AIR RECONNAISSANCE

Taranaki Daily News, 20 November 1915, Page 10 (Supplement)

AIR RECONNAISSANCE

EXCITING ADVENTURES. YOUNG WELLINGTONIAN IX THfl FLYING CORPS. The following extracts from letters rs« ceived from Flight-Lieutenant Raiuford Balcombe-Brown, who ha# served throughout the war, are full of interest. The writer is a son of Mr. E. Balcombei Brown, solicitor, of Wellington, and it not yet twenty-one years of age. He iff a grandson of the lion. Captain BeilUei M.L.C.:— No. 1 Squadron, R.F.C., August 24, 1615. The day before yeßterday I did the long reconnaissance with a Canadian R.F.A. chap for my observer. We left the ground at 5.30 a.m., and crossed over the lines at 8300 feet about an hour later. It was very cold, and that fleece jacket was very good. We got horribly "Archied" all the way up the Lys, past Warneton, Cominee, Wervieg, Menin and Courtrai. [The term "Archied" refers to the Archibald quick-firing guns, used by the Germans to fire at aerial craft.] At Comines we sighted a large German Albatross aeroplane which was climbing up to our height very rapidly. It was no good our attacking him then, because it meant nose diving down 3000 feet, and he would have done the same, while we would have been "Archied" worse than ever at such a low altitude, so we kept on our course. He was going par* allel to us. At Courtrai we had to turn to go to Tournai, further down south. I did a sharp turn and made straight for the German with my fixed machine-gun ready (the machine-gun is fixed, and the. pilot looks along the sights an<? manoeuvres the aeroplane until the gun is on the German), hut he was not having any, and cleared oil' to our right again. Then he passed us, going if the opposite direction, and quite hall a mile away, and climbing higher than us. DUEL IN MID-AIR. At this stage he shot off his machine' gun at us just to show he had one. Then he turned round and overtook us, and stayed about 1200 feet above and behind, firing at us continually salvoes of about fifteen shots. My observer every minute or two turned round and knelt in his seat, and pointing 1 the machine-gun up just by my head fired a few rounds at the enemy. Then the German would sheer off to the side and come back again, still filing. He never hit us once, though the bullets sounded very close. He was thoroughly frightened of us, but, of course, we could not possibly go at him properly, because of his superior speed and climbing power. We think we hit him once, because he turned away and came down a good deal, suddenly. It was very (lard for the observer to carry out the reconnaissance under these circumstances, but he managed to see quite a lot, and writ* it down, while he apepared to me to be firing nearly all the time. They were rather pleased with us when we gqfc back. GOOD CHANCE LOST. It was most annoying that we missed the Morane which was going to act as a patrol for us. The Morane was armed, and there was a very dashing pilot in it, and if we had met, as we arranged to (but were prevented owing to clouds), the German watching us would not have noticed him right above at 12,000 feet, and the Morane could have come down behind the Albatross and let off his machine-gun from about fifty yards, behind, and must have killed either the pilot or observer, and brought the wholet thing crashing down. Wasn't it a pity? The pilot of the Morane was awfully sick about it when we both camei back, not having seen each other at all the whole time. He saw U3 being "Archied," that's all, and waited for us over Lille; but there was a strong north wind blowing, and coming from Tournai we passed a good deal south of Lille, from where we could see quite well what was going. We saw two other German machines. Next time I do the reconnaissance I shall take jolly good care that the Morane machine doing the patrol meets me all right. You see they climb so quiokly that they don't start for half an hour after we do. lam going to become a Morane pilot as soon as we get some. If that German had had any grit he ttould have attacked us in earnest, because iie had absolutely all the advantages, but they daren't fight the British airmen because they really are frightened of them. HIT SEVEN TIMES. September a. We are having beautiful weather at present, and consequently lots of (lying. The wet day is the airman's holiday. I have been having a run of luck lately, because I am still alive when I ought to be dead. Yesterday morning mv observer and myself were attacked near Menin by two German machines, much faster and stronger than mine, and fully armed, while my observer didn't have any firearms at all, and I had a maohine-gun fixed to (Ire only forwards and downwards. All the way to Court, rai we were "Archied" badly, and hit in seven places. 011 the wnv hack, two German machines attacked its from a long way above, and there were two others below us which we took no notice of.- Suffice it to snv that if they had had any courage whatever they should have done us in; hut they haven't, although they have all the advantages in being able to choose the best, jjositiuu to fight from, because of having snpmior aeroplanes. SAVED BY BLUFF. We outwitted them by a horrible p'ece of bluff, and got back all right, having marked on the map the lino of German trenches right back at Courtrai which we went out to see. When the nearest Hun machine was 2(H) yards off. niv observer pointed his telescope up at him and I lired off the fixed machine-gun pointing forwards. The Hllll heard the gun going off, and was actually frightened away, though really he had us cold if only he had known it. They are a faint-hearted lot in the air, though things are always in their favor, i.e., the fights always take place over their side of the lines, and they have better machines. The day before yesterday 1 got a bullet through my petrol tank through going over the trenches to* low (5000 feet). It wa.s lucky that all the petrol didn't come out, in which case I would have bad to descend in tie German lines near Lille. However, I finished mv job all right, and got a number of very good photographs, which enabled us to spot several new German battery positions. f hope that in a Morane I will be able to bring a German down soon. That it my ambition.