Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-03-12
Somewhere in France.
January "a, 1918.

man and had my first fight, but to
sad to say did not win 1t, as my
gun jammed after firing two shots.
And then yours truly began to dodge
bullets to such good effect that
here l am, ensconsced in an arm
chair, and only got two bullets in
my machine at that. Pretty close,
though But L better start at the
beginning. You see, it's been pad
weather here for nearly week, with
clouds, rain and mist, and to-day
was no exception to the rule, a
heavy mist over everything, but this
cleared off about 8 P. NJ, so we
three Americans in this escadrille
! asked for "chasse libre" (hunt the
Boche, you know, and the Captain
gladly gave it.
Hunting the Boche
One of these Americans just
brought down Boche lately, so we
| unanimously elected him chef de
patrol" There was still a heavy
bank of clouds over part of the
lines, but we skirted these and head
ed for the Argonne forest and from
thence our leader led us into Ger
many. We were hunting the Boche
all right, and were flying very high
$1,000 meters) so as to gain that
much advantage. And then one
of my comrades motor went bad,
and he started back for camp. But
my intrepid leader, after starting
after him to see what the matter
was, turned about and continued on
his way, as we both guessed it was
motor trouble. Then we were two,
and hunting trouble at that. Twice
we dove on planes who we thought
were Boche, but when we got down
closer they turned out to be Nieu-
ports or Spads. The usual serenade
of shrapnel began as usual, but my
leader lodged in and out of it and
kept on into Germany with me
right on his tail, but no game" did
we see.
In Desperate Plight
/ Finally we headed for camp, de-
spairing of finding anything to
shoot at, when / noticed three
planes going into Germany which
looked rather different from others.
My leader saw them about the same
time and turned to go after them.
He picked one and l picked another
and down we started after them.
But only two shots did 1 get and
then the doggone gun jammed, so
/ pulled out of the steep dive and
as leveled out preparatory to fixing
my gun and having another try,
there was a Boche right in front
of me and shooting as he came.
Naturally pulled on the stick" and
climbed some more. That took me
out of range, but around he came
again, this time under my tail and
shooting for fare-u-well. And !,
sitting there trying to fix that darn
gun with my right hand and fly
with the left one. OF course, that
didn't work so well, since my left
hand is used to controlling the en-
gine and not the wings, and in try
| ing to turn sharply and fix the gun
at the same time, ] went into a
''vrille' and nearly brought down
! the German that way, for he didn't
| know / was going to do it and
neither did 1, with the result that
when I came out of il the Boche' S
| top wing nearly hit my wheels. For
| getting that my gun was useless
pulled the trigger-and nothing hap
| pened, and oh, what chance to
! pot him. There he was right in
front of me and / helpless to shoot.
After that gave up hope of fixing
the gun and headed straight for
home, lodging bullets all the way,
! for we were quite q ways over the
! lines.
| Can See the Bullets
Sure, l could see the bullets!
When fighting in the air a tracer
| bullet is used, which leaves a trail
! of smoke behind it, and looking
| back and down as that Hun came
under my tail and kept shooting at
| the rate of 500 shots a minute,
| could follow the path of those bull
| lets as we'll as he and acted ac-
cordingly. With engine going full
blast made that plane do all kinds
| of erratic stunts. The Boche prob
ably thought was hit when he
saw me go into ''vrille," for that's
| the first thing machine out OF
control does, for he soon stopped
shooting at me, and those little rib
bon-like lines of smoke didn't show
up anymore. And then what was
my surprise to see another plane
sitting up in the sun ahead of me.
Home or Berlin?
Thinking it was another Boche
waiting to pot me as 1 came home
1 began climbing above it, for if
didn't have good gun I had a
good engine. But the suspicious
! plane proved to be my comrade
whose gun had also jammed on the
| first shot. / sure was glad to see
| him, for when l started home with
| that Boche taking pot shots all the
way, l was not quite sure whether
| | was headed for home or Berlin
l was flying south by compass and
| heading into the sun, so l figured
was right, but my leader circlins
around in close circles waiting foI
me was certainly a cheering sight
| AS it was, we only landed about
time it was dark, and then he told
me his story-that his gun had
! iammed too, and although he hated
| to leave me, there was nothing he
could do to help, and t'were better
| for only one to die than both. And
| he was right. So when he saw me
come dodging and jumping toward
home and Mother he was as pleased
to see me as L was him.
Germans Some Filters
GolIy, but I'll say those German
| planes were fast, for he could fly
rings around me, but of course, he
was a better pilot and besides, 1 was
using my speed to dodge and jump
| over bullets. Yeh boy, don't tel
me you can't dodge a bullet!
! lodged hundreds of them to-day and
it's given me considerable more con-
| fdence to know that the little tricks
I have been practicing lately fol
| won't cry anymore about my
won't cry anymore about my never
having even seen a Boche anymore
| for / sure got a close enough look
\ to-day to satisfy me, and saw the
| iron cross also. The fact that my
| telescope sight had not been ad.
| tusted was probably the reason
| he