Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-10-29
Escadrille Spad IS.
Secteur Postal 102,
- 90


Sept. 90, 1918.
Dear Mother:
~AAnother Sunday gone and 1 have
not been to church, are you properly
shocked now? If so, I'll begin TO
make excuses. for have a good
one as I had to work. Not that
think of 1t in that light for flying
to me is like dancing to girl-it
sure tires one out but oh Boy!
what a time.
AS for today we were sent out on
our usual work, which We have been
doing lately, that of protecting the
big two-men planes which fly close
to the ground and take some target
practice on the fleeing Hun. He is
running all along the line now, you
know-and here's hoping he keeps
on running.
Bad Weather
The weather was fierce for any
kind of flying, for the sky was full
of clouds and as they were at only
500 meters IL made il very easy for
the pilot TO get lost, since you can
easily see that the higher one is the
larger the panorama spread out be-
fore him.
AS we would surely fly thru the
clouds number of times, only three
of us were sent in patrol. as this
number made maneuvering easier,
and prevent disaster in the clouds,
for a large number of planes going
in and out of clouds might run into
each other. This type of tragedy
has indeed happened.
When we got in the air, the leader
decided 500 meters was too low an
altitude to stroll over the Hun lines
so he steered for a hole and climbed
thru. only to find another layer
some distance above the first. How
ever, since the hole we were spiral
ing up ended in blue sky.
We continued to climb and soon
we hit third layer. We were then
at 1000 meters, and since. that top
layer seemed to have few holes and
we could keep our direction by get
ting a glimpse of country thru the
many holes below. We headed for
the lines.
Wonderful Cloud Effects
Never did l see a more beautiful
sight. Many times have l tried to
describe the wonderful cloud et-
fects l have seen and failed, but
this one took the cake, as the sec
ond layer of clouds was merely
filmy veil over the first layer of those
round white billowy kind of clouds,
which look so pretty. and give one
such awful bumps when one sidles
up a little close.
1 don't know whether they have
the flirting habit like some girls,
but the fact remains that they sure
give some awful love taps. was
not making love TO them this time
INAlrtnor n fhan1
And it sure was some sight too, for
that second layer of tilmy clouds
reminded me of a person passing a
broom over a smooth plot of soft
mud. Only in this case, the result
ing streaks were not black, but the
purest white, and of the tineness of
cobwebs.
Sight For the Gods
To see the ground and those white
spongy clouds thru this medium was
iSFeed a sight for the gods only it
deiies description.
Really, considering the heavenly
scenery and aviator sees he should
have no regrets If he never reaches
Heaven. for its my opinion the only
part of that place he has missed are
the angels. And as for the latter
they can be found right here on this
old earth.
Didn't See Balloon
Probably watching all this scenery
was what caused me to miss the
sight of a Boche balloon right un-
der me. That wasn't the only rea-
son tho. for l was one busy boy
following my leader and finding out
where l was, for. since | have two
Boche. more responsibility is being
showed on me.
In this particular patrol l had
been ordered to take the lead if the
leaders motor broke down, and
naturally If he left l wanted to know
where ! was. So l followed him
faithfully and kept my eye on diff
ferent landmarks | knew.
When we landed l learned the
Lieutenant had dove on balloon,
but not being able to see a black
cross painted on its side he did not
shoot, thinking 1t was a French one.
We teased him quite lot about that
because the closest he had been was
1000 meters. and from that height
its impossible to see their highly
camuflaged insignia.
Not n Boche in Sky
One has to be about 500 meters
away. Just the same, I am still
kicking myself for not seeing IT,
What a shame indeed, for there was
nary a Hun in the sky. oh yes.
they would chuck all their usual
fire works at me IL I attacked but
I'm beginning to think its all chance
If one of those hits me.
AS one of my friends remarked: