The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1918-08-08

tnut, Ut uIy Tute, he won De DnCk tllut
night, and you hope for telephone
call from him telling of his where
abOuts.
If the night passes without sign or
word from him, he Is reported as MISS
ing and then you watch for his cas-
ualty to appear In the war Office lists.
One day, perhaps a month later. a
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 muslng over this melan-
chOly phase Of the scouts life when
an orderly told me there was beautl-
full battle going on In the air, and he
volunteered to help me outside the
hospital that l might witness 1t, and
l readily accepted his assistance.
That afternoon l saw one of the
gamest fights ever expect to witness.
There were six of our machines
against perhaps sixteen Huns. From
the type Of the British machines 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 fight. The contest seemed
to me to be so unequal that victory for
our men was hardly to be thought Of.
and yet at one time they so completely
outmaneuvered the Huns that /
thought their superior skill might save
the day for them, despite the fact that
they were so hopelessly outnumbered.
One thing was sure of: they would
never give In.
OF course, II would have been a COM
paratlvely 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 as
prisoners. but that is not the way Of
the II. f. G.
A battle of this kind seldom lasts
many minutes, although every second
seems like an hour to those who par
ticlpate In 1t, and even onlookers suf-
fer more thrills In the course of the
struggle than they would ordinarily
experience In lifetime. II 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 sympathlzer In that group
who made no effort to stltle his admlra-
ton for the bravery his countrymen
were displaying.
The end came suddenly. Four ma
chimes crashed to earth almost stimuli
taneously. 1t was an even break-two
Of theirs and two Of ours. The others
apparently returned to their respective
lines.
The wound In my mouth made 1t I'm
possible for me to speak, but by means
of pencil and paper requested one
of the German officers to find out for
me who the English officers were who
had been shot down.
A little later he returned and handed
me photograph taken from the body
Of one of the victims. 1t was a picture
Of Paul Raney of Toronto, and myself,
taken togctherl Poor Raney He was
the best friend | had and one Of the
best and gamest men who ever fought
In France.
1t was he, learned long after, who,
when was reported missing, had
checked over all my belongings and
sent them back to England with n
signed memorandum-whlch Is now In
my possession. Poor fellow, he little
re llzed then that but n day or two
later he would be engaged In his last
heroic battle with me q helpless on
lookerl
The same German officer who
brought me the photograph also drew
n map for me of the exact spot where
Raney was buried In Flanders. /
guarded 1t carefully all through my
subsequent adventures and finally
turned II over to his father and mother
when | visited them In Toronto to per-
form the hardest and saddest duty |
have ever been called upon to execute
Ito confirm to them In person the
tldings of poor Paul's death.
The other British pilot who fell was
also from my squadron and man /
knew well-Lleutenant Keith OF Aus
tralla. / had given him n picture of
myself only few hours before start
ed on my own disastrous flight. He
was one Of the star pilots of our squad
ron and had been In many desperate
battle before, but this time the odds
were too great for him. He put up n
wonderful fight and he gave us much
as he took.
The next two dnys passed without
incident and l was then taken to the
Intelligence department Of the German
flying corps, which was located about
an hour from the hospital. There was
kept two days, during which time they
put n thousand and one questions to
me. While l was there turned over
to them the message | had written in
the hospital and asked them to have
one of their flyers drop II on our side
of the line.
They asked me where | would like to