The Oskaloosa herald., 1917-08-30
HALL S OWN STORY
coLFAx BOY TELLS OF HIS Elk
PERiENcE IN FRANCE.

fax, gives Enthusiastically modes
account of his battle with who'll
flock of German airplanes, when h,
was wounded so severely that it wa!
at first thought he was dead.
The letter, which was addressed t
George c. Greever Of Boston, college
friend of Hall, gives the first definite
work from the famous young Iowar
since he was sent to the hospital. He
says he expects to be back in the fight
ing game within few weeks. The let.
ter follows:
| About two weeks ago / started to
write letter to you. spent one en-
tire afternoon upon it and wrote a de-
tailed history of the life at the front
of the EscadriIle Americana. Alasi
the letter was not finished / had to
put it aside to go out on patrol with
the rest of the fellows, and while /
was out | met whole nest of Ger
mans, got shot through the shoulder,
and am now in hospital, out of action
! for at least six weeks to come
ut all happened on June 26-or was
| it the 25th? Twelve of us went out at
1880 p. m. and were to patrol the lines
until OILS. We were to have a rendez-
vous over scissors at 10000 feet and
to divide into two groups OF six ma
chimes, one patrol going to one section
of our front and one, to another. AS Of
ten happens, the patrols got scattered.
1t is very difficult to keep together, for
our machines are so fast, and wesmust
keep turning and twisting all of the
time when over the lines on account
of the anti-aircraft guns. lost my pa
troll and so kept on by myself, know
ing that would find them again soon
er or later, as We had particular,
well defined sector to cover
"The arches were keeping me aw-
fully busy. had never had them burst
so close to me before, nor so many of
them at once. They bark when they
are near, sort of 'woos, wool, wool,
which you hear quite plainly above
the road of your motor and the con.
cussion tips your machine up and
down in a very uncomfortable man
ner. | was between 1900 and 10000 |
feet up, and yet those German gunners
were planting them awfully close! |
They've got their work down to sci |
ence. By jove, but they shoot well.
However, in a machine that travels |
lbs miles an hour you simply laugh at |
arehies-until one hits you.
THE trenches are a wonderful sight
from the air, particularly during an at
tack. You see more of the detailed ac-
tion, of course, and hear nothing. But |
you can see for miles and miles the !
long brown strip of ground that makes |
the firing line, and the flashes of the
guns and the shell bursts. There is a !
tremendous fascination in seeing all |
this from an altitude of 2 miles, and |
to me-knowing as do what it is like !
to hug the parapet under heavy shell |
fire-a horror in the sight as well. l
went far down the line so far that | |
could see Rheims and the tower of the !
cathedral; then came back, keeping a !
sharp lookout all of the time, fitting |
my machine first on one side, then on !
the other, and whirling around like |
cat trying to catch its own tail. Ones |
greatest danger in the air is that of !
being prounced on by surprise. You /
hear nothing but the roar of your own !
motor, and SO keep twisting and turn |
ing on your own track constantly.
Finally saw six or seven machines
about FIVE kilometers back of the Ger
man lines. couldn't distinguish wheth |
er they were French or German and !
decided TO 90 over closer TO have a |
look. The sky was marvelously clear, |
and it was pretty sight to see them
flying about in the air just like a
school of fish in bright blue water.
They looked so harmless and inoffen-
sive in The distance, so over | went,
bold navigator that | was! got pref
ty close before they saw me, or at
least before knew that they saw me.
and at that mament | realized that l
was in for it. They were all German |
machinesi One of them was just at /
my altitude. He was nearest to me. |
The others were about 1900 feet high |
er and some little distance further off. !
They all started for me. The near
est German and opened fire at about
the same instant. We passed each 9th
er like the wind, and not more than
meters distant. Then my
machine began to get peppered and |
felt smack in the shoulder as though
someone hit me with club. 1t numbed
my left side and arm and made me
feel loggy, so | lost control of my ma
chine and it dived straight down with
the motor fun on. fell deuce of a
way before could get the motor shut
off. / Strengthened out then, but had
fallen so fast that was barely con-
scious
II started TO fall again and said
goodbye to life for thought was
a conner. But | made great effort
and Strengthened out again when about