout pilot who went out with six small bombs: "Left Estree BlancFe at 4.45 a.m. Crossed the lines over Ypres at 500 feet iust underneath very thick clouds, Got into the smoke from the artillery barrage, and found it impossible to see ahead at all. Went south-cast, and . found myself over Wervicq at 200 feet. Dived down to about 80 feet, and flew straight along the road to Gheluwe. From there I went due east to Bisseghem. I could then see Courtrai, and went north-east to strike Heule, but two enomy soouts appeared from over Courtrai and. attacked me. I manoeuvred to try and throw them off, firing short bursts from the macfilne-gun to try and frighten them away, but they would not bo shaken off, so I made west again. Both machines followed until I reached the lines south of Armentieres, when they turned south-east towards Lille. "I then turned north, striking the canal at Comines, and again . followed fiie same route to Bisseghem. It was now getting a little clearer, and I could see • Courtrai more easily, tnougli the clouds were still at 500 feet. T flew north-east, and_ immediately eaw Heule aerodrome. Circling round the aerodrome at 200 feot, the only sign of activity I could see was one man lighting two smoke fires at the end of the aerodrome. This man looked at me, but did not seem to take any particular notice. I flew along the line of the southernmost 6heds and dropped my -first bomb, which hit the_ third shed and exploded. This caused immense excitoment, and I could Bee people running about all round the sheds. I then flew along the lino of tho eastern sheds, and,dropped another bomb, which hit the first shed and exploded. I dropped my. third bomb on the western 6lieds, and saw smoke coming out of j J 0 ! 11 ' one sheds, and heard and felt the explosion. As 1 again approached the eastern sheds a maohinegun opened fire on me. I dropped a bomb and flew on to the Courtrai Station, and dropped another bomb between a goods-train and a big elied. I turned to tho aerodrome again, and the same machine-gun and another opened fire at mo. I dived at the former, shooting with both guns, and dispersed the 9, r6lr - when I located the second gun it (suddenly stopped. I then flew straight across tho aerodrome at 20 feet firms both guns into the southern sh«k "? dld t,le Bame 10 eastern sheds, at one time aotually touching the ground. I then flew to Cuerne aerodrome, again attacking the sheds, with both guns driving back a machine which was just being brought out. Leaving the aerodrome, saw two horsemen who looked like officers. Attacked them, and their horses bolted. Turned west and attacked a goods train. Saw a column oi infantry about 200 strong on the ro<\d, marching towards Monin, and attacked them with both giins. Looking up saw 22? * ?"® e fc tep eDemy aeroplane at about 500 feet. Zoomed up and got very close under its tail without being observed. Fired thirty rounds into tne machine, which started going down in a steep left-hand turn. I followed, firing ma-chine-gun all the timo, and saw machine crash just north of the railway. Only one man got out. A small crowd started to collect, and I dived, firing both guns. Tho crowd either ran or la; down flat. Saw a passenger train coming towards Courtrai, and attacked, but ran out of ammunition. Flew west, recrossed tho lines south of Messines, and returned." The foregoing is the work of the lesser lights of the R.F.C., and nil within tho last few, weeks. Tho amazing efforts for which V.C.'s and D.S.O.'s havo been earned are well known. Our latest V.C., D.5.0., M.C., Captain Bishop, a young Canadian, is still going strong, and has now brought down over forty Hun machines. The other day ho had the following fight, which is quite a mild event for him:—When, flying alono above the clouds he saw three enemy aircraft dive at him from above. At 300 yards distance he opened fire and then swerved, but continued firing, and one of tho German machines burst into flames. Tho other two continued to attnek, so ho out-manoeuvred one and engaged the other at close range, and it also burst into flames and fell: The third machine flew away, but was followed by Captain Bishop, who on looking round'saw both the others still falling in flames near tho ground.

The following is typically Hunnisli:A vastly superior number of Albatross scouts were engaging one of our formations, when Captain Bishop and a naval scout pilot 'arrived on tho scene. The latter drove down one of the Albatross scouts, and tho enemy pilot waved a white handkerchief. The naval pilot ceased firing, but the ITun waited his opportunity and darted off icast, and was pursued, but escaped.

A Young Man's Job. Most of the machines that have beon referred to aro vsingle-senter Isconts. Speed, climbing power, and sensitive control are tho first essentials for a scout machine. If you can out-climb your opponent you can pounce on him at a colossal speed, up to 250 miles an hour if necessary. Similarly if you can outmanoeuvre him you get the advantage of position, An actual engagement seldom lasts for more than a few seconds, although one may be manoeuvring for position for quito a long time. Consequently in tho construction of the machines, wing 1 surface, strength, and stability are cut down to the irreducible minimum consistent with safety. The machines tire not dangerous to fly, but the pilot must have cool, quick wits and a very sensitive touch on the controls. All the scouts have at least one imi-chine-gttn. and some of them two, end their level flying speed is anything from 120 to 140 miles an hour. It is decidedly a young man's job

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