Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-04-13

life. / realized, however, that II the
ne ssage reached my comrades II
would be relayed to my mother in
Momence, ILL.,, and l did not want to
worry her more than was absolutely
necessary. 1t was enough for her to
know that L was a prisoner. She
did not have to know that l was
wounded.
had hopes that my message
would be carried over the lines and
dropped by one of the German flying
officers. That is a courtesy which
.. is usually practiced on both sides. l
recalled how patiently We had wait
ed in our aerodrome for news of our
men who had failed to return, and !
could picture my squadron speculat-
ing on my fate.
That is one of the saddest things
connected with service in the h Il.
C. You don't care much what nap
pens to you, but the constant cas-
ualties among your friends are very
depressing.
You go out with your flight and
get into a muss. You get scattered
and when your formation is broken
up you finally wing your way home
alone
Perhaps YOU are the first to land.
sky, then another. and you patient
" wait for the rest to appear. With
in an hour. perhaps, all have shown
LID save one, and you begin to spec
u1ate and wonder what has happened
to him.
Has he lost his way? Has he land
cd at some other aerodrome? Did
the Huns get him?
A Time of Suspense
When darkness comes you realize
that, at any rate, he won't be back
that night, and you hope for tele-
rhone call from him telling of his
whereabouts.
If the night passed without sign or
word from him, he is reported miss
ing, and then you watch for his cas-
ualty to appear in the war Ottlce
lists.
One day, perhaps a month later,
message is dropped over the line by
the German Flying Corps with list
of pilots captured or killed by the
Huns, and then, for the first time,
you know definitely why 1T was
your comrade failed to return the
day he last went over the line with
his squadron.
was still musing over this melan-
choly phase of the scouts life, when
an orderly told me there was beau
tiful battle going on in the air. ana
he volunteered to help me outside
the hospital that / might witness IT,
and / readily accepted his assistance.
That afternoon l saw one of the
gamest fights / ever expect to wit
ness.
There were six of our machines
a AGAINST perhaps sixteen Huns. From
the type of the British machines
knew that they might possibly be
from my own aerodrome. Two of
cur machines had been apparently
picked out by six of the Huns and
were bearing the brunt of the hight.
The contest seemed to me to be so
UNEQUAL that victory for our men was
hardly to be thought of, and yet at
cne time they so completely outma-
neuvered the Huns that l thought
their superior skill might save the
6ay for them. despite the fact that
they were so hopelessly outnumbered.
One thing 1 was sure of-they would
never give in
of course, it would have been
couparatively simple matter for our
men. when they saw how things were
going against them. to have turned
their noses down, landed behind the
German lines and given themselves
nm as prisoners, but that is not the
way of the r. f. c.
A battle of this kind seldom lasts
MANY minutes, although every sec
ond seems like an hour to those who
participate in it. and even onlookers
suffer more thrills in the course of
the struggle than they would ordi-
narily experience in a lifetime. 1t is
anparent even to a novice that the
losers fate is death.
OF course, the Germans around the
hospital were all watching and root
ing for their comrades, but the Eng
ish too. had one sympathizer ir that
proup who made no effort to stifie
his admiration for the bravery his
countrymen were displaying.
Four Crash to Earth
The end came suddenly. Four ma
cbir,es crashed to earth almost stimuli
taneouslv. 1t was an even break
two of theirs and two of ours. The
otters apparently returned to their
respective lines.
The wound in my mouth made it
,nr nossible for me to speak, but by
means of a pencil and paper l re-
| ouested one of the German officers
70 and out for me who the English
Officers (were who had been shot
| down.
| A little later he returned and
handed me photograph taken from