SUPERB DASH OF BRITISH AIRMEN

Taihape Daily Times, 28 November 1917, Page 5

SUPERB DASH OF BRITISH AIRMEN

"Two of our fellows had rather a startling adventure the other day/ 7 said a wounded pilot. "They left the aerodrome for a patrol stunt over the Boche lines. They saw something doing in the rear of th eHun lines, and flew, down to have a closer look ,and they; came under the fire of some Archies. Of course, they paid little attention to the fire until a direct hit smashed the engine, and the pilot had barely time to turn the bus for home when most of the engine fell clear. He didn't lose control, but planed down as much in the direction of the British line as he could. They came to earth inside the Boche line with a bit of a crash, but neither the pilot nor his observer were hurt. They nipped out of the rained bus pretty quick and started running like blazes in the direction of the British trendies. After running some time they stopped to have a breather. While I they lay on the ground out of b reath, they spotted a sort of erection affair, banking, and that sort of thing, cover-: ed with camouflage—looked like a big gunpit. They crept up closer to the pit; and got near enough to hear the Boches talking, but not near enough to be spotted. It was a gunpit, and a .jolly big one at that; so they squatted there' and then and made a sketch map of it, with a bearing or two to get the proper range. After that they crept' and ran and crawled until they got to the bank of the canal. They had to swim for it. and they took off a much dunnage as they could, stripped to their shirts, and one of them stuck the sketch in his tobacco pouch to keep it from getting soaked. They Then started off to swim for it. As they left the bank a couple of Boche snipers got a bead on them, and they had just time to locate the beggars hiding in sunken barrels before they dived for it. They swam under the water, coming up for a breather now and then, with the Boche snipers blazing away all the time. When they got to the other side there was a bit of a slope to get up, and then one of our own sentries started to fire at them. They did not want to kick up too much of a row and be pipped by the Boche after getting so far, but they managed, by signals, to show that the sniper chap had made a mistake, and they got through all right. The first thing they did, while still dressed only in wet shirts, was to get on the phone to our heavies, and hy aid of Infantry O.C.'s map to give th > exact location of that big gUn pit, as well as the two barrels. Next thing that happened was a series of direct hits on that gun emplacement, and the two snipers' barrels were, sent was a complete washout for the Boeh