New Britain herald., 1919-11-01

made num- Der of landings we'll be- hind the enemy lines. At that time he was probably better known by sight in Belgium than in Britain or France, and the amazing thing is that the Germans never appeared to recog- nize him.
 Mannock flew repeatedly over the district around Brussels We had no difficulty in recognizing his machine by l,s markings, and we had the ut most admiration for this daring off, cer Once l saw him land at the im- provised landing place not far from Brussels used by the Allied air cour lers It was about a month or six weeks before his death. I suggested to him that the work he was en- gagged in was dangerous.
 Just a lttle,'' he replied, but not so much as you might think. It has it's points"
 What are they?" I asked.
 "Oh,' was the reply, you get plenty of fun, plenty of excitement, and there is always the feeling that you are cheating death.'
 Mannock certainly cheated death more than any man I know of, and his greatest achievement in this di- rection was in the summer of last year; between Ghent and Bruges. There had been a British intelligence officer in the neighbCrhood in hiding for about three weeks. He had as- certained all that he wished to know, and it was imperative that he should go back. Mannock was sent to fetch him.
 As rendezvous in that region we used the house and grounds of a patriotic Belgian who had suffered a great deal for his country.
 These were anxious days indeed for the Germans were very inquisitive. and made a number of visits to tha house in search of unauthorized per- sons. On the second night troops were left in the house to keep watch, and it was a source of anxiety to mo when I reflected that at any minute Mannock might come to the house. I dared not go out to warn him, for I did not know how much the Ger mans knew or suspected, and any move l made might have the effect ot putting them on their guard.
 That night I waited in with anxiety bordering on terror. About nine o'clock I saw Mannocl6 coming along from Ghent He did not appear to suspect anything, and in a few min utes he must be seen by the Germans.
 was at first impelled to rush out to warn him, regardless of what might be my own fate, but I realized on re- f1ection that this might mean the de- feat of the end I had in view. I waited anxiously. and saw Mannock come close up to the gate. So far he had not been seen by the Germans, but I could not say how long his inn munity from detection was likely to last.
 Suddenly to my great relief he turned and walked back along the road by which he had come. After wards I learned that he had seen the Germans, had guessed what 1t all meant and had gone back rather than run the risk of discriminating any of us.
 The next day the soldiers went away, the officer telling me that he was disgusted with the authorities at Brussels, who had ordered him out on this fruitless task. On the fol- lowing night the British intelligence officer arrived at the house, and about Il o'clock I set out to take him to the secret landing place, where Man nook was to be in readiness for him.
 We had not gone far before we heard the unmistakable sounds of in fantry on the march, and very short ly we made out the column, about 200 men altogether We got off the main road as quickly as we could, and sought refuge in the woods, only aching shelter just in time.
 The soldiers passed close by the 1>ol 1r-1,i io1, low in n GioD and marched down the road in the direction of the clearing where we expected Mannock to be. When the Germans had got out of sight we hur- ried on our way, realizing now that there was very great danger if we could not reach Mannock by him. self, and in the background, near some trees, we saw his machine. We had taken a near cut through the woods and had got ahead of the marching troops, but we were not far enough in front to be quite safe.
 The British officer got aboard, and Mannock was preparing to rise into the air, when we heard sounds that could not be misunderstood The Germans had arrived again, and they signalized their arrival by opening fire with rifles at close range.
 I thought at first Mannock was hit. and the Germans were evidently of the same opinion, for the officer in charge of the leading men shouted out words to that effect and called on his men to come on. Mannock said something to the intelligence of ficer, and the latter seemed to grasp the situation. He sprang into the seat beside the machine gun and started firing.
 My Desperate Plight.
 The Germans recoiled before this unexpected attack, and their tenn porary discontinue enabled the dar- ing airman to get his machine into