ONE AIRMAN AGAINST EIGHT

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 14, 11 October 1918, Page 5

ONE AIRMAN AGAINST EIGHT

WOUM>ED SIX,TIMES DURING i THRILLING'ENWUMm;-

While Lieutenant Arthur William! i Hammond, M.0., R.E., and R.A.F-, • J was attacking hostile-troops at about) . 500 feet he was encountered by eaghfc ] triplanes, which dived' from all direc- j tioris, firing their.front guns. _ % He fired bursta at eaoh machine in turn, shooting three of them down out • of control. He was wounded himself six times, but continued tho action j until his machine caught fire. The j pilot, although wounded five tunes, I with great skill ami coolness managed , to climb to the left-hand bottom plane j and controlled tho machine from the i side of the fuselage. , | The machine crashed in "No Man s Land." The pilot drew his companion : from the flames and dragged him-to a shell-hole, from which they .were Ires- | cued bv the infantry. j The airman mentioned is believed to , be Lieutenant Hammond, whose people reside in Bulls or thereabouts, and who was a professional aviator nt Homo before the war broke out. He visited j New Zealand five or six years ago, and .; 'whs to have flown hero an aeroplane -j that was sent out to the New Zealand ,'■ Defence Department. - His business ! with the Government was not brought j to a definite conclusion, but subse- .J ciuentlv Mr. Hammond flew sovera< . j times in Auckland. His death was re- J ported recently. . . i