Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1917-08-06
Entente Overhead Fleet Better
Than Germans When Teu-
tons Possess Better and
More Planes.


has II been more encouraged. The
British pilot held the German in
check by sheer inherent man-power
when machine supremacy was unde-
niably with the Germans. Now that
this supremacy has been neutraliZed
by the increasing effectiveness Of the
British aeroplane, British pilots are
given greater liberty OF action still,
and many OF them act In what might
be called a free lance" capacity, says
a British official statement.
one Of those rowing airmen was
over the battle line early one morn
ing with no other purpose than that
of sending TO destruction any pland
which he might chance to meet. when
the singular scarcity of possible op-
ponents decided him to push further
afield.
Then the German gunners concen-
trated their attention on him. Clouds
OF anti-aircraft shrapnel festooned his
course. and flaming onions'-in-
flammabe shells designed to set fire
to an aeroplane-groaned up from be-
low and burst in groups. But all the
efforts of the German gunners were
I'm vain Now nose diving and side-
slipping, now soaring skyward. the
British airmen pirouetted his way
thru the poisonous flame-starred mist
and broke clear to the fresh cloudy
heavens out of range.
Tricks His Foe.
Safe past this zone of the Arches
he spled German aviator high above
him watching for a chance to "come
down on the tail' of an unsuspecting
pilot, a fdvorite method Of attack
with Hun airmen. The Briton de-
cided to rid himself Of the menace
adj
Descending a thousand feet or so,
he deliberately slid under a bank Of
clouds and there circled slowly. wait
Ing for the German to drop on him.
Like a yacht driving thru the spind-
rift of n breaking wave. the hostile
aeroplane broke thru the encircling
mist and drove straight down on his
antagonist. Down went the nose of
the British machine. As If held to-
gether by an invisible stay these two
giant hawks dashed earthward sud
denly the foremost machine swooped
upward and the famous side-loop
vancouver was performed. Ere the
German realized what had happened,
his intended victim had reversed the
order Of the dive. and n well-directed
burst of a machine-Sun fire sent the
one-time pursuer crashing to the
earth.
.
airman ascended and flew eastward.
Thru the cloud patches. he saw the
German aerodrome. which was his op-
pective Earthward he swooped.
The Germans saw him coming. and
frantic airmcn tried to get aloft be-
fore his arrival. one left the ground,
hut a splash of machine-gun bullets
killed It's pilot and It slipped to de-
struction. Another made the attempt.
httt ,iC
shared the fate of the other machine.
Attacks Acrodromc.
A group of mechanics struggled
with a third plane. spray of bull
lets swept over them and they strug-
gled no longer.
There was n silence in that aero
drome, and a Stiffness and no living
man was to be seen. The British ma
chine droned laZily up above while
its pilot rectified a jammed machine
gun. Then it swept over the hangers
riddling them and the aeroplanes
within. Content with his work the
Briton turned homeward.
More than ten miles away were the
British lines. One German attempted
to intercept him. He boldly volpaned
down, the German machine gun began
to stutter, then the German pilot
banked and dived. He was afraid to
fight alone.
Again the "Archie" clusters blurrcd
the sky but the range was too great
for them TO be dangerous. a few
minutes later the adventurous voyage
ended and the Briton was safe. The
results of this sole effort were three
hostile aeroplanes destroyed, and a
whole squadron, with its aerodrome,
wiped off the German fighting
strength N for duVS a como
One of the most striking war Incl
dents involving Australians is the deed
by which Lieut.. f. II. Mcnamara of
the Australian flying corps won the
victoria cross in Egypt a few months
ago. Mcnamara is 23 years old and n
son of the head of the Victorian WAR
wheat commission. Before the war
he was public school teacher in
Victoria. His home is in Caulfield. An
army surgeon named Macdonald
wrote in a recent graphic letter to his
father i/garding McNamara's exploit
and its aftermath:
Machine Is Struck.
"On Monday last Lieutenant Me-
Namara of the Australian flying corps
flew out from the aerodrome and later
on passed beyond Beershula. Here he
came upon the Turkish cavalry. They
Immediately opened fire. His wings
were several times perforated by
bullets but he just flew around and
dropped his shells. They were shells
timed TO explode. Usually bombs are
carried and they explode only on con-
tact. Mcnamara dropped four and
released "A fifth from his bomb vest.
1t exploded prematurely under the
aoroplane. A piece of shrpanel tore
it's way thru his ear and penetrated the
body of the machine. 1t ended by
entering his thigh making huge
ugly wound.
He imediately dropped two smoke
bombs as signal of distress. But at
that minute he saw another airman
drop two smoke bombs and hover
down thru engine trouble.
AS Mcnamara said to me, Il could
not let the poor devil stay down there
and not try to resc0e him. Well. he
descended but as his aeroplano was
built for only one the other man had
to climb into the space between the
planes All this time the Turks were
busy shooting at them. With his extra
passenger Mcnamara tried to ascend.
But the leg was terribly painful with
the result that the machine swerved
i'and toppled over as 1t was moving
along the ground preliminary to rising.
They were prisoners for certainty