ALL IN THE DAY'S WORK

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 87, 7 January 1919, Page 9

ALL IN THE DAY'S WORK

i OF:M\VARIN THE AIR 31 : . Whilst;earryiii"g out an'artillery patrol J' ..a. British , two-seiiter observed-, a ''German Vi : t'lyo-scatcr' Jlj'iiig .'low and 'macbine-guii-I .-'."'^S. 1 the infantry;': Leaving ,his. jol> for " ' tlfd .time/ being ..the. English .pilot dived l < :'iihtl;attacked-the eiiemy. After ,a brisk exchange of machine-gunfire the German !•• (led towards his lines. • At. this.moment l " another. German .machine appeared,, and, j> taking advantage of the.'preoccupation of. '• Mm! British officers,' dived,'iipon them. In '• ';(living the'.&'erhian'poured■ in'H hot hurst ■ <■ of Kre' which'..wounded .both- the pilot '• and; the.observer.' In spite of his wounds n ;-fche;.-;observer.;Rrompt']y;.'titwied„ : .his gun r .Upon'.the new opponent;, and.succeeded in '-■ -Ih'ihgtng him" down,"' (The' German inn- ' chine crashed just in front' of.the Brit- .. isli-lihes.)'"'As his pilot, had .by'this time y fainted, the wounded'obsery'er.tlienmanJ» aged to take control; and was successful t. in bringing the machine safely back over K the lines. - f ' '■■';•:'■■■■' '•;■'•'■'.'- ■?.-■■■■ i- :■■■■■ . -'ArTwilight fight./ ;: Another, English two-seater was engaged K on a flash, reconnaissance—i.e., .spotting, t .locating/ and reporting 'Hostile. battery '. ." position's by their, gun flashes, which can i. best be observed, at dusk. ''The' English I. pilot and.,observer'had been at-' work > about twenty : ]hiimtcs\vhen,- suddenly, , but of.'tho-'gutherihg'glo6in.. : fo'ur Fokkers , s.w'oope'd down'on'theni.' Tlib-Britislnna- >, - chine wheeled to' meet the onslaught; and succeeded- in' -avoiding, the ' >divo i '-.o'f . the:, foremost/-■' enemy "'machine. - -Then •' 'it ' became '''the =-focus ' of''the y gun-fire of the four, Fokkers, which ~'- circled- round it'.;'-Both pilot, and ob- >- -'eei'vcr returned "burst for-burnt l eo far il as. whs-, p'ossible'for oiie machine against ,-. four; and the pilot;-' by''vcrj', skilful ~ 'manoeuvring, managed -to-; throw ■ the 7 'enemy gunners'-ofT their;Tnnrk, arid so to S ' escape -vital hurt;-though their machine .-. was, pf course;'-pretty -well'holed. In addition the- English observer presently got in'a'thoroughly effective burst, and Oi'iij'Fokkeiy which went spinning earth- • wards,- was 'losttir'siglit in 'the 'darkness. (It was aftenvards reported as having been seen to "crash' by another pilot.) • The .TCinaining'tliree jFokkers.appeared to bo: too discomfited- by the'loss- : .of their 1 companion to face farther chances thcmBelves, and at once : fled towards their lines, leaving the British machine to complete its job (which .it did despite the • ..punishment, it had. taken) before roturn- ■ Htg safely, to its, o'wri-drpme.' " ■ .''•..,>;»,--'-Attacking the-.Guns.'-.'■ .- ■ ''As-''lllustrative- -one l - of-- 'many - aspects of the'part the-R;A.P. has played in the present open warfare, tho" following incident is typical/ of others that have been- occurring every day. A British patrol was lying ahead of the advancing \ infantry. The formation . had passed tho lino-of'enemyii'csistance.w'heii'.two . •■ -batteries of';Germari' J guns : were'observ- ■ - 'ed [galloping -'up" to'support their'hardpressed infantry. Immediately the. British machines dived, and oncned fire' with,, their machine-guns. Drivers and horses, fell in'heSps; other teams stampeded,' and the help so badly-needed by . the'. ':Germd'n -infantry never-'- reached • ;thbm..'- ;■'';'■■ ■'' -" •.■' ,-v J, .' •■Clearing'Out a, Strong Point. 5 ■ i -A, party of (.British' cavalry, following ■ up' the "German retirement Mas held up by. a particularly, formidable strong ■ •point. -No-guns or-tanks were available; and- the delay, looked,.like affecting a long, stretch''of; lme..-. At /this moment, a-British' machino appeared, aud its '" occupants, at once .grasped .the situation. ' The pilot dived directly upon tho Gorman: pasition'. Climbing'and diving al- ' ternately, and each timo putting.in effective .bursts of machine-gun fire, the ' English ilj-ing men succeeded in silencing ! tho enemy's guns,'and forced the Ger- < ,' man to retire; this-saving,many British 1 'I lives, causing a-number of enemy, casumana,to retire; this saving many British j lino in that sector -. to , advance over an important position.-A second strong point threatened to, check the-beginning of-the" • advance; but -in a very -few minutes the British airmen had .-repeated their ,pre- : vious-'tactics here, and-so-ensued a com- , -plete German break., - '■-•."■ ■'■■■■) Help from the Enemy. '•'' ■ ..' During a counter-attack .patrol . the- ' oflicers in a: British aeroplane observed '. > a' German machine approaching, appar- j l entiypn contact patrol duly bent upon . j locating, the./exact, position of the "ad- - L vanced British line. The British machine, prepared.to engage tho eneniy,. but ; tho German machine. carefully kept out j of j-ange. •Two more German, planes . now .appeared, .but in spite • of , their i, numerical ..advantage'they did not veu- [ .hire to attack.. ''''Then, apparently, the : ( , first' German machine gave up hope.of getting over the British lines, and detori 'mined.to gain an approximate idea of . the position by getting the German in- ' fantry disclose their-exact location. To ;' this .end ii .white signal light "was fired in'tho air. The .German infantry, in - '. spite of tho ' presence 'of the ':' English' machine, obediently, put up , 'flares all along, the'line.. As their exact ■] position was not,previously known, this. ofFortliid- : very valuable help to the Eng- { iish observer, who carefully pin-pointed tho, position, and returned''with the in- ( -formation''so- obligingly furnished; with results-Exceedingly'unpleasant for'thoso who had'furnished it; Thtaiiitish gilnners siiw'to that.- : . -j