Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1917-08-03
Despite Unfavorable Cli- matic Conditions, They
 Obtain Information.
ONE MAN RECORDS
 WONDERFUL WORK
Flying As Low As Thirty Feet. Seat. ters German Troopers, Drives Ene- my Planes to Earth. Rakes Troop
 Train, and Escapes Cnharmed.

Belgium, Aug 2.-(By the Associated Press) s)-The work done by the British
 air service in Tuesdays offensive has not been surpassed in efficiency and spectacular features since the war began.
 More unfavorab ble weather for aerial operations could hardly been selected. At dawn, when the infantry advance began, the whole country was blan- keted by thick, low-lying clouds, and by afternoon rain had begun to fall. Despite these tremendous disad- vantages huge squadrOns of British planes led the advance into the enemy territory and not only maintained con stant contact. but, flying at such low altitude that they often were only a few feet from the ground, they car- ried on a destructive warfare of their own with their machine guns. Many fights occurred between the rival pilots, but the Teutons were com- pletely outclassed, both in numbers and skill, and were forced to retire at most points, after losing six ma chimes. The majority of these air bat ties were at heights of 200 feet or less and in at least one instance the op- posing pilots battled to within 30 feet of the ground, at which the Germans side-slipped and crashed to the earth. The British planes were under con- stant and heavy fire, particularly from rifles and machine guns, owing to the low altitude at which they were flying, but through all this hur- ricane of steel all but three returned safely. These are reported missing, and there is no indication of what be- fell them
 Displays of Her0fsm. Wonderful heroism was displayed by British airmen. One typical in stance will indicate the nature of the important work they carried out A British aviator was assigned to the Ypres salient as the infantry at tack began at dawn. For time he patrolled roads and canals, now and then running the gauntlet of enemy fire at a height of 30 feet, in order to obtain information for the guidance of the infantry in their advance. During this patrol work, he came to
 
 early hour only one enemy was stir
 ring outside the shed and he paused
 in his ablutions only long enough to satisfy himself that the plane above
 him evidently was one of his own.
 The British airman circled low and
 dropped a bomb squarely on one of
 the sheds. This brought numbers of
 Germans tumbling in panic from | the building. He turned his machine
 gun on them and, circling the field, l bombed two other sheds with disas- trous effect. s jEE|
 All the time he kept up a steady
 stream of machine gun fire at the Germans and number of them were
 killed or wounded. The Teutons fi- nally got machine gun into action
 against him, but he dived and at 20 feet silenced it with his own gun. Having put this gun out of action, he circled the field. firing with his machine gun through the doors of buildings at the huddled enemy with in. At one time his machine actually touched the ground.
 Leaving the airdome, the British aviator attacked two German mount ed officers and put them to flight. A little later, he encountered a column Of 200 troops and swept along the line, with his gun working steadily. The entire column was dispersed and fled to cover, leaving numbers of their comrades lying in the road. Two German battle planes appeared on the scene and the Briton engaged them both. sending one to earth and putting the other to flight He pur- sued the fleeing plane, but it was soon lost in the clouds.
 In the meantime large body of German soldiers gathered around the machine which had been brought down. The British flying man came creeping back from the mist and ac- counted for several of their number with his machine gun. His next ob- jective was troop train. He travel ed along it's entire length. pumping bullets into the crowded cars.
 This completes the story of one aviator's flight for the day. but he later did memorable scouting work
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