The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-10-26
YANKS BOMB HUNS TRACK star HERE
American Airmen in Great Washburn Adjutant Slips in
Work Over Rhine. Unheraded and Unsung
Efficient Activity Soaring Lieut. Clifford the
Inland Towns. Missouri Cinder Paths.
PUT OUT THE SEARCFILIGFTS NEARLY AS FAST As SHEA
Machine Gun Fire From Planes Backe Stepped
Hit Hun Mark. Fast Time at M. q.
Yankee Tells Story He Raced at Chicago
Successful Raid. pany and Broke Tape.
American Airmen in Great
Work Over Rhine.
Efficient Activity in Soaring
Inland Towns.
PUT OUT THE SEARCHLIGHTS
Machine Gun Fire From Planes
Hit Hun Mark.
Yankee Flyer Tells Story of q
Successful Raid.

London, Oct. 26,-Not only are the
allied airmen harassing the German
front and support trenches, IN their
daily flights over the Hun line. but
large bombing squadrons are doing
such efficient work in bombing the
inland towns of Germany that mer-
chants at Frankfort-on-the-M Main
Cologne and other big Rhine towns
are becoming more and more scared
every day.
American bombing squadrons are
now taking their part in the game and
the Yankee pilots and observers, like
their British brethren Of the Royal Air
force, enter into this sport with the
same spirit that has made them ia
nous on the baseball diamond or foot
ball gridiron of their own American
colleges.
A young American aviator has Just
Aold OF a trip over the German lines
and back behind into German terri
tory The formation in which the
american airmen flew consisted of
eleven big bombing machines, each of
which carried 1000 pounds of high
explosives, three machine guns and
three men.
This was the boys story:
AFTER 1 had tried the guns on my
machine, checked the bombs made
sure everything was shipshape and
put couple of little bombs into a
snlaI bag beside me, 1 started my en-
glne; The big motors growled away,
waiting for the starting flash Soon
the signal came and we were off,
For twenty minutes we climbed
uhtll the earth was just a dark blot.
another twenty-five minutes and we
were over the trenches, with the
searcners cropping about in the mists
peloW US. The big guns crashed away
continuously and we could see their
explosions from where we scared high
above them. No sooner had We
crossed the lines than the Germans
started firing at u.s. with their anti
light got right on us with its beam of
lsht. We fired a couple of rounds
OF machine gun fire at the Germans
VINO were manning the searchlight.
ana 1t went out.
Shafts of Light and Shells.
Far below us we could see the
lights of a locomotive. Finally we
reached our objective. According to
plan, we throttled our motors and
glided towards the earth to get nearer
our target. 1t was obviously quiet.
Ihen suddenly, the earth seemed to
open below u.s. Seventeen search
lights were turned on by the Germans
ana their shafts of light swept all
ABOUT US. The anti-afrcraft guns made
a wall ahead of us. The high explo-
sive shells burst on every side of us
ana the green fire balls swayed and
spiralled as they tried to set us on
IRE the American machines went
stFaight on with never a waver or a
turn. There were SO MANY crashes
that L thought more than once that we
were mt We kept straight on.
suddenly one of the German
searchlights got us. and the rest of the
seventeen threw around on US with
hot
cehtration feel like a blow We fired
our machine guns until the tins of
the weapons got red and the glow be-
gan TO creep up the barrels The whole
seventeen beams were on us, altho we
plunged and sidesIipped about in a
desperate way. We let 90 the hombs
when we were right over the mark.
me anti-aircraft shells were getting
even closer than ever and the machine
was NIT time and again, tho not in a
Eitai spot. Why we were not literally
blown out of the air, I do not know
After we were well over the r,arL
and had dropped all our bombs we dis
covered one $50 lb. bomb which had
caught fast in the rack and failed
10 drop when released Consequently
we swung back on second run and
whep We were over the place which
We had bombed we let go The 1sst
homb and scored a direct hit far he
low i'' A"i
we went home at a high speed.
we crossed our own trench lines at
ABOUT 5000 feet up. saw some familiar
land marks. headed for our own aero
urome' 1ired our signals and got the
answer A few minutes later we had
landed. A glance over the machine
saw two big tears in the side of the
1uselase and many holes in the wings.
But w had done a splendid bit of
bombing, and such damage as our
machine had suffered was by no
means difficult to repair