The Oklahoma City times. [volume] (Oklahoma City, Okla.) 1908-1984, 1918-06-27
IkSS STILL
'IuY Be LIVING,
FLYING PAL SAYS
Comrade Tells Of Fight in
Which Crack Aviator Fell,
By Walter DurantY.
ifCopyright. 1918, by the New York Time
- chioaSc Tribune and the oklahon

"A fcspyrisht. isis, by the New York Times
lt - chioaEc Tribune and the Oklahoma
n WfTH The FRENCH ARMIES.
Juae 2s--From a detailed account Civ
q to me by a patrol comrade Of Ser
eeant Frank Bayliea. the most success.
ful OF The American airmen, who, with
eleven Official and five other victories
10 his credit. had been posted miss
ing" there seems still TO be a chance
that the American airman escaped with
\ his life. although forced to land in un-
favorable circumstances In boche terri
tory.
The patrol oomrade who served with
Baylios in the famous "Stork esca-
drille" TO which Guynemer belonged,
told the story In q sad voice.
Il can hardly realize Il now" he said
"Baylies had been my patrol leader for
so long and had worked so splendidly
that We shall be terribly lost without
him. He saved me three weeks ago BY
extraordinary daring maneuvcrs when
i was attacked by two boches; and
with the exception perhaps OF Fonck,
no one In the whole group had such
J m instructive craps OF the right thing
/ TO do at the right moment. That makes
what happened on Monday all the more
inexplieable, and can not but think
that he was lost by one Of the unlucky
accidents against which the most skill
ful pilot can not always be safe
4 Clouds Favored Boches.
& L.. l.(a Ii
drome at about S o'clock 10 patrol the
line. flying in extended order at 1000
meters. Baylies leading. myself on the
left. and third man on the right.
BayIies had a new machine, whose
screw ran rather more freely than the
old one, so we had difficulty in keep
ing up with him.
There wero masses OF heavy clouds
about, which gave the boches good COW
er, as they always fly high. Suddenly
spotted SIX planes high on my lef'
over Montdidier swung around
toward them and Judged them to be
enemy machines but they showed no
signs u wishing 10 fight, and | re-
sumed my flight after Baylies. We
WCfN tiiCn UiltAliN NNNT INC 'fOHU WHICH
had been the old line before the two
weeks battle. and il is nossible Baylics
did not realize the difference, as for
the last fortnight he had not flown
while waiting for his new machine
Ind tuning up.
Then I saw four planes dodging In
and out Of the clouds very high above
Bayiies. I thought they were British,
as the bochcS do not go much over the
'linesi and Baylies probably did, TOO,
especially II he thought the line ran
further west than Il did.
Realised They Were Huns.
ANYWAY, he went straight un at the
IeaSing three-who were punched TO-
gether-without waiting for me or the
third man. As he got up with them he
riust have realized thev were German
for he gave sudden leap Upward and
then swung over on his wing right on
ton Of them.
AT that instant the fourth plane.
which had been hidden in a cloud \
few hundred feet above. came right |
down on him from behind I saw no
sho'n' IuVu az Nli, Dut SnlOke began |
streaming from Baylies' machine, and |
he went down in a long dive-no,
whirling over, which showed he was
still able TO control his plane-and |
dashed through the clouds and | lost
sight of him. =
Then Baylies Lande1
The four planes immedistelv gained
height and made off eattward. before
we could engage them hut even then
II was impossible to distinguish their
colors, although my comrade thought
they were triplane Fokkers. We dived |
but could see no trace OF Baylies. who |
must have reached the ground lust al
little hamlet some three miles within
the German lines. His descent was OBJ
served by one Of our sausages. which
reports that the machine was smoking
but showing no flame, and diyed deeply
from h,ph altitude and appeared IN
flatten out just before grounding. as Il
under full control So It is possible
that Baylies was able to land success-
FULLY. We hope to have definite new,
IN two or three days"