A MARVELLOUS RECOVERY.

Taranaki Daily News, 7 November 1916, Page 8

A MARVELLOUS RECOVERY.

i - t J ' AK AERIAL FEAT.. > An officer In the iviacnmti-gun Corps gives, in a details of an aerial feat eclipsing all he lias ever seen or heard of. He says:— "At.the time a number of our planes were tip arid Hying well over the enemy lines, although at a high altitude, the Boelie 'Archies' not over active (I don't think they know which plane to start on: there must have been about thirty of ours in sight), but some planes seemed to scent the situation, and we saw one of our battleplanes engaged with at least two of the Huns, a few bursts of machine-gun fire, and our plane was diving headlong absolutely out of control, spinning as it fell. I watched the affair through glasses with' that wretched sinking feeling, and bemoaned the fate of two of Britain's best. The machine had descended thus about 4000 feet, when suddenly it flattened out, wobbled for a few seconds, and then, the most inspiring tiling of -till followed. The machine had to an altitude far below any of the numerous planes in the air at the moment, the Boche 'Archies' at once began a colossal strafe with high explosive and heavy shrapnel; ! the machine, instead of buzzing off home or attempting to climb, descended still further and headed deliberately over the Boche lines, arpnnd and travelling to and fro, apparently making a very useful reconnaissance. I have never seen a machine so contemptuous of gunfire, and, by Jove! it was no ordinary strafe;'it seemed that it was the 'Archies' that eventually tirjtd, and the plane, at its own leisure, returned to our lines, over which it flew for some time before shaping its homeward course. I would give something to know the whole story. One can only conjecture as to what happened; whether the pilot was scuppe'red and bis observer took control, or whether the pilot temporarily lost and then /regained control and had the tremendous nerve to carry out his' appointed task." The same officer adds: "Rain makes conditions infinitely horrible. We siniply sit and live in the filthy njiid and slush, and hope we may not get hit; one's food gets soddeneii with muddy water. However, the divine law of compensation steps' in and lifts to heights undreamed of one's appreciation of the merit of ft hot bath, with one foot in a canvas pocket and the other on a muddy sandbag. Que can only marvel that the-human mind and body can stand up under conditions out here, bift. somehow one becomes resigned."