The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1919-02-13
FROM
HAND CO.. BOYS
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but mostly grapes here. Around a
typical AFFIRM you will find one or two
burroughs, maybe a COW or two, about
thirty sheep. and fifteen or twenty
goats for dairy purposes. They sell
the milk and butter to the A K. r.
They also have a lot of chickens and
they live on omelets brown bread. goat
butter and cheese, and "vanruges," a
kind Of wine they make from grapes.
They eve drink water and they
laugh because we drink il.
And IL amuses them to see us eat. The
average American eats about five times
as much as they do.
This camp at lssendun Is called the
third aviation instruction center and
is the largest aviation center in
France. When we came last February
there wasn't much of a field here.
There were only four or five squad
rons here at that time but there are a
great many now, consisting of motor
mechanic regiments, engineers and air
mechanics, besides several hundred
flying officers. There are also about
three hundred Chinese laborers, six
hundred German P. WIS, and about two
hundred French civilians working for
the government.
We'll we started to work on air
planes about the first of March and are
still at II even though the war is over
I started working in the machine shop
on LeRhone motors. These motors are
of the rotary type and average about
sixty hours of actual work in the air
when they have to be brought to the
shop and taken down and tested for
weak parts, overheated cylinders and
warped valves The valves have to be
ground. the pistons reftted and all
parts weighed before it Is assembled.
Then il is put on the test block before
II goes TO the major repair TO be put
back in the ship. When the airplane
itself is out of line of flight IT is taken
to the major repair and refined. |
worked on motors until the fifteenth
of May then went into the major repair
az a liner. We worked at that about
five weeks and six of us we're made
corporals and sent on detacked service
to a field Just outside OF Paris.
We were there about four weeks
when we were ordered to another field
close to the lines where we could hear
the roar of the big guns and the burst
ing of shells. We were in three air
raids where one of our hangers was
blown to pieces. But being at night
there was no one killed as we gener-
ally got word back from the patrols
in time to get out and away from the
camp into some brlsl or woods before
the raid would take place.
/ had the pleasure of seeing an Am
erican pilot shoot down M boche
plane. They fought about forty-five
minutes at a height of about two thou
sand feet. They would go up into the
clouds as II playing hide and go
SEEK One would come down to see
where the other was at and the n
coming down last would have the ad-
vantages Finally the American plane
the boche in the lead and kept
right on his trail until he got aim with
his machine gun, when he let him have
II. and the boche and his plane came
down in flames. Well we all went out
to see IL. II fell about a mile from
camp but when we got there there was
not much left to be seen. The plane
was all burned and the metal and the
boche we're roasted. The officers then
picked a detail to bury the boche.
That is all the active service at the
front that ! have had. The three air
raids were enough for me- After we
came back to this camp we didn't care
much about getting up TO the front
again, but some of the lads were crazy
to get there after that. They kept us
busy answering questions for a month.
There are rumors of III coming
back to the states soon. We will get
u second service stripes in ten days,
one year in foreign service.
I sent you the plane News printed
at this field, mentioning the worlds
record for efficiency made by the one
hundred first Aero squadron
Well l suppose you will be tired
when you read ali this Sc will close
for this time hoping that this letter
I'm al ,,ou oil q O. uoll and 40 n aupy