Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-10-29

! They say the good die young, so
we're pretty safe. Yesterday 1
sure was one busy man. Six times
was 1 in the air. which is a record
for me. as twice is generally the
! limit, but we were continually being
ordered out to protect the bigger
French two-seaters and then in the
early morning l went out on my
own hook after balloons, as the sky
was full of clouds to hide in.
But luck was not with me, for the
Hun balloons were sleeping late that
morning. An hour later I landed
we were ordered out on a protection
mission.
Since the clouds were low We
never got higher than 1900 meters.
We saw no Boche and only were
shot at several times by Archie"
Stays Close to Leader
Nevertheless, 1 was highly praised
by the leader for following him so
closely. l merely state this as a
fact, and because 1t may please you
TO know my officers are pleased with
my work, and not because 1 am get
ting a swelled head I've seen too
many aviators killed on account OF
a too good opinion of themselves
and their ability.
in, and / have a mighty humble
opinion of myself.
To come back to the patrol, as
we we're coming home | swung away
from my leaders tail and swung in
behind one of my comrades.
This particular one was an ace,
a very young fellow with IL Boches
to his credit. He has his plane
painted red, trimmed with white,
which certainly makes a pretty
sight in the air.
Mock Combat
Seeing. me swing in behind him,
! guess he thought l wanted to play
we were nearly home then-for
he stood right up on his tail and
started to turn. And then began
one of the fastest mock combats
that one wanted to see.
The idea, you know is to get be-
hind your enemy since that is his
blind spot, and as l was on his tail
to start with, | stuck there, and
nothing he did could shake me, and
goodness knows, he tried enough of
ways. But every turn found me
ready, for / had just returned from
Paris and was Keeling great.
We had a great time up there
for fully ten minutes, and since we
were right over a very large town,
the natives must have enjoyed the
spectacle immensely
Everything has an end tho, and
the red and white plane giving up
the idea of shaking me finally dove
for home.
Praised by Leader
Getting over the "piste" l tried
my guns on the target below. I'M
agine my surprise on landing to not
only be praised by my leader, for
following him so we'll, but to have
this young ACE" pat me on the
back and also praise me for my
maneuvering.
l heard him talking to his COM
rades about it to the effect that
never had he seen such acrobatics
as l did, which was another sur
prise to me, for I had done no
acrobatics in the literal sense of the
word as far as / knew.
/ merely did what was necessary
to keep my advantageous position,
which same required my using the
plane pretty rough at times. 1t was
that caused the admiration of the
young ace" and incidentally
heightened the impression that all
Americans are crazy.
This ace" is very young, and
being a Frenchman, naturally hot
headed. 1t was several weeks ago
that this incident occurred when a
rumor got abroad that there was a
Boche biplane floating around in our
sector painted red and white also.
This reused the ire of our young
friend, and you can bet he kept his
eyes pealed for that Boche who had
the gall to copy his colors.
Goes After Rival
One day he went out with a Lieu
tenant under special orders to fol-
low him strictly, and only to at
tack when he attacked which he did;
but on reaching the lines who should
he see but his Boche rival in all the
glory of his red and white plum
age.
Far be it from me to excuse his
actions, but he was young, a hot
headed Frenchman and there was
that Boche painted exactly like him.
1t was too much for him. All or
ders went by the board. Allez!
Allez. en- route! and he was after
that Hun full speed.
Believe me that sure was a battle
royal and my only regret is that 1
did not see il, for the Boche did not
shirk the fight. In fact he came
to meet his adversary.
Like Knights of Old
Three times these two red and
white birds came at each other head
on. with throttle wide open and guns
going full blast. for all the world
like knights of old breaking lances
in the lists. Only in this case bull
lets were the weapons, and it was
mortal comba
1t was after the third attack that