New Britain herald., 1919-10-18

1917. that l first suggested the idea Of airlNen ns5iSting Us in our work by ta king back with them rescued prlS- Oners who Wern in possession Of in formation regarding German dispos;- tionH.
 "Thnt k, q jolly good idea" replied
 Ball, but dcubt whether general hcaAuuarters would approve. I will Sumgost + anE le; VOL know"
 Next tirlo F;aN came he said 10 1ol. .',Chu old ,Fomcn at general head cllar;crs; arc srcptical Of tn" idea, but tf}C1- have left nc free 10 uSo rny dis creiion. have used it by coming HIonc this time. If you have any in- ,cresting fugiiiveS 1 don't mind mah- :n2: a trial tE.p.'
 Boy Isvi"aG.icr.
 lt so happened that wo had in hiding not far away from the spot where these dart devil airmen were i1l the habit of landing q very inter- cst;nS fugitive indeed, Brigadier Gen eral B, known aS the boy brgadier, because of the early age at which he had reached this rank. Brigadier R had been wounded and left on the field in some local fighting about this time. He was picked up by the Ger mans and brought into Brussels, where he was detained for three days before heing sent Into Germany.
 Shortly alter leaving Brussels the rain conveying the prisoners was held up, and the men were quartered on the Belgian villagers close to the railway. That cVning there was a conflict between the civilians and the military, and a number of the Brit Fl; the boy brigadier and two staff off, cers belonging to the Ninth Scottish and South African Division of the British army.
 Trusted friends brought B and the two other men to Us, and they re- mainod in hiding until the following day, when Balls arrival gave me the chance for which l was waiting of getting Bt- away. When I told Ball what I had for him he was greatly pleased, and readily agreed to take the brigadier and one of the staff officers referred to. The trip was made successfully in spite of the fact that the machine was fired on for a considerable part of the jour- nCy back to the British lines II like the thing immensely was what Bali told me next time he came over. "G. H. Q. were glad to get the brass hats back, for they think a lot of both of them. They are not going to say anything about their capture, but the Germans have reported the capture of a British general and staff officers Of {; divsion.'
 On this occasion Ball had brought with him a British officer named Harl1er, whom I was told to assist in his efforts to get information regard ing the disposition of the German troops between Brussels ana the coaS-.
 This intelligence officer remained behind the German lines in the dis guise of Q Flemish comm ercial tray cller for moro than six months. He was particularly active during the operations at Passchendaele in Octo- Der, 1917. and the informa ton which he obtained was collected periodical i ly by means of the aerial post which had then been established between the British and different points be- hind the German lines.
 Some of the most daring of the AL lied airmen were employed on this . work and the risks they ran were i amazing. I think the Germans were 1 aware that a service Of this kind was ! in operation, for they were continu- ally offering rewards for the disclo- sure of the location of landing places for these machines and in Septem- Der of 1917 placards were posted in Brussels offering a reward for the capture dead or alive of Major Har 1 ker.
 \ Cool Customer. While this hue and cry was on, Harker was moving freely about, and in Brussels itself 1 saw him one day standing at street corner reading one of these placards He was smok- ing away as coolly as though he had not the least connection with the man so minutely described in the placard. A few Belgians and some Germans joined us.
 The soldiers could not make any thing of the notice, which was m French and Flemish. The Belgians were appealed to by the German sol diers, but they were unable to oblige with q translation. Harker removed