Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-11-27

had obtained by raking every available
point on their line During the morning
the enemy advanced in strength from
the north and threw themselves against,
the British line at the edge of the wood.
A sanguinary struggle followed and the
British, unable to withstand the fury
of the German attack without too great
q loss Of life, withdrew slightly and the
Germans gained footing in the north
ern edge of the forest. But the British
surged forward again. This time dis
mounted cavalrymen advanced with the
infantry and they drove the enemy back
and re-established themselves on the
old line.
forced to give ground at the northwest
. edge of the wood about Bourbon village
until the British infantry reached the
bloodstained streets of the hamlet once
more. Dusk settled down about the con-
tending forces, but they still continued
to shoot and thrust at one another in
the gathering darkness
No more grim tragedy has been enact
ed since the war began than was staged
among the ruins of Bourbon village last
, night. It's finish found the shattered
German forces outside the village boun-
Diary but still full of determination. Sew
eral times through the night they re-
formed and swept forward against the
village, but each time were hurled back
with heavy losses.
The village of Fontaine, Notre Dame,
between Bourbon wood and Cambria,
was in German hands today. The shat
tered hamlet, however, was giving the
British no cause for worry, and at the
latest reports they were ignoring 1t
and continuing to push ahead on the
northwest side.
Fine Airplane Work
The work of British airplanes form
graphic chapter in itself. Despite the
vile weather which compelled them to
operate within few feet of the ground
they kept steadily at their task and
rendered invaluable assistance both in
reconnaissance and offensive opera
tions. There have been almost contin-
ual battles between German infantry
and British airmen flying as low as
thirty feet above the ground. Never
before has thisN kind of warfare been
carried out on such a large scale. Pr
lots have attacked infantry and gun
crews indlscriminately and have in
flicted heavy casualties with bombs
and machine guns.
The nature of the fighting can be
seen from the experience Of a British
pilot whose machine was literally shot
to pieces by rifle and machine gun fire
and who finally crashed down behind
his own lines unhurt Another young
nan yesterday presented himself at
headquarters after having been shot
down for the third time within two
days. He was delighted over his ex-
perience, and Immediately applied for
another machine
One aviator attacked a column of
German infantry marching in close
formation and hurled two high-power
bombs directly over them. The troops
scattered, and as the airman whirled
away he saw two heaps Of dead about
huge craters which the bombs had torn
in the road. There were innumerable
cases of airmen successfully bombing
airdromes, troop transports and gun
crews. A large number of artillery
crews have been wiped out either by
machine gun fire at close range or by
bombs.
Naturally many of the airmen had
miraculous escapes from death and
some, of course, have paid the full price
and have gone to swell the toll of brave
men who have given their lives for
their country. Among the hairbreadth
escapes reported is that of an aviator
whose machine was torn to pieces while
he was fighting German infantry with
his machine gun. He was caught in
the shell fire and all the wings Of his
machine were shot away. Fortunately
he was flying only twenty or thirty feet
above the ground and stood on his own
lines. He crashed down in No Mans
Land and found himself unhurt. He
Immediately came under rifle and ma
chine gun fire, but he found a German
rifle with some ammunition and en-
gagged the enemy single-handed. AS he
fired he worked his way back until he
reached one Of his own patrols.
There Is not much humor in fighting
of this nature, but one incident OCCUR
red which is making the whole British
air service laugh today. One of the
youngest British airmen was flying at
low altitude when four enemy ma
chine guns opened on him. He swooped
down and shot three of his opponents
as he swept by. The fourth machine gun
kept firing and the aviator in a spirit
Of boyish mischief leaned over the side
of his car and wriggled his fingers in
Joyous derision at the Germans Just
as he was in the midst of this interest
ing performance his opponent put a
bullet squarely through the palm of
the airman's open hand.
The aviator presented himself at a
dressing station and admitted the truth
with crestfallen face. His consolation
for his wound was roars of laughter
and advice to be more polite to a Boche
in the future.