Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-12-26
AIR FIGHTER kept THREE
GUNS IN ACTION At ONCE
ihcE Must Not Fight. but Are the
Terror OF Flying
Huns.
AMERICAN AERIAL SPOILERS
hiri OF Atlanta Tells Story-Battle
OF Three Against Eighteen That
won for Them tho Croix dc
Gucrrc.
ny GEonGE II. sI,IDEs.

ing the German positions for the at
i FOX ,ne sw i9iloTimg day. EiGhteen
OF US closed together. ana with every
Thn b splbaynE n ,re We broke through
mere YOU have the plain. implanted |
.a.chcnt OF an American aviator, |
%,a, eh,,, and unassprnins. an ON
,arked on II wide front at 1895 this !
morning and reached all our objcc-
Th h s spisoa as Is Soub II it. ss1
otnt because it concerns not flight
-, pursuit planes: whose business 1t is
OF piplanes, whose pilots and observ-
n,s arc taught and warned tina, they |
Nor. is the incident unique. 1t is an
cfpcricncc which every aviator In the |
o . and bombing squadron has
more than one has returned with
bullet wound az well as with a photo
lhetr bases. But that is part OF their
game. and not ono is ever dismayed or
Is Ills his love Of the game cooled.
nc opening quotation is from q talk |
With Lieutenant Stewart Bird, of At
ANITA Jay Bird" as his mates cali
the Croix de Gucrrc for daring re-
connaissancc. lIo IL one OF the vet
Grams of the air service now-eight
ful, months at tho frout--and unom-
gg aas nc is the adviser and father con
a.
Salmsons, hopes eventually TO try his
nand on the Joy stick OF a D-H-i Lib
gun. His face is tanned by wind and
sun. layers deep. and his eyes have
crown accustomed to tho vast new
world above the old world. But please
don't call him "birdman"
said 1u and 9Td Iapsns aTo nSt to nsht| he
YOU cross tho line you get archied-
shot at. WI. ,od can pass that up.
but when offensive days come every
IN 80
a fight. You've got 10 fight whether
YOU want To or not We crossed every
gay, for 1s two mont during the Cha
day"
Like every other unit OF the Amer
sauadrons and even cavalry, tho OBJ
servht!on groups had the hotties, time
S Ss, ihsr Of yS Ss Il me days between the
Bellenu) and the frui,ion OF the Foch
pa :. In tho capture Of SCISSORS. All
on this front. In the air they had
heir two best "circuscs." the old Rich
,n9ien and llnmelman groups. the red.
ones. decorated distinctly not for cam
outage. but for advertisement SO that
ana fear enter the allied aviator be fore |
he joined battle.
However. neither OF our chase plane
pilots nor those of the observation |
group had ever encountered these cir
cuscs nor had they taken the German
about them was that they were good (
one aviator said afterwards. but we .
went went 20 II Just the SANE" The, chase |
boys TOOK the same risks and the OBJ 1
scrvation boys the same chances in .
crossing the small numbers when they |
went 10 Z" their work
EPIC FIGHT or
THREE AGAINST EIGHTEEN |
The eighteen who attacked US"
LIi n,,h;,i BIRD continued. We're un-
douotedly the RIchthofen circus and /
4 h.
man ace Of aces. Lieutenant Lowen-
h hare who a. that time claimed forty
,enants, Erwin and sykes in one, Mel
yin and Corlcy in the second. and Ty- |
tus piotinS my ship.
They came out OF the sun, as thew
always do. for although the German
aviator will fight. he viii not attack |
prise. They surrounded us. They flew
above US from al. sides. from above /
and below. in front and on our tails. /
noise. which We couldn't hear, hut we !
could see the spurts; of iame and some /
FIRING THREE GUNS
At SAME TIME
II was regular dog fight the next
in my life, believe me. We had pre-
viously planned wha;; to do in such an
firing the fixed gun in front. So were
tho other pilots. The observers were
nrins their movcabic guns. I was
Yes; three ir. The type of machine
guns on top and one thren n u ,Hs fn .wo
lage. There were German Fokkers
beloW S,s as well as above. pumped
and worked the two others with my
feet. The other two observers were |
battleship firing saivoes. we Vent ieHi
right through the eighteen Fokkers |!
until we reached our own lines.
You see leach individual boche was |
afraid OF getting shot down IL he |
tack led one Of our big machines. AL |
could outmancuver us, we could out
shoot them SO they turned their black |
cross tails to us and went to Ger
In this period OF lighting. Lieutenant
Rird and others OF his squadron spot
ted for the American artillery every |
day, the Atlanta aviator himself doing
the spotting for the attack on hill |
aoi; s which 9 wa vas captured by Boston
England boys. This work was done
by wireless The spotting bipiane |.
goes zoe up dn over dne target. cruising along
explosives, sometimes machine gun and |
rifle bullets: a code has previously |
artillery maps and the aviator!s man |
bear the same numbers for certain |
points.
When the plane passes over the ar
tillery positions it receives n signal |
that all is ready. When it locates its |
target it sends wireless message to |
that effect. The artillery colonel re- |
ceives it. lie transmits it to the ma |
jor. The guns signal ready. The plane
sends the word fire"
Each shot is watched, from the gun |
flash to shell burst. Then come the |
corrections, over" behind" direct"
When the direct shot is registered the |
job is done. Meanwhile, of course |
the plane is being attacked. is lodging
is watching for enemy aircraft, which
may drive 1t away and also attending
TO business: Neither is 1t necessary to |
cross the German line to get shot up |
TEN DAYS IN "GERMANY.
ON A MILITARY ARPLANE |
In eight months OF this kind of |
work Lieutenant Bird has made no |
less than eighty trips over the Ger |