OUR GLORIOUS, AIRMEN"

Hokitika Guardian, 27 October 1917, Page 4

OUR GLORIOUS, AIRMEN"

THEIR AMAZING EXPLOITS.

THE ARDOR OF YOUTH

(From Mr JBeach Thomas’s stirring account of the battle of Ypres).

The weather had been bad for flying men. Impossible, one would say, looking up at the low-lying storm clouds. Yet on the opening day of battle our airmen went out, and. baulked of artillery work, flew over the enemy’s country and spread terror there. It was a flyiug terror which, when told in the barest words of these boys, is stranger than old mythical stories bf flying horses and dragons on the wing. Imagine one of these winged engines swooping low over one as one walks along a road far irom the lines, and above the roar of its engine the sharp crack, of a revolver with a bullet meant for you. Imagine one of these birds hovering above one’s cottage roof and firing machinegun bullets down the chimneys, and then flying round to the front and squirting a stream of lead through the open door, and, after, leaving death inside, soaring up into a raincloucl. That, and much more, was done. These airmen of ours attacked the German troops on' the march and scattered them, dropping bombs on their camps and aerodromes, flying- so low that their wheels skirted the grass, and were seldom more than a few yards above tree-tops, The narrative of one man begins with his flight over the enemy’s country, crossing canals and roads as low as 30ft until he came to a German aerodrome. The men there paid no attention, thinking this low flier was one of theirs, until a bomb fell on the first shed. Then they ran in all directions panic stricken. The English pilot skimmed round to the other side of the shed and played his machine gun through the open doors, then soared a little and gave the second shed a bomb. . He flew round and released a bomb for the third shed, but failed with the fourth, because the handle did not act quickly enough. So he split his bomb between the shed ana a railway train standing still there. By this time a German machine gun had got to work upon him, but he swooped right down upon it, scattering the gunnex-s with a burst of bullets, and flew across the sheds again, firing into them at ’2oft.

His ammunition drum was exhausted and he went up to a cloud to change, and then came down actually to the ground, tripping across the grass on •dancing wheels, and firing into the sheds where the mechanics were cowering. Then lie tired of this aerodrome and flew off, overtaking two German officers on horses. He dived at them and the horses bolted. He came upon a column of 200 troops on the march, and swooped above their heads with a stream of bullets until they ran into hedges and ditches. He was using a lot of ammunitipn and went up into a cloud to fix another drum. Two German aeroplanes came np to search for him, and he flew to meet them and drove one down so that it crashed to earth. German soldiers gathered round it, and our fellow came down to them and fired into the crowd, A little lower he flew over a passenger train and pattered bullets through its windows, and then, having no more ammunition, went home. - There was a boy of 18 in one of our aerodromes the night before tbe battle, and lie was very glum because he was not allowed to go across the German lines the next day on account of Ids age and inexperience. After many pleadings he came to his squadron commander at night in his pyjamas and said : “ Look here, sir, can’t I go ? ” So he was allowed to go, and set out m company with another pilot in another machine. But he soon was alone, because he missed the other man in a rainstorm. His first adventure was with a German motor car with two officers. He gave chase, saw it turn into side roads, and followed. Then he came low and used Ills machine gun. One of the officers fired an automatic pistol at him, so our boy thought that a good challenge, and leaving go of his machine gun, pulled out his own revolver, and there was the strangest duel between a boy in the air and a man in a car. Tbe aeroplane was 50 ft high then, but dropped to 20ft just as the car pulled up outside a house. The young pilot shot past, but turned and saw the body of one officer being dragged indoors. He swooped over the house and fired his machine gun into it, and then sent a Yerey light into the car, hoping to set it on fire. Presently he was attacked by a bombardment from machine guns, “Archies,” and lig-bt rockets, so he rose hio-h and took cover in the clouds. But it was not the last episode of his day out. He saw some infantry crossing a wooden bridge and dived at them with rapid bursts of machine gun fire. They ran like rabbits from a shot-gun, and when he came round again he saw four or five dead lying on the bridge. From the ditches men fired at him with rifles, so he stooped low and strafed them, and then went lioma. :juite pleased with himself. The pilots if two units alone flew an aggregate if 396 hours 25 minutes, and fired 11,258 rpunds of machine-gun bullets it ground targets, to say nothing of V erey, lights.