Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1917-04-28

upon them and in the after-tea time
fighting that ensued several German
, machines were seen to crash and eight
other to be driven down completely out
Of control, which are believed to have
been destroyed
Foremost Fighter
Between and s o'clock the air was
filed with wonderful incidents of deeds
daring. There were running fights and
general melces. One distinguished
young Britisher who but recently re-
turned to the air after several months
of rest. deliberately sat over an enc
my airdrome'' and watched six enemy
machines leave the ground and begin
to climb towards him. He was sitting at
$4,000 feet and calmly remained there
until the leader of the challenging
planes had attained about 5000 feet.
In the meantime he had noticed that
one of the hostile birds was something
Of stranger. 1t had very long tail
and very short nose. The Britisher.
however. did not stop to worry about
it. He dived at the highest of the
! climbers and gave him two bursts from
his machine gun. Down went the Ger
man in a crash just outside bit of
woods.
While this little action was going
on, five other Germans had formed be-
tween the British plane and his home
line. Firing as he came, the Britisher
tried to break through the formation,
but failed. Then he turned away as
if about to attempt an escape toward
the south. All the Germans started
in pursuit. One of them soon outdis-
tanced the others and was approach
ing the Britisher, when the latter
whirled about and fired into the Ger
man at point blank range and saw his
machine burst into flames
Next in line was the long-tailed,
short-nosed stranger. Il drove him
down, too" said the pilots report but
after falling a great distance he flat
tened out and was apparently all
right
Machine RiddIed
The young khaki-clad pilot was car
ried far from his own airdrome but
managed to cross the British line safe
ly just before nightfall. His machine
was absolutely riddled with bullets, but
he was unhurt. Asked to tell about
his adventures, the airman merely
shrugged his shoulders and said, oh
just had bit Of luck, that's all
This young f1ier, according to his
companions, holds the absolute belief
that he will never be killed while fly
ing, and with that fatalistic assistance
takes the, most desperate chances, the
result being that he is rolling up one
of the most brilliant records of the
war.
Not content with telling Is hostile
machines during their brief flying in
tervals. the British airmen also down.
ed one observation balloon and sailed
forth under the stars last night on a
great bombing expedition during which
they upset three German trains bring
ing troops toward the front. Two of the
trains We're completely derailed and
the engine of the third appeared to ex-
plode.
One Of the British pilots during the
raid temporarily lost his bearings. He
was fired at from the ground some of
the projectiles being in the nature of
greenish colored rockets. In the glare
of these he happily saw a supply de-
pot just beneath him, whereupon he let
go one of his bombs and obtained di-
rect hit, the depot disappearing in
great flame. All the British machines
returned safely, despite the darkness
of the night.