The Goldfield news and weekly tribune. [volume] (Goldfield, Nev.) 1911-1947, 1917-12-22
AIR FIGHTERS ARE
PERFORMING
MARVELS
BRITISH AVIATORS RISK LIVES
IN DARING AERIAL
FEATS

exciting aerial combats from which
air fighters escaped alive seemingly
only by miracle, and of brilliantly
executed raids upon German aero
Gromes and troops behind the Ger
nan lines are narrated in the re-
ports of the Royal Flying Corps
covering the activities of about n
week.
Hair-raising incidents of fierce
conflicts above the clouds or low
ever the German communication
lines are described in these succinct
rcpcrt without bombast, as though
these narrow escapes from death
ere commonplace and all in the
a. US work of the air-fighter.
For example, there was the case
Ct a British aviation officer who.
when nearly a mile above the earth,
vas attacked by two enemy air
craft. He shot down one of them
out of control but was himself
wounded and tainted while still
high in the air. Recovering con-
seriousness he found his machine
upside down at an elevation of 1000
feet with one enemy aircraft still
firing at him. The Britisher, how
over, managed after a struggle to
right his machine and land safely.
In a somewhat similar instance, a
German scout attacked a British
airplane carrying a pilot and OBJ
server. One of the Germans bull
lets passed through the gasoline
tank of the British airplane and
seriously wounded he pilot. The
british observer, however, pumped
d full double drum of bullets at the
enemy scout at very close quarters
and the German went to the ground
with a crash.
Meanwhile the British pilot had
tainted and fallen against the steer
ins stick" in such a fashion as to
throw the airplane into a spin. The
British observer climbed over the
side and forward along the plane to
the pilots cockpit, lifted the pilot
to his seat and, still standing on the
wing of the plane released the steer
ing gear, brought the machine out
of the spin and safely to the ground.
Two British officers were eturn-
ing from an expedition over the
enemy's lines to locate hostile bat
teries when their machine was hit
by anti-aircraft fire and the en-
cine damaged. V%olplaning, the ma
chine landed 800 yards from the
British lines, the airplane turned
over and the aviatOrs were hurled
out on the German side of a canal.
Running along the beach under
heavy fire from rifles and machine
guns, the aviators dived into the
canal only to find it full of barbed
wire, but managed to reach the
iiiSS III ooiSty
Many instances illustrating the
reckless, daring of the British avia-
tors sent over the German lines to
OBTAIN information, destroy aero
dromes and harry the German re-
serves are contained in the official
narratives. One pilot who crossed
the lines at Ypres, threw off two
attacking machines, bombed the
U9ule aerodrome near Lille and was
fired upon by two machine-guns.
He dived at one of them, firing
with both guns of the British air.
Ilane, drove the Germans from their
guns, fired upon the aerodrome
again, attacked and scattered a
column of 200 German in~fantrymen
Oh the road. A German two
scatter airplane was circling 500
feet above him for an attack. Il
zoomed up under it's tail and fired
tor. 1T crashed down onto the
railway"
Another British pilot had fired
100 rounds on German troops on
the march when he was interrupted
by two enemy airplanes. He at
tackled them and drove both down
and then finished the job of driv-
ing the German infantry into tren-
ches and shell-hOles.
Flying at the height of 200 feet
a British aviator engaged in a re-
yolver duel with two German Off
GERS in a motor and while doing so
ran into some line of telegraph
wires but fortunately his machine
cur them. A few minutes later he
attacked German infantry. which
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