The Benson signal., 1918-07-13
AMERICAS FIRST AERIAL VICTORY
vIv|DLY RECOUNTED BY ITS HERO
Lieutenant Wnsow Writes in His Diary Graphic Story Describing
His Exploit and That of Lieutenant CampbeE-Ghen
to Public by War Department Because of
Its Historical Value.

800 meters up, in full view of all on
the ground and in the nearby town;
and it took place directly above our
aviation field. Furthermore, mine
dropped about 100 yards to the right
and DougIs 100 yards to the left of our
field. These are remarkable facts, for
one of our majors, who, with the
French army since 1915, has shot
down II machines, never had one land
in France-and here we go right off
the bat and stage fight over our aero
drOme and bring down two Germans
right on it. 1t was an opportunity of
lifetime-a great chance.
"When we landed, only our respec-
tive mechanics were left in the drOme
to help us out Of our flying clothes.
The whole camp was pouring out, fly
ing by on foot, bicycles, side cars, au-
tomobiles; soldiers, women, children,
majors, cOlOnels, French and Ameri-
CANAL poured out of the city. In
ten minutes several thousand people
must have gathered. Doug and con-
graduated each other, and my me-
chanic, no longer military, jumping up
and down, waving his hat, pounded me
on the back instead of saluting, and
yelled: Damn it That's the stuff, old
kid!' Then Campbell and I rushed
to our respective German wrecks.
A Surprised German.
"On the way there-it was only half
a mile-I ran into a huge crowd Of
soldiers, blue and khaki, pressing
about one man. I pushed my way
through the crowd and heard some
body triumphantly say to the sur
rounded man in French: There he
is; now you will believe he is an
American? I looked at the mana
scrawny, poorly clad little devil,
dressed in a rotten German uniform.
1t was the Boche pilot of the machine
had shot down. Needless to say,
felt rather naughty to come face to
face with my victim, now a prisoner,
but did. not know what to say. 1t
seems he would not believe that an
American officer had brought him
down. He looked me all over, and
an American. When l answered, Yes,
he had no more to say.
'There was a huge crowd around
the wrecked plane, and, the first man
l ran into was our majOr-the COM
manding Officer-and he was the hap
| and Doug. A French and an American
| general blew up in a limousine to
congratulate uS-cOlOnelS, majors, all
| the pilots, all the French officers,
mechanics, everybody in the town and
camp. All had seen the fight. One
woman, an innkeeper, told me she
could sleep well from now on, and held
up her baby for me to kiss I looked
at the baby and then felt grateful to
my major, who pulled me away in the
nick of time.
Splendid Souvenirs.
Il had my mechanics take off every
thing available. The machine was a
wreck, but l got some splendid SOU
venirs. The big black German crosses
: from the wings, his rudder, pieces of
| canvas with holes from my bullets in
| them, all his spark plugs, compass,
altimeter, his clumsy signal revolver,
etc. it is a great collection.
Doug had set his Boche machine
on fire at 300 meters and it had fallen
in flames, rolling over three times, and
then completely burning up. There
remained but q charred wreckage, like
the sacrifice of some huge animal The
Boche pilot had been thrown out and
was badly off. His face, hands, feet,
nostrils and lungs were all burned,
while his leg was broken. He is now
in hospital and my BOche is probably
commencing his job of ditch digging
| for the rest Of the war.