Sioux County pioneer. (Fort Yates, Sioux County, N.D.) 1914-1929, 1918-01-24

German plane in flames, and forced five
others to land behind their lines,
(Which means that he is oficially cred.
tied with one-his thirteenth-and that
the other five, though probably brought
down. do not count for him because
there were not the necessary witnesses
required by the French regulatory
"Aviators are not very military. The
chief of one Of the escadrilles was COM
missioned to command the mechanics,
who are plain soldiers with rifles and
steel helmets, for the occasion. He is
bit Of clown and amused the entire
gathering, kidding with the officers.
The pilots Of each of the five esca-
drilles were in more or less formation,
most of them with hands in their pock-
cts. for it was chilly, and presenting a
mixture Of uniforms unparalleled in
its heterogeneity. Every branch Of the
service represented endless personal
ideas in dress.
Spent Their Holiday In the Air.
Because of the occasion, repose had
been granted to the entire group for
the afternoon, another group taking
over our patrols. So that after the
review every one had the afternoon to
waste-a sunny day, which is quite
unusual this month. Within a half
hour every machine that was in work
ing order was in the air, forming into
groups and then off for the lines, just
looking for trouble-voluntary patrol,
they call it. Which opened my eyes a
bit as to the spirit in the French avia-
ton service after three years of war;"
In another letter, written December
1, young Walcott says:
81 tried to give you some idea Of the
strength Of Spad in letter while
ago. At home people speak of factor
of safety, meaning the number of times
stronger the machine is than is neces-
sary for plain flying. The Spad is made
so that man can't bust it, no matter
what he does in the air-dive as fur
and as fast as he can and stop as bru-
tally as he can. 1t stands the racket.
OF course, motors do stop, and If 1t
happens over a mountain range-well,
that's just hard luck.
"Have had a few patrols since last
wrote. One at a big height-4OOO to
$500 meters, considerably above the
clouds, which almost shut out the
ground below; a wonderfully beautiful
sight, but beastly cold-and a couple
when the clouds were low and solid.
The patrol stays ut Just the height of
the clouds, hiding in them, slipping out
again to look around. If 1t stays be-
low the enemy antiaircraft guns pep.
per it whenever near the lines, and at
low altitude that is rather awkward,
so the patrol shows itself as little as
possible.
"It's lots Of sport to try to keep with
the patrol; be behind the chief Of pa-
troll, see him disappear, and then bump
into a fog bank, a low-hanging cloud,
and not see darn thing. Then dive
down out of the cloud, wondering
whether the other guy is right under
meath or not dart out Of the cloud and
see him. maybe 500 yards away, going
at right angles. Then back up and
turn around fast and give her the gear
See Boche regulating artillery fire,
start to maneuver into range, and,
zip; he's out Of sight in the clouds,
and the next you see he is beating it
far back of his lines. Not very dan
gerous this weather, but lots of fun"
In a letter from the front, dated
November 80, the following passages
occur:
Yesterday was Thanksgiving day,
and, praises be! the Lafayette bunch
invited me and my partner to dinner,
or rather to the feast. They have the
most remarkable chef. Soup and fish
prepared the way for most remark
ably big bird called the turkey, barri-
caded by chestnuts. And then a plum
pudding-a regular American one-and
as good as ever tasted. I sat ut the
table with Captain Thenault, I.teuten-
ants Thaw and Lufbery, and some
Frenchmen.
IAN early patrol this morning, de-
spite low clouds. Lots Of fun it was.
ducking in and out Of the clouds, keep
ing from hitting other machines in the
clouds and from losing the patrol. Saw
few Boches. but all they had to do
was to slip up out Of sight when the
patrol approached. Every now and
then their antiaircraft guns would
blaze away a bit, but there was lots Of
room for them to miss and for us to
leave the place they were shooting
at"
USES ovERcoAT AS BANK