Rocky Ford enterprise., 1916-06-16

ing with five other machines and in
the afternoon he was back at his base,
took up eight more shells and returned
to attack the station for the second
time in the course of one day.
The flight, in which more recently
and for the third time he attacked
the powder factory at Rottweil, was
the most tragic which he ever car
ried.o out and at the same time the most
successful.
Four other machines were to have
started with him on that expedition,
but one of them few days earlier
had attacked train from only fifteen
feet above the ground and the pilot
was still i'll as a consequence of in
jurics he had received. Another who
was to have gone had trouble with his
motor at the very beginning of the
flight and had to return to the lines.
There remained consequently only
three. Besides the captain there were
Lieutenant ID. and Corporal p.
The three started off together and
followed the Swiss frontier to the
Rhine and then entered the Black
forest and penetrated in the direction
of the Wuerttemberg plant. All had
gone well until they were within few
miles of the latter. when several Ger
man chaser machines came out of the
fog and spread themselves in fan
shape to bar the way to the French
men. The latter were carrying ten
hour supply of gasoline and load
of bombs and their machines conse-
quently were slow and not easily man.
ageable.
An Easy Target.
They offered a relatively easy target
and could not defend themselves very
satisfactorily. Mr.. Jacques Montane,
who describes the incident. says the
first To withstand the shock was the
captain himself, who was attacked by
u large monoplane of the type of Lath-
ans Antoinette. Two men were On
board and the machine was well known
by the pilots who operated on the Al
satan side. The French officer replied
with SO much valor that the aggres-
sor judged it prudent not to insist
and abandoned him in order to attack
the machine of Corporal p.
The captain >endeavored at once to
go to the aid OF his subordinate. but
the adversary was much more rapid
and after short fight succeeded in
bringing down the unfortunate cor
poral. During this time the captain
was turning and swerving and did not
lose single point of the painful
drama of which he was a powerful wit
ness. But he decided to avenge him
self.
After the fall of p. he started off
on the way to the powder factory with
the determined purpose of making the
Germans pay dearly for the loss of his
fellow aviator. He flew calmly, scorn-
ing the enemy who had gene above
him in the hope Of cutting him of and
of attacking him, for the first success
had encouraged the occupants of the
big German machine.
Lieutenant D.. who had continued
his way without stopping, now saw
himself surrounded by enemy ma
chimes. One of them brought him
down, to the northeast of the town
near the factory.
This death was considered sad loss
to the French aviation service. D.
had distinguished himself several
times in bombarding expeditions. often
by night. and had been of boldness
worthy of his chief.
The captain remained alone to ac-
.complish his mission. Instead of turn
ing back, as prudence might have die
tated, for he still had considerable
distance to go before reaching his OBJ
Jective, he persevered all alone against
the German machines and went and
cast his eight shells slowly and with
great care on the powder factory. All
of them struck true.
His Sad Return.
A thick black smoke at once arose
to the sky. the black smoke which this
same bold pilot saw for the third time
at the same place within year. He
remained, according to his custom,
for ten minutes over the establish
Eient, in order to make notes of the
result CT his ehelling. and tnen he
started for home, along the same route
by which he had come, not bothering
to make single detour to avoid enc
my machines
The alarm, however, had been given,
and when he arrived over the Black
forest he perceived veritable curtain
OF aeroplanes waiting for him. They
all swooped toward him in the hope of
bringing him down.
By clever maneuvering he avoided
half dozen OF them, and then he was
Obliged to engage in close combat
with two, the second of which awaited
him above l.. The duel with the latter
was particularly bitter and the captain
ended it by forcing his adversary to
take to flight.
Quietly he resumed his way toward
the French trenches, mourning the