Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1918-04-26
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message 49, chopped over me 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 it was your comrade fail
ed to return the day he last went over
the line with his squadron
l was still musing over this mel-
anchoIy phase of the scouts life when
an orderly told me there was beau
tful battle going on in the air. and
he volunteered to help me outside tbs
hospital that | might witness it. and
| readily accepted his asHtouEnvs
That afternoon | saw one OF the
| gamest fights l ever expect to witness
Six Against sixteen
| 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 ma
chimes had been apparently picked out
! by six of the Huns and were bearing
the brunt of the night. The contest
seemed to me to be so unequal that vIr-
! tory for our men was hardly to DO
| thought of, and yet at one time they
so completely outmaneuvered the Huns
that l thought their superior skill
might save the day Tor them, despite
the fact that they were so hopelessly
! outnumbered. One thing l was sure OK
they would never give in.
OF course, it would have been a com.
parativeIy simple matter for our men,
when they saw how things were going
against them, to have turned their noses
down, landed behind the German lines
and given themselves up as prisoners,
| but that is not the way of the r. f. <.
A battle of this kind seldom lasts
many minutes, although every seconc
seems like an hour to those who par
| ticipate in it, and even onlookers suffer
more thrills in the course of the struG-
gle than they would ordinarily exper-
| fence in a lifetime. 1t is apparent even
to a 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 SympathiZer in that group
who made no effort to stifle his ad-
miration for the bravery his country
men were displaying.
Four Crash to Earth.
| 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 it i'm
possible for me to speak, but by means
of a pencil and paper ! requested one
! of the German Officers % UHu out LOT
men who the English officers were who
| had been shot down.
A little later he returned and hand
! ed me a photograph taken from the body
of one of the victims. 1t was a pic
| ture of Paul Raney, OF Toronto, and
myself, taken together! Poor Raney!
He was the best friend 1 had and one
! of the best and gameSt' men who ever
! fought in France.
IT was he, l learned long after, who,
when | was reported missing, had check
| ed over all my belongings and sent them
| back to England with a signed memo
randum-which is now in my posses
sion. Poor fellow! He little realized
! then that but a day or two later he
would be engaged in his last heroic
battle with me a helpless onlooker!
! Where Ransy Was Buried.
The same German officer who brought
me the photograph also drew a map
Tor me of the exact spot where Raney
] was buried in Flanders | guarded it
carefully all through my subsequent
adventures and finally turned it over
to his father and mother when / visit
ed them in Toronto to perform the
! hardest and saddest duty | have ever
! been called upon to eXecute-to con-
| firm to them in person the tidings of
poor Paurs death.
The other British pilot who fell was
/ also from my squadron and man 1
! knew weIl-Lieutenant Keith, of Aus
tralia. I had given him picture of
/ myself only a few hours before l start
ed on my own disastrous flight. He
was one of the star pilots of our squad
/ ron and had been in many a desperate
/ battle before. but this time the odds
| were too great for him. He put up
| a wonder fight and he gave as much
/ as he took
The next two days 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 thousand and one questions
! to me. While / was there | turned over
| TO them the message I had written in
| the hospital and asked them to have one
! Of their filters drop it on our side of
| the line.
The Enemy's Efficiency.
They asked me where | would like to
have it dropped, thinking perhaps
| would give my aerodrome away, but
when | smiled and shook my head, they
! did rot insist upon an answer.
I'll drop it over -" declared one
| of them, naming my aerodrome, which
revealed to me that their flying corps
is as efficient as other branches of the
service in the matter of obtaining val
! liable information.
| And right here | want to say that
| the more l came to know of the enemy.
the more keenly l realized what diff
| cult task we're going to have to lick
! him. In all my subsequent experiences.
! the fact that there is a heap of fight
left in the Huns still was thoroughly
! brought home to me. We shall win the
war eventually, if we don't slow up too
soon in the mistaken idea that the Huns
are ready to lie down
The flying officers who questioned me
were extremely anxious to find out all
they could about the part America is
| going to play in the war, but they evil
! came conclusion that