New Britain herald., 1927-09-24
BRITISH AIR ACE
 IS EMPLOYED HERE
Captain Mcleod Officially Credit cd With Seven Planes

tlCt ana Europe SkleS were uDlJth with combat airplanes splitting dead y lead. were retold to the writer the other day when Captain Ken meth D. Macleod, of the Royal Air Force stopped his duties at the A. 6. Hawker company to bring back memories Of the dark days Of l9l5-lS. Captain Macleod IS officially credited with seven planes shot down although unofficial trophy bring that number up to almost double the of ioial total. Joining the Canadian air force in 1915, he was sent to Eng and for years combat study and rom there went to the Ypres front n the early part of 1917. From that time until the end Of the war he is credited with approximately 200 combat flying hours. that Is hour. in flight under fire. His memoirs Of his flying days for he ha. separated from aNlation since the end of the war. are as in te,esting to the listener as a well written book. in fact they are more interesting In that they are tnged with the "reminiscences Of actual ex- periences which would be hard 10 duplicate in fiction.
 "My first combat flight was strange affair."" Captain Macleod said. We were sent up in groups Of five planes to look over some bomo- CTS which were reported to be in the neighborhood. My leader told me- ,h!. being my first flight to SUCK 10 Inf, tail and not to get In the hght unles, couldn't help 1t. followed out instructions flying straight for long way and then suddenly, with ont any reason as far as l could see, rolling and looping and throwing the plane all over the sky. When we re- turned I filled out my report 10 the effect that nothing had happened and I hadn't seen anything, IL was on,v later that I found out that we had run Into a bunch Of German planes and that two Of the squadron had been wounded while we had brought down two bombers ] didn't hear or see any trace of them ana vet they wer. right around me dur inp the, what I thought, foolish maneuvers Of my leader.
 "One thing about combat flying IS that if the novice flier gets through four or five weeks Of warfare flying he stand. a pretty good chance ot getting through the whole show with the exception of fluke in the shape of an artillery shell or an anti aircraft shell. During the first flights the man is so intent on keep ing his plans in line and maneuver- ing the controls that he does not watch out for the enemy and Is, con- scauently, taken by surprise. Inc ~hole danger of aerial warfare Is being taken by surprise.
 Another fact which proves that inc novice is more susceptible 10 aoager during the first weeks is that when taken by surprise he invariably turns around to find his enemy. The experienced flier goes into a dive, loops, sidoslips and does about everything on the list and then looks for his man. While the novice Is turning around to find his enemy. his plane is flying in a straight course and consequently presents an easy target to a. machine gun.
 T drove a single scatter on escort work most of the time although we had a little "srafing" or raiding work in between. "Strafing' meant flying low and discharging bombs and machine gun fire on objectlvcs near the ground or in the trenches. It was dangerous because one was always a target for artillery fire, anti-a!rcraft, rifle fire from the trenches and machine gun fire from all sources. It vas a nasty job and more experienced fliers have been killed in that kind Of work by lucky shots than in actual airial combat.
 "Close escapes? Well, I had one that made me think for awhile. IL vas q rainy day and We were flying low when I spotted German plane and detached myself from the squadron 10 20 out after it. The plane vas merely a d"coy and three Loebes were on my neck all of | sudden. It was so rainy that J couldn't pick any obj"ctives and, flying low, I had to dodge and twist my way as best I could manage back towards my own lines, Two machine gun bullets went through the cush- ion at the back of my head but on a slant that made them pass up the other side. I finally got back 10 my lines all right.
 "My first plane vas 'wo-seatcr and I dived into 1t in order 10 get my guns on i.. The guns on our planes were stationary, two guns spaced so that they would shoot within four feet Of each other n 100 wards. They were controlled by one trigger and 10 aim them i' vas nee essary 10 point the nose Of the plane towards the objective.
 "We were hearing lot about
 
 about now. Eichthofen came around our digglngs carly in 1918 and VIC had several chances at him. The man that finally got him, Roy Brown, was member Of ou' squad ron at one time. Rictthofcn vas a wonderful flior when b. wanted tc br hut he never took any uuusua, chances. He seldom went out ac- comnanicd by less than l } planes ir formation over him. His great stunt ~as 70 hang around the edges Of a scrap and pick up the "iame ducks and noVicos as they cam" 0u' t0l air. That was how they finally gD him. Brown got ynunrst"r '' drift down past Jim and as Rich thofcn landed on him, Brown lard"r on Richthofcn. The German ace an, the decoy both went down.
 But don't misunlcrE'ard Ign