The Seward gateway and the Alaska evening post., 1918-01-04
Exciting Aerial Combats Are Told of in Reports of Royal Flying Corps Covering a Period of Only
 About Weeks Duration
MARROW ESCAPES DAYS WORK
Instances Illustrating RecklessnCss of Aviators Sent Out to Bomb German AerOdOmCs and to
 Find Positions Are Told

BEHIND BRITISH LINES IN FRANCE, Jan. 1. - Stories of daring escapadcs of British aviators, excit- ing aerial combats from which the air-fghters escaped alive seemingly only by miracle and of brilliantly exc cuted raids upon German aerodromes and troops behind the German lines are narrated in the reports of the Royal Flying Corps covering the acti- vities of about one week. Hair-rais- ing incidents of fierce conflicts above the clouds or low over the German communication lines are described in these succinct reports without bonn bast as though these narrow escapes from death were commonplace and all in the days work of the air-fght- CT.
 For example, there was the case of British aviation officer, who, when nearly a mile above the earth, was attacked by two enemy aircraft. He shot down one of them out of control but was himself wounded and tainted while still high in the air. Recover ing consc' 'cusness he found his mach inc upside down at an elevation of 4.CrO feet with one enemy aircraft s'.ll firing at him. The Bri-isher, however, managed after @ struggle to fieh, his machine and lana safely.
 In a somewhat similar instance, a German scout attacked a British air plane carrying pilot and observer. One of the Germans bullets passed through the gasoline tank of the Brit ish airplane and seriously wounded tEe ,alo,. The British obse yer, how evey. pumped a full doub'e drum of bullets at the enemy scOut at very close quarters and the German weat to .he ground with a crash.
 Meanwhile the British pilot had faintc. end fallen Hyainsg the steer ing "Stick" in such fashion as to throw che airplane ito a spin. The British observer climbed over the side and forward along the plane to the plo; cockpit, lifteA the pilot to his seat, and still standing on the wing of the plane released the steering gear, brought the machine out of the spin and safely to the ground.
 Two British officers were returning from an expedition over the enemy'S lines to locate hostile batteries when their machine was hit by anti-aircraft fire and the engine damaged. Vol blaming, the machine landed 300 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 un- der heavy fire from rifles and mach inc guns, the aviators dived into the canal only to find it full of balbed wire, but managed to reach the Brit ish lines in safety,
 Many instances illustrating the reckless daring of the British ayiators sent over the German lines to obtain information, destroy aerodromes and harry the German resrves are con- tained in the official narratives. One pilot who crossed the lines at Ypres, threw off two attacking machines, bombed the Hcule aerodrome near Lille and was fired upon by two ma chine guns. He dived at one of them, firing with both guns of the British airplane, drove the Germans from their guns, fired upon the aerodrome again, attacked and scattered a col umn of 200 German infantlymen on the road A German two-seater air plane was circling 800 feet above him for an attack. q zoomed up under it's tail and fired into it," writes the British aviator. Tt crashed down on- 10 the railway"
 Another British pilot had fired a hundred rounds on German troops on the march when he was interrupted by two enemy airplanes. He attacked them and drove both down and then finished the job of driving the Ger man infantry into the trenches and shell holes.
 Flying at the height of 200 feet a British aviator engaged in a revolver duel with two German officers in a motor and while doing so ran into some lines of telegraph wires but for tunately his machine cut them. A few minutes later he attacked Ger man infantry which escaped his gun only by diving into @ pond.