The Washington herald., 1918-02-02

protection from the gods.
The thrills which Lieut.. Rob,
put a .crimp in the aerial courage
Sufferer from Gas.
Lieut.. Roberts has been in Wash
ington several days. and related
some of his experiences to a Herald
reporter. Like many others who
are back from the front, he is still
physically affected by the action of
German chlorine gas, and for that
reason Is now in America, instead of
performing more hair-raising feats
up in the ether.
Lieut.. Roberts has had some es-
capes so narrow that no conclusion
would be reasonable except the
aforementioned one that he was in
particular favor with some higher
power than the Boche airplane.
In the first place, he had a lung
knocked plumb out of place-and IL
takes a pretty hard blow to knock
a lung out of place.
"One night I was walking along
a bit of road. when a shell exploded
few yards ahead of me-" he said.
The conclusion was so, great that
1t hurled me up against a bank with
such force that my lung was dis
located"
Just n Beginning.
That was escape number one, and
after that they followed rapidly.
Lieut.. Roberts had his plane shot
to the ground twice, and escaped un-
injured. He received a bullet wound
L. hn ctf
| other bullet took him just under the
heart, but missed the vital organ by
hairsbredth. At another time he
raised up slightly from the seat of
his airplane to speak to the other
occupant OF the machine. Just as
he raised up the Boche sent machine
gun bullets through the seat of the
plane, and but for his having raised
up momentarily. Lieut.. Roberts would
undoubtedly have had to take his
meals from the mantelpiece-if they
have 'em over therefor many moons.
What is an air battle like?" Lieut..
Roberts was asked.
| 1T is so quick" he replied. that
there is not much to describe. 1t is
just. matter of taking aim and let
| ting go. An air battle never lasts
more than two or three minutes.
| II will tell you the most exciting
battle I was ever in. though. Once
when 1 was on the line patrol. just
as I came out of a big cloud. about
1900 feet in the air. I met n Hun
plane. 1t was very close to me when
I discovered it-not more than fifty
yards away-but we were running
right alongside of each other. and on
account Of the guns being stationary
and it being necessary that we aim
the machine instead of the guns, OF
| course neither of us could get shot
at the other, the way we We're situ-
ated.
THAT Was AL"
'"The Hun looked at me. his face
broke into a grin and he waved his
hand.
Il smiled and waved back at him.
as we flew along. side by side, fifty
yards apart. But 1 didn't take my
eyes off him for a second. We flew
along side by side for about twenty
minutes. each waiting an opportun-
ity to change position so as to be in
firing position before the other
could get shot. After a while the
Hun suddenly slipped out sideways
and attempted to make a quick dive
and come up under my plane. 1t
does not take you long to decide
what to do in an air battle. I looped
over him and gave him 100 shots.
He spun to the earth. That was
ALL"
| Lieut.. Roberts has brought down
a number of Hun planes in single
combat with his one-man fighting
plane, and helped to bring down
many more while doing London
after he had relinquished his COM
mission on account of i'll health.
| Career of Adventure.
| He has always been an adventure
some person. He was born in Du-
luth, but when he was only a boy
he went over into Canada and at
| the time of his enlistment in the
Canadian army in October, 1914. was
testing for oil in the foothills of
the Rocky Mountains. He was sent
to England in the same year, and to
France in 1915, when his series of
thrills began.
| Lieut.. Roberts was in the first
battle of Ypres. 1t was there that
he was "gassed."
He was one OF the original three
contact patrol observers"J who
worked with the infantry in the
Somme advance. On July 2-the
second day of the advance-he was
wounded in the head. and this
wound left him voiceless. sightless
and deaf for many weeks. As soon
as he was out of the hospital. he
went with the scout squadron. While
on scout duty. his plane was shot
down by Boche fire at a height OF
5000 feet, but he escaped uninjur-
ed.
Did you ever have your engine to
| go back on you-and what do you
do when that happens?" You would
naturally think there would be
nothing much to do but fall, and
that, in fact, is just what you do.
About 1000 Feet "Out."
"once I was about 1000 feet out
| from London (aviators say out from
a place just as a railroad engineer
| would when my engine burst. The
| plane was absolutely riddled with
pieces of the engine. The wings were
nothing but holes. I thought surely ]
| would be killed, and reflected (very
rapidly, for was also trying to save
MYSELF that 1t was better so than to
| fall at the hands of the Boche. When
| the engine burst my machine fell like
a dead weight for 5000 feet. At about
1000 feet height she rigkted herself
| and started out at a speed Of 225
miles an hour, which. try as I might.
could not lessen. hit the ground
| at 120 miles an hour-and that gives
you a good-sized bump. My plane
landed in a hedge, where the wings
and landing gear decide to remain.
AS for myself. it was decreed that I
should pick myself up from a spot
| about thirty yards distant.