The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1914-10-02
BY e. SWING.

or the hundreds of German aero
nauts, who has the distinction of be-
ing n of the first Germans to fly
over Paris and to fight a remarkable
battle in the air with two of the
enemy's aeroplanes. He was a pas
senger for a short distance in the
special car put at the disposal of cor
respondents on their way to Liege and
old US a graphic story of his expert
ences.
Werner's first assignment was to
find the English army near Mons.
The army was about 100000 strong
and was retiring before a German
force of double it's strength.
Where Were French Aviators?
Here, at the start, one wonders how
the French could have allowed their
allies to be SO misled about the
strength of the opposing forces.
Where were the French aviators? l
know Of a man who had been over
the field and who told the war Office
in France that at least 200 900 Ger
mans were In the thanking army ad-
vancing through Belgium. but he was
told: Impossible! There is only
cavalry"
The French were completely out
witted by this flank movement. The
flower Of their army was at the AL
SAGE frontier. Their mistake will cost
them Paris.
At Mons the English forces took
up a strong position, filling houses at
the edge Of the city with troops and
machine guns and covering the road
Of the advancing German troops.
When the enemy APPROACH they di-
rected a terrific fire upon them and
could be dislodged only at heavy cost.
They then retired to a position be-
hind great mountains OF Stag behind
the city, where the Germans were
unable to ~dislodge them with howitzer
fire.
Flyer Watches the Battle.
Again, they could be driven back
only by flanking movements from both
sides. This time our flyer, who
watched this battle, told us the Eng
lish retired hastily along the road in
the direction OF lie Cateau.
The English have reached their
new position successfully" said a
London report in its account of this
retreat. And out of breath" added
a correspondent on reading the dis
patch.
The fighting at Mons was furiou;
/, and the Germans were enraged by tht
British method of fighting, which
throughout at Mons was lone unde'
cover. Never had German soldier
fought with such frenzy as agains
!, this foe.
Attacked by Two AIrships.
| When the enemy retired Airmal
| Werner was assigned to the duty o
| following and discovering their ney
position. He found the army neal L
Cateau, where. at the edge OF a wood
he saw them taking up a strong pc
sition in a semi-circle before the fol
est. While watching these operation
from a height of 100 yards Verne
| suddenly saw a double-decker Bristo
%aeroplane coming down on him fror
the clouds. The Bristol is a taste
4 but a less sure machine than tn
Taube which Werner was plotting
There was nc safety In running away
the Bristol could overtake him. II
could not alight, as the English wer
underneath. There was nothing t
do but to face the worst and to fl
gradually lower and lower In the d
rection of the German army. AS tn
Bristol came nearer Werner espied
second %aeroplane, a little Bleriot, al
other swift flier, also bearing down o
him.
Revolver Battle In Air.
The Bristol drew closer and close
flying down upon Werner In larg
circles, gradually getting With
range. With one hand on the whet
the German officer drew out his r.
volver and emptied his magazine 6
the approaching foe. But the Bristt
continued, coming always nearer.
when they get over mt they wi
drop a bomb" thought Werner, an
felt most uncomfortable. His O
server reloaded Werner's revolver an
both kept on firing. But the Brist'
=. kept always coming closer In its CT
Giles, firing constantly on the Germa
%monoplane. The Bleriot had con
close enough to fire also and bulle
punctured the wings of the Germa
machine at intervals of seconds onl
- There was no sound reaching Il
n Germans except that of their W m
tors. They only knew the Englis
and French pilots were shooting fro
the vivid flashes from their revolver
But no bombs fell; 1t was evident TIL
n the English and French were M
n carrying them.
4 Escaped to the German Army.
Firing continued as Werner d
scended gradually, reducing his elev
81 ton from 100 yards to $50, alwa,
coming closer to the German arm
a Every moment he faced the risk
4 being wounded or Of a bullet strikii
Il