UNKNOWN

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 178, 6 January 1915, Page 7

UNKNOWN

VIALIANT STAND BY BRITISH. DARING WORK BY AIRMAN. Little gronud has been gained by either side in the incessant battle which it still flaming and roaring across the open country beyond Ypres. The valiant stand of the British continues. The Germans have been bringing up more big guns of the ".lack Johnson" calibre, urged on by the idea that if they cannot drive us back, they can demoralise us with the never-ceasing demoniacal roar and shattering of their huge missiles. Awful is the clamour of it; it never stops, and for miles around the country shakes as though an earthquake were tearing at its vitals. I was well behind this battering yesterday, in a little town perched on a fortified hill, within a bow shot of the frontier line. What little wind there was came from the, south-east, and so brought the tumult nearer. It was fearful. The early evening air was superlatively clear, the sky a serene blue, with here and there little feathers of cloud sweeping high overhead, twisting in and turning into all manner of fantastic shapes, whilst westward the sun rolled, a splendid, blazing ball of fire. The warmth of summer baa come back to make beauty and pcapc of the November afternoon—jpeace but for those terrific soul-destroying guns which never tire and never sleep, but only rest for a brief few minutes to cool their flaming throats.

FLASH AND ROAR! Over the roar was fiercest and most persistent. From my hill it was just possible to see, in distant miniature, aspects of the maelstrom which whirled there, round about and over the demented town. Little puffs of smoke jerking up into the quiet air—drifting, drifting, and then breaking to vanish into nothingness: streaks of fire, little thin quivering lines of yellow, darting across the sky as though some artist in trembling haste was flickering aclireous lightning across his landscape canvas, only to lose them again at the ; instant of the impact; and then the daylight fiieworks of the bursting shrapnel, and the hectic cough of it long afteil the disruption, striking tile ear, very, very faintly. Mostly the sky was too clear to make of this picture more than a little smudge; but now and again a shell burst clear and full, with a background of dark cloud behind it. Then the flame and the spurting flash were plain enough. And ever below the slam, slam; slam of the huge guns, with the menagerie babe of the smaller arms for a background. High up in the serene blue aircraft were hawking up in the air in loops and circles and darting swallow-lines.

' OUR CRAU7C FLIER. Our own air work was magnificently daring. (A crack flier of our Army is a young officer. Every day and all 'ay—from dawn till sunset—lie is up and about, doing the most wonderful tilings with the utmost abandon and dare-devilry. The other morning up ahead of the lark, he volplaned from a great height like a falling arrow right in the mMst of the German lines as though lit intended to settle amongst them —or, at least, make a brief morning call for breakfast. The Germans were too astonished for the moment to do anything but gasp and gape at him. He was not only within point-blank range of infantry fire; a wide-calibre pop-gnu could have easily plugged him. He impudently stopped his engine, dropped half a dozen "puffs" fas our Tommies call the aeroplane bombs) into a cavalry cluster, waved his hand, and off and up he went again. Hundreds of rifle hots whirred around him as he Went; two of them struck him, and three minutes later lie was down in the. British linns once more with blood trickling through the rents in his tunic. He was patched up and bandaged, had a hearty good lunch, and before lunchtime he was up again in one of bis mad frolics in the air.

"Surely you've had enough for one day." said General . "Have a rest at least until to-morrow. We don't want to lose tlie matinee performances of yours: tliey're too fine for anything." But tlie young officer jammed his armored helmet on to his head, and said he couldn't resist it. It. was groat fun, and kept lnm fit. Of course, if the General absolutely refused, then !

TIIE SIGNAL. "By all means go if you're so keen on it," replied the General with a laugh. So o(T lie went, and the general and his Staff watched the show. This particular aftrnoon the young officer excelled himself. An | extremely wellscreened German battery was doing nasty work from behind a slight rise at the hack of the enemy's trenches. This was the airman's quarry. Up he went in quick, climbing spirals; and when he was at a height of about 2000 ft., he poised for a spell to spot the lurking place of the battery. His first signal was ——gunners to plant their shells immediately below him. They fired, the shells fell some distance to the right, and did no more damage than dismantle further an already dismantled camp. The airman next signalled to tell the range-finders to swing their guns more to the left. Again it was too far. Again he signalled, and this time the first of our shells wrecked the limber of the foremost Prussian gun, smashing up men and horses alike. Good! Instantly the airman indicated that the range had been found at last, and then shell after shell burst over and among the battery which had ben flogjiin? us so mercilessly earlier in tlie day. Tn five minutes all that was left of it broke away from the cunning serein at the making of which so much craft had been employed—broke away and fled across country. Tlie General, who had been watching this nith much interest through his field glasses, clapped his hands and danced to and fro along the verandah. "Splendid, magnificent!" he cried. "The best show T have ever witnessed. That man must have a heart of steel in a body of iron!" Personally, the General congratulated tlie laughing officer when he came down to mother earth once more, tired, but still jubilant. Tie congratulated him and slionk his hand. "You're almost too good to last," ho said. Thi' airman only laughed.