Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-07-20
1t. ]. MAC ARTHUR
Continued rom page !

had to go miles into Germany to get a
! fight,
| The first few days OF our stay here, we
were taken up lin rather heavy patrolsl
by members of these other squadrons to
learn the ground and how To fly in the
| formation and the proper method oi esslng
so rs to get maximum visibility and best
| avoid the nntl-aircrait guns We did not
| go beyond the line of balloons
! After this VIC were put on barrage pa
| trolls against enemy photo machines
J In this work We patrolled mp and down
/ half way between the lines and the bal
| looms at an altitude Of $500 meters
! Here first saw the lines (having been too
! busy keeping my place to much notice
! anything before this. although the lines
/ are easily visible from the balloonsl and
| also saw the first Hun machine and also
| got my first archylng.
II happened this way Our tune to GO
was IL o clock. and at quarter before
| IL. our leader came over. told tls what
| numbers To fly in the formation, and Just
! what each man was to do IN ease We met
| one Hun, two, or three and the re- were also
! different methods - attacking mono
| planes and hiplancs
At five minutes 10 e. we were IN our
| seats, ready and waiting for the other
/ patrol to come IN When they were sighted
We started our engines and at gwen
| signal. No ) startsl then No. 4, No &,
! No and last No l. The first four
clrcled about the field and as the leader
| came along circlcd about and diving down
| took their places and all set out on the
hard climb to $500 meters We were
strung out on a great slope and at big
angle of climb
First orr leader headed for the lines
and, as we had passed the balloons and
still were low, headed back and finally
again toward the lines which We approach
ed AZ about 1000 meters
1t was a very clear day and am IN
famous salient, the scene OF the greatest
battle and the tip Of the salient is a great
Scared bare place set III which the op-
posing trenches are as visible as tins
writing We got SO close that We had to
zoom stccplv 10 see it before our leader
turned 10 parallel the lines on our patrol
As he essed and dived and zo0med. keep
ing a continual cNe up and back and down
and especially III the sun could sco far
eotf ON our left series ot seven red flashes
winch instantly turned black and sewrIlcd
INTO enormous putts like dense black mush-
rooms could hear no reports few
seconds later and our leader IN addition
10 the constant cssinR, which is designed
for sighting enemy machines. had made
a sharp change Of direction at the same
time sid, slipping about hundred meters
Then IN front nf us and far above 'ts ap-
peared seven black puifs again After
short interval our leader again turned
sharply on a steep climb and looking in my
mirror saw back Of me and far below the
seven black putfs magically appear again.
laugh At ANrI-AIRCRAFT
This i anti-aircraft and i high OK
plosivc stun and can be heard for mules
around on the ground, while up here near
IT, If YOU did not see Il. you would never
know it was there II is quite impressive
on FIRST trip while now especially after
a combat. it makes you laugh and wonder
how people could be such fools as 20 waste
money on il Many Of tho flight on return
ing from a trip in Germany always loop IN
dcrlsion at il, when coming near the
trenches Nevertheless II got our best
pilot dav or so ago, with a nasty wound
in the back You sec we travel 50 high and
so fast and manoeuvre SO quickly that It
is only miracle when II hits lls With the
artillery BUSES and reconnaissance people
clumsy and Slow and far below rs, 1t Is
different
It is funny 10 SEE tho incredible places
people turn ~ when lost ou sec when
lost, the only thing to do Z to 90 south
and 50 be sure TO land in France AZ least
! Wen, travel in any direction in one Of these
! ships for an hour or SO and YOU can cover
/ some ground Thus one fellow ended mp
| three minutes from Switzerland Another
| would phone in from Paris. while another
| would nearly see the PyTenees.
| But to continue with our trip Hall way
/ along the lines our leader suddenly wig
! gIed his wings for attention and three
/ Of us immediately closed on hun while
| the fourth and fifth stayed above TO pro
| tect our tolls The leader now started 70
| dive in big spiral in order TO have the sun
at his back, and by this time the rest OF
/ us had made out black spcck against the
! clouds far below lis, We dove with hun
| Sleeper and sleeper. faster and faster, but
/ keeping the formation, We dove down
/ The wires shrieked ] remember thanking
| the Lord this was no Curtiss but a COM
| pact little fellow with no wing spread to
! speak of and to leave behind when pulled
! out OF such dive Then the leader veered
up swung over on wing 10 see what
! was up and saw an old French two-seater
/ with the observer wildly waving al rs.
/ The French are great for chase pilots
! . again To 5000 meters 4 little later
/ the leader again waggled ms plane and
/ pointed ms machine toward Germany
! Looking over We saw two machines and
We came nearer They turned 50 that their
/ bodies shone IN the sUn and We could
/ clearly see the markings and before the
/ leader again turned back. ~ compliance
/ with strict orders not to take Us over We
were still nearer and the machines were Of
! a bright orange color and ON the ton wings
were great German IRON crosses They
/ were German RumplcTs. WO-seaters !
/ was 50 eXcIted that ] could not figure out
/ whether with the sun on my right side
/ was going north or south
/ ATTACKED BY BoCHEs
/ After this photo barrage work We were
placed on convoy work and allowed at
! last To 90 across. ! remember my first con
/ voy 4 neIghbOrlng squadron Of photo
| .graphers phoned III for three machines TO
convoy a ship going some distance IN To a
center Of sidings the Germans have IN the
center Of the salient The ship was to
! come across the aer0drouie at about 8 Is
and shoot q red Verey at about ,0O0
/ meters We would then wait till he got
! about 1000 meters when We would start
j and meet him at 5000 meters Then We
would all start for the lines We would be
200 meters or 50 above him, clrclng
around and protecting him Exactly like
I he destroyers with the vessel that brought
us over Everything worked fine We
crossed the lines at 4 800 meters and the
4 photo fellow got to work And now ] saw
I some real archy Fritz now had group