The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-08-18

pieces. He just managed to dive under
 HIS adversaries and plane back to the
 French lines p'-0 o'sA U SIG
 o 'nam began work with the squadron
 lieutenant Madon on a monoplane
 ch fl and the same day ran into a
 seiol or 10 Germans. Knowing he had
 auVantage in speed he decided to
 tha quick attack then dive All
 'e Iernans followed him down, one of
 .sni al least, in a. dizzy nose spin,
 i...aning the third success officially cred
 i'eu 10 nm. The next day he downed
 T e"o-seater in a fight with two; his gun Jamned and he had to dive away rom the second
 IS BROUGHT DOWN
 one or his longest and hardest comhats was on April Il, when he engsesd fo,,. .wo-seaters during 35 minutes. One If ,ne,n crashed The afternoon of the fol-
 towing day he ran into one of the ezer-
 man circuses;'' there were six in tha group and he got two of them. These
 iaoe nve adversaries shot down between
 ten II ana April F from a monoplane. I saa4asSeu aeou at ciose quarters with a two scatter on May 15 he got near enough to see the German gunner fall forward .on is quicknrer when he sent a bullet none Putnam was brought down him. oeu TOT the first time June ?, but with out personal danger. He was one Of ."o hshters protecting two reconnoiter-
 ing machines when he sighted Il Ger mans. lie slgnalled but the reconnoter- Ing planes continued their course Tujo minutes later the Germans. cara on n two groups, one of five above and one of SIX oeioW. The reconnoitering planes . uove TOT lhelr lives and Putnam for the for lost 1p one or the Germans had succeeded in eu'eihg OH ther econnoitering planes Put
 nam dove and drove him down. Another German dove at the second reconno;tar. CT and Putnam followed him. The Ger
 man put his nose up," which in avia
 ton pariance means that he made a sleep upward turn, and put three bullets into Futnam's motor. He got one in re- | turn that sent him down in a crashing siiue on the wing. Meanwhile the six machines in the higher group were firing ana one Of their bullets went through the machln within half an inch of Put l nam 1oot. His motor was now out of commission and he was looking for two | uisasters at once-a fall of 4O0O yards and the flnal bullet. Again the Germans aDandoned just as they were about to get 1 nm and he managed to fall just softly enough to break nothing but wood, The great fight that made Putnam fa- | nous Tn France was over the battlefield or Rhelms on June 5. In half hour compal ne shot down five of an enemy squadron of 10 Albatrosses. It was close and difficult work, for the Germans 1 maneuvered skillfully and closed in on
 Eim until he could see the pilots plainly I Tn their seats as their machines passed
 under him. He waved his hand to one or them and the German returned the , salute In the thick of the fight. All Put nam says about it is that he kept out | or range as best he could and watched closely every chance to fire. He finally got into good position and the Ger
 man machines began to fall. Five of I them crashed before the fight was over
 June fl Putnam got three out of six
 Fokkers and the next day shot down one Of two German observing planes. He
 was about to put out of this Sn account
 of damned guns when one of his ad-
 versaries pulled up at sharp angle. fired 10 shots, turned over and fell 200 yards; then the machine broke in the
 air and crashed Since then Putnam
 nas accounted for an observation bal
 loon and, on June 30, another enemy plane.