Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1917-08-07
SHOT, FELL TWO
MILES, YET LIVES
Corporal Hall Of Lafayette Es-
cadriIIe Describes Battle.
SAID "GooDBY TO LIFE

?
Rsgained Control Of Machine 600 Fee,
From the Earth and Then Every
thing Went 6Iank"-Fortunately Hs
Landed Inside tho French Lines and
Was Only Slightly Wounded.
A letter received from James Nor.
man Hall, corporal in the Lafayette
escadrille, who was wounded and
brought down In fight with half a
dozen Germans in June, has been re-
ceived in this country.
Mr.. Hall is an Iowa man who enlist
ed In the British army in London in
August Of 1914.
about two weeks ago l met a
whole nest OF Germans, got shot
through the shoulder and am now in
hospital, out of action for at least six
weeks to come.
1T all happened on June 2G-or was
1t the 25th? Twelve Of us went out at
7:3O p. m. and We're to patrol the lines
until 9I5. We were to have rendez-
vous over scissors at 10000 feet and
then to divide into two groups Of six
machines each, one patrol going to
one section of our front and one to an
other. ] lost my patrol and so kept on
by myself, knowing that would find
them again sooner or later, us we had
particular, well defined sector to
cover.
"Archies" Kept Him Busy.
"The arches We're keeping me
awfully busy. l had never had them
burst SO close to me before nor so
many Of them at once They bark
when they are near, a sort of wool,
woof, Wool which you hear quite
plainly above the roar of your motor,
and the conclusion tips your machine
UP and down in very uncomfortable
manner. was between 1900 and
1900 feet up, and yet those German
gunners were planting them awfully
close. They've got their work down to
science. BY Jove, but they shot well!
However, in machine that travels at
125 miles an hour you simply laugh at
archies-until one hits you.
The trenches are wonderful sight
from the air, particularly during an at
tack. You see more Of the detailed ac-
ton, 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 two 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.
went far down the line, so far that I
could see Rheims and the tower of the
Cathedral. Then l came back, keeping
q sharp lookout all of the time, fitting
my machine first on one side, then on
the other, and whirling around like a
cat trying to catch it's own tail. Ones
greatest danger in the air is that of be-
ing pounced on by surprise. You hear
nothing but the roar Of your own mo-
tor and SO keep twisting and turning
OH your own track constantly.
Saw German Maehipes.
"Finally saw six or seven machines
about five kilometers back Of the Ger.
man lines. couldn't distinguish
whether they We're French or German
and decided to go over closer to have
look, only to find out they were Ger
man machines.
They all started for me. The near.
est German and opened fire about at
the same instant. We passed each 9th
err like the wind and not more than
seventy-five meters distant. Then my
machine began to get peppered, and
felt a smack in the shoulder as though
some one had hit me with club. 1t
numbed my left side and arm and
made me feel logy, SO that lost con-
troll Of my machine, and it dived
straight down with motor full on. You
can imagine the speed. l fell deuce
of way before / could get the motor
shut off. 1 Strengthened out then, but
had fallen so fast that was barely
conscious.
II started to fall again and said
'goodby to life,' for thought was a
goner. But made great effort and
out again when only about
GOO feet above ground. I thought to
myself, Now If can only hold on to
my wits until land! Then everything
went black, and I didn't remember an
other thing until l was on stretcher
being carried over some trenches by
couple Of poilus. Believe me, it was a
relief to see those blue uniforms, to
know that 1 was in the hands OF
friends. AS it was, fell right in a first
line trench, not 800 meters away from
the German line. Wasn't that luck?
My machine was badly smashed, for, as
1 have said, it landed itself without any
except subconscious help from me, but
I have nothing except bruises, nothing
broken except skin! 1t is really a
miracle that wasn't killed in the fall.
"rve been decorated, exteriorly-a
croix de guerre with palm and the
medaille militaire I don't deserve
them; honestly 1 don't. There are fell