The state herald., 1918-07-26

| you. but the constant casualties among
your friends are very depressing.
You 60 out with your flight" IND
get into Q muss. You get scattered
and when your formation Ii broken "
you finally wing your way home alone
Perhaps you are the Arst to land.
Soon another machine shows In the
sky. then another. and you patiently
wait for the rest to appear. Within an
hour, perhaps, all have shown up save
one. and you begin to speculate and
wonder what has happened to him.
Has he lost his wayf Has he landed
at some other airdromef Did the
Huns get himf
When darkness comes you realise
that, at any rate. he won't be back that
night. and You hope for . telephone
call from him telling Of his where
abouts.
II the night passes without sign or
word from him, he is reported a. miss.
ing and then you watch for his cas-
ualty to appear in the war ONCE lists.
One day, perhaps q month later. .
message IL 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 It was your comrade
failed to return the day he last went
over the line with his squadron.
I was still musing over this melan-
choly phase Of the scouts life when
an orderly told me there was q beauti-
full battle going on In the air, and he
volunteered to help me outside the
hospital that ! might witness It, and
l readily accepted his assistance.
Tint afternoon / saw one Of the
gamest lights I ever expect to witness.
There were six OF our machines
against perhaps sixteen Huns. From
the type Of the Britsh machines I knew
that they might possibly be from my
own aerodrome. Two Of our machines
had been apparently picked out BY
SIX Of the Huns and were bearing the
brunt Of the nght The contest seemed
to me to b 30 unequal that victory for
our men was hardly to be thought Of.
and yet at one time they 90 completely
outmaneuvered the Huns that I
thought their superior skill might save
the day for them. despite the fact that
they were 10 hopelessly outnumbereh
One thing was sure Of: they would
never give In.
OF course. II woald have been q com.
paratively simple matter for our men.
when they saw how things were going
against them. to have turned their
noses down. landed behind the Ger
man lines and given themselves up a.
prisoners. but that ID not the way Of
the II. +. @.
A battle Of this kind seldom lasts
many minutes. although every second
seems like an hour to those who par.
ticipate In II. and even onlookers suf.
fer more thrills In the course Of the
struggle than they would ordinarily
experience In lifetime. 1t is appar.
ent even to novice that the losers
fate Is death.
OF course. the Germans around the
hospital were all watching and roofing
for their comrades, but the English.
too. had one sympathiEer In that group
who made no effort to stine his admira.
tion for the bravery his countrymen
were displaying.
The end came suddenly. Four ma.
chimes crashed to earth almost simul.
tancously. II was an even break-two
Of theirs and two Of ours. Tho others
apparently returned TO their respective
lines.
The wound In my mouth made II I'm.
possible for me to speak. but by means
Of pencil and paper I requested one
OF the German officers to nnd out for
mo who the English onicers were who
had been shot down.
A little later he returned and handed
me = photograph taken from the body
Of one Of the victims. Il was picture
Of Paul Raney Of Toronto. and myself,
taken togctheri Poor Raney! He was
tho best friend ] had and one Of the
best and Enmcst men who ever fought
In France.
Il was he learned long after, who,
when was reported missing. had
checked over all my belongings and
sent them back 10 England with q
signed cmornndum-which IL now In
my possession. Poor fellow. he little
realised then that but Z day or two
later he would be engaged In his last
heroic battle with me . helpless on.
ldlbkeri
Tho same German oficsr who
brought me the photograph also drew
map for me Of The exact spot whsrs
Rancy was buried In ylandsss. I
guarded Il carefully all through my
subsrquent adventures and ilnaiiy
turned Il over 70 his father and mother
when visited them In Toronto TO psr.