Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-08-01

| But. we kept our formation very
good. each machine in its allotted
place, turning aside for nothing and
keeping straight on down the lines.
Plenty to Do
Even with watching my com pass.
leader and motor still found time
to enjoy rare scenery. It was like
beneath one. with. the blank spaces
when we went through clouds. There
were considerable blank spaces and
no advertisements written on them
to entertain one while passing
through either.
Thus we flew along while we came
to Rheims. Right near there Is q
mighty good battery of German
ARCHES" and he got busy tout de
suite" With our low altitude we
were pie" for him and he soon had
Archie" barking uncomfortabIy
close, but since we could not jump
out of range on account of the
clouds there was nothing to do but
keep going. Passing through clouds
as often as we were we threw
ARCHES" aim off considerable but
he still kept barking away, shooting
in the clouds where we should have
been but weren't
| Over Rheims
On the west of Rheims, you know,
is the newly-acquired territory OF
the Boches, and it was here we kept
heading, soon being away inside of
| their lines-at an altitude of 1900
meters. Never before did I realize
how much depended on my engine.
| for If she would have quit then, 1t
would have been a prisoner and
/ bread and water for the duration of
the war for yours truly" But my
motor ran like a charm as we con-
tinued to hump right along, Archie"
giving us warm welcome all along
the line.
Once I thought I had lost the pa
troll for good, as / went into a cloud
which seemed to have no other side.
l kept going and going through that
white, enveloping vapor and thought
| would never come out Finally.
getting worried as to my direction
and where the others of the patrol
might be. 1 dove down out of It.
Fortunately, the patrol was still
! right ahead and / was soon up in
my place again. 1t was quite inter-
esting flying this low. for one could
see more of the details of the pano-
rama laid out below.
AS usual. we fly very high-6 900
meters, and from that height the
ground Just looks like a map and its
not at all interesting. except as a
guide. We had gone in some twenty
miles over this captured territory
when we turned around and headed
back for Rheims.
The Enemy
AS we arrived over this city our
leader suddenly gave the signal that
he saw a Boche, and turning right
ii e 4. = a.
we three right behind. They were
two ''trplace" (two-men) machines
and Just the thing we expected to
find. True, they were several miles
away in their own lines, but what's
a mile to a Spad! So we were soon
near them-and then they saw us.
There's not to ask the reason why
four Spads We're flying around in
such awful weather, xnere-s but to
run and dive. which they promptly
did. So anxious were they to reach
Mother Earth they dove with full
motor, a most dangerous proceeding
in any machine, so to catch them
we had to do likewise. k
Wires were certainly humming as
we tore dow natter them. Putnam
with the best motor in the crowd,
soon got behind one and caught 1t,
while I went peil nell after the
other, slowly catching up and shoot
ing as I came. Out OF the corner
of m yeye l saw the Hun Putnam
was chasing break IN the cir as I
shot past on my way after the other
one. After that was fully occupied
with catching my Hun and filling
him full of lead.
One of my guns refused to work
at all, although I tried to pull the
trigger with both hands, Finally.
gave up trying to make them both
work, got the sight in line with the
pilots seat and let go with the other
gun. This only InaGe tine Hun dive
still sleeper. l did likewise. always
shooting and getting closer all the
time. And then a strange thing
happened lost him. He disap-
peared completely Lus or my sight,
literally as we'll as fgurativeIy. and
there being nothing more to shoot
at l pulled up and cfrcied around
to see what happened to him, for ]
was only at 500 meters then.
The Disappearing Hun
But that Hun seemed to have dis
solved into thin air, ne wasn't any
where to be seen and / could not
find him on the grSund in a heap
as wished. or scooting along the
Archie was barking away at me
but / was so interested IN finding
that Hun again I never even tried
to dodge them. Finally giving it UP
climbed up through the shrapnel
and Joined my three comrades who
were circling around overhead.
AS I think of it now. losing that
Hun was very simple matter to
do, for he was "camoufiaged' most
effectively. for the ground he was
flying over was a sort of whitish col
or with dark lattice-work lines rum
ming over his wings Whether he
was using any thought at all is a
question, but, IL diving toward that
canal was done on purpose. his was
good thought. for the canal only
had little water in it and the white
chalk-colored ground. which is prev
alent in this region and which lined
it's sides, was the exact shade OF
that Huns wings. With that as a
background and looking through
three glasses-my goggles. the wind.
shield and the telescope sight--as
was, about all / could see was the
. body, and that dinly. But it was
the pilot / wanted to get, so the
wings didn't matter.
Toward Home
There being nothing more to shooi
at, our leader led us toward home
but we had not gone far before he
signaled again he saw a Boche
turned right around and started
back again. This time 1t was five
'Albatrossv fighting planes. They