The Washington herald., 1918-08-04

~
airmen, because OF his dashing
boldness. was Georges Guynemer. who
met the fate he had foretold In an
aerial battle in September last. He.
like Fonck, was 23 years old. He
had been an invalid all his life. with
q tendency toward tuberculosis. and
he was rejected five times because
OF his health when he tried TO enlist
as private in the French army.
Then he volunteered for work In an
aeroplane factory. and there his
work so impressed the officers in
charge that he was permitted to en-
list as a student aviator He made
his first flight as sergeant In Jan
uary, 1916. and in less than three
weeks became an ace by bringing
down his fifth enemy plane. He was
made a lieutenant for rising to the
defense OF q comrade battling with
FIVE German Fokkers and dropping
two of the enemy machines within
thirty seconds of each other. He
was pursuing two more when a
shell tore away one wing of his
plane.
Guynemer Describes Fall
II felt myself dropping" he said.
cit was 10000 feet to the earth, and.
like a flash. i saw my own funeral,
with, my saddened comrades march
ing behind the gun carriage to the
cemetery. Five thousand feet from
the earth the wrecked machine be-
gan to turn somersaults, but l was
strapped into the seat. Suddenly
there was a tremendous crash, and
when I recovered my senses had
been taken from the wreckage and
was all right
Before he became a captain Guy
nemer was wounded several times,
but he never lost his nerve. He at
tributed his success to waiting and
watching for an opportunity. Once
he was rescued by French soldiers
when he fell with his machine into
No Mans Land. He bad a way OF
at death that made him
popular hero. When he marched In
the Paris parade on the national hol-
iday he was cheered by men. show
cred with flowers and kissed by wom-
en-. His picture Is in nearly every
French home. and hundreds Of babies
were named for him. He was off,
cially credited with defeating hrty-
two German aviators. This master
Of the skies met his death in FIan-
ders hghting against immense odds.
"Gypsy of the Air"
Another boy wonder who was
rival Of Guynemer when both, were
20. is Adjt. Jean Navarro. This
lad, called THE Gypsy Of the Air."
has been wounded many times, but
he 10 still one Of those who fly and
fight alone. He has a twin brother,
Pierre. who likewise won fame in
the clouds.
Adjt. Jean Navarro has fought over
forty battles and brought down a score
of German machines. One day he was
lying Ill in bed with fever when
he learned that enemy airmen were
his sector. He sprang
up. got into his monop1ane and start
ed In pursuit. He was q target for
bullets from two machines. but he
forced them to come down in the
Valley of the Marne and then re-
turned to his sick bed.
Maj. Raoull Lufbery was the great |
est OF American airmen and seventh |
on the list OF French aces. with a |
record of eighteen German machines
to his credit His history Is one of
bravery to inspire all fighting Ameri- !
cans. He came to his death last May. |
when he jumped from his flaming ma !
chine and fell In a flower garden |
after he had attacked q big German !
triplane.
Lufbery's Career.
Lufbery's life was one of adven-
ture. Though born in France. the |
son of a French mother and an |
father, he lived as Q boy |
in the little town OF wsllingford, |
Conn. There he was a factory |
worker, but at the age Of Is he left |
dhome and for several years roamed |
through Europe trying his hand at
one job after another. In French |
Indo- China he met Marc Pourpe, a |
young French aviator, who was CIV |
ing exhibitions there and became his
The two friends went
to France in 1914, where Lufbery
enlisted in the Foreign Legion and
was trained as an airplane pilot.
Two years later he brought down
his first enemy plane.
Absolutely fearless and possessed
of the greatest skill in handling his
machine. Lufbery. after avenging
the death of his comrade, Pourpe,
made himself a terror to German
flyers. He went to the front with
the American Escadrille, and was
soon given the Military Medal and
the French War Cross.
Lieut.. Bert Hall. himself a cour-
ageous and skilled American aviator,
has added a glowing tribute to the
memory of 'Luf," as his comrades
called him.
Bishops Record II.
This eagle of the air wore the rib
bon Of the Legion of Honor on his
breast when he was buried beneath
the flowers of France.
William Thaw of Pittsburgh, at the
age of twenty-five. has distinguished
himself by bringing down eight
planes and won the coveted decora-
tion of the Legion of Honor.
After downing the unprecedented
of ~ German airplsnes, Mai.
William A. Bishop of Toronto, twen-
ty-four years old, has been trans
at the front to the Office of the British
Chief Of the Air STAFF.
One of the noted air hawks of
France Is Lieut.. Charles Etienne Num- |
gesser. At the age OF twenty-four he
is victor over thirty-four enemy ma
chimes and Paris knows him as Prince
OF Pilots"
Daily the list of triumphs grows,
and always in the roll OF honor may
be read the glorification of daunt- !
less intrepid youth-N. Y. Evening
World.