Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1918-04-19
CONTINUED From last Issue }


| early morning patrol, I noticed two Ger
man balloons 7 decided that as soon
/ as my patrol was over l would go off or
nv own hook and see what "A German
balloon looked like at close quarters.
| These observation balloons are used
| by both sides in conjunction with the
artillery. 4 man sits up in the balloon
| with a wireless apparatus and directs
| the firing of the guns. From his point
| of vantage he can follow the work of his
own artillery with a remarkable degree
| OF accuracy and at the same time he
can observe the enemy's movements AM
report them.
| The Germans are very good at this
| work and they use great NUMBER OF
these balloons. II was considered very
| important part of our work to keep
| them out of the sky.
There are two ways of going after a
| balloon I'm a machine. one of them Is
| to cross the lines at a low altitude, fly
| ing so near the ground that the man
| with the anti-aircraft gun can't bother
| you. You fly along until you get &c
| the level of the balloon and II, In the
meantime. you have not drawn the pal
loon down, you open fire on 1t and the
| bullets you use will set il on fire II
| they land
The other way is to fly over where
Won know the balloons TO be, put your
! machine in a spin so that they can't MI
| you, get above them, spin over the bal
| loon and then open fire. In going back
| over the line you cross at a few hun
| dred feet
This is one Of the hardest jobs in the
| service. There is less danger in attack
| ing an enemy's aircraft.
Nevertheless, had made up my mind
/ to either get those balloons or make
them descend, and / only hoped thai
! they would stay on the job until l hao
| a chance at them.
When our two hours duty was up
| therefore / dropped out of the forma'
ton as we cross the lines and turned
! back again.
was at a height of $1,000 feet. con.
siderably higher than the balloons
/ Shutting my motor off, l dropped dowr
/ through the clouds, thinking TO find the
balloons at about five or six miles be-
/ hind the German lines.
Just as / came out Of the cloud banks
! I saw below me. about thousand feet
| a two-seater hostile machine doing ar
| tillery observation and directing the
| German guns. This was at a point
| about four miles behind the German
| lines.
| Evidently the German artillery saw
me and put out ground signals to at
tract the Hun machines attention, fol
| / saw the observer quit his work and
| grab his gun, while the pilot stuck the
nose of his machine straight down.
But they were too late to escape me
| 1 was diving toward them at a speed
| of probably 200 miles an hour, shoot
/ ing all the time as fast as possible
/ Their only chance lay in the possibility
/ that the force of my drive might break
| my wings l knew my danger in that
/ direction, but as soon as l came out OF
my dive the Huns would have theiI
chance to get me, and l knew l had t.
F, get them first and take a chance on my
| wings holding.
Fortunately, some OF my first bullets
| found their mark, and l was able tc
come out OF my dive at about 1000 feet
| They never came out of theirs.
But right then came the hottest stu
| alton in the air / had ever experienced
| up to that time. The depth of my dive
had brought me within reach of the
machine guns from the ground and
! they also put a "barrage" around me OF
! shrapnel from anti-aircraft guns and
! had an opportunity to ride in the bar.
| rage" as they call it in the r. F. c
To make the situation more interesting
| they began shooting Flaming onions
| at me. Flaming onions" arc rockets
| shot from a rocket gun. They are uSec
| to hit a machine when it is flying low
/ and they are effective up at about 5 ,00(
/ feet. Sometimes they are shot up one
after another in strings of about eight
and they are one of the hardest things
to go through If they hit the ma.
chine, it is bound to vcatch fire, anC
then the jig is up.
All the time, too. I was being at,
tackled by "archie'-the anti-craft guns
] escaped the machine guns and he
flaming onions but archie" the anti
craft fire, got me four or five times. Ev-
cry time a bullet plugged me-. or rather
my machine, it made a loud bang, or
account of the tension on the materia
covering the wings.
None of their shots hurt me until
was about a mile from our lines. anC
then they hit my motor. Fortunately,
! still had altitude enough to drift on Il
! our own side of the lines, for my motor
was completely out of commission. They
, just raised the dickens with me all thu
| time / was descending, and l began Il
think / would strike the ground befor'
crossing the line, but there was a Sigh
wind in my favor and il carried me two
miles behind our lines. There the bal
looms had gone out to get had the sat
isfaction Of ''pin-pointing" me. Through
the directions which they were able t
give to their artillery they commenced
Smelling my machine where 1t lay.
This particular work is to direct thu
FIRE OF their artillery, and they are useC
just as the artillery observation air
planes are. Usually two men are sta
toned in each balloon. They ascend Il
a height Of several thousand feet abou
five miles behind their own lines ant
are equipped with wireless and signal
ling apparatus. They watch the burs
of their own artillery, check up the 20
sition, get the range, and direct the mex
shot.
When conditions are favorable the.
are able to direct the shots so accurate
ly that it is quick work destroying tn
object of their attack. 1t was such
balloon as this that got my position
marked me out. called for an artiller,
shot, and they commenced Smelling m.
machine where il lay. IF / had got tn
: two balloons instead of the airplane
probably would not have lost my ma
chine, for he would in all probabilit.
. have gone on home and not bothere
! about getting my range and causing I'll
J destruction of my machine.
I landed in part of the country tina
was literally covered with shelf holes
Fortunately my machine was not badl.
damaged by the forced landing. 1 leis
urely got out, walked around it to Sc
what the damage was, and concluded
that it could be easily repaired. In fact
I thought il could find a space Ions
enough between shell holes to get
start before leaving the ground that