Evening star., 1939-10-20
French Describe
Vicious Dogfight
With German Planes
Delighted With Curtiss
Ships Superiority
Over Messerschmidts
By WALTER DURANTY.


AT BRITISH HEADQUARTERS
= IN FRANCE, Oct. 20 N.ANA)-A
vivid picture of modern air fighting
was given to me yesterday by a
group of French pursuit pilots who
received their baptism of fire in a
recent battle over the Maginot and
Siegfried lines between Wissembourg
and the karlsruhe region.
I'VE were flying in layers" said
the commander. Just as we crossed
the line there were three bursts of
anti-aircraft fire from Bien Forest,
through which runs the Siegfried
line. Even at that altitude we could
see wide belt of about 500 yards
where the trees were cut down,
marking the line, and the whole
forest was full of anti-aircraft bat
teries.
"As II the salvos were a signal,
my lowest patrol reported that six
Messerschmidts were attacking in
front. Within seconds, the fight
was engaged. put burst into one
enemy and thought I had hit him
because he dived steeply, but he
f1attened out and rose again, ahd I
pursued him northward without
success. Another German was driven
to a forced landing, but one of our
men, who followed him down, was
attacked from above.
In Hail Of Bullets.
Then the enemy withdrew and
we reformed our formations, when
there was a signal that five more of
the enemy were ahead. Almost
simultaneously, spotted and sig
nailed second five at great height
from the direction Of karlsruhe, but,
before we met them, third group of
five attacked us unexpectedly from
due east.
For an instant, I was in a hail
OF bullets, one of which hit my
propeller. I wheeled like a flash
and got out of the stream Then
it was real dog fight in all direc-
tlons. We brought down two Ger
mans and did not lose a man, al
though all our planes were hit.
1T was funny thing-my radio
was still on, and, in the heat of the
fighting, the boys back at our land
ing field heard me swearing like
drunken sailor. although I had no
idea of 1t myself"
The pilots also expressed great
indignation over the earlier killing
of Capt. Claude, a French pilot, by
three German planes when he
jumped in his parachute.
''They riddled the chute with bull
let's, and put two through his head"
one boy told me. so any German
who jumps had better look out in
the future"
Pleased at Result.
The Frenchmen were pleased that
this first combat was against the
crack German circus" the outfit
which Richthofen and Goering once
commanded Their emblem is red
with a checkerboard.
The French belonged to one of
the groups whose original squadron,
founded in the spring of 1917. had
accounted for IS Germans in the
World War and had never seen an
other air tight until now, although,
of course, it had seen active service
in Morocco, Syria and elsewhere.
They are a fine, stocky group OF
youngsters, mostly in their early
20s, shorter and darker than the av-
erage English pilot but, would say,
a shade heavier. They are keen as
mustard and delighted with their
Curtiss planes, which carry a good
deal more gas than the Messer-
schmidts and are much easier to
maneuver.
Air Minister Arrives.
The chief difference I could de-
tect in a comparison with the air
fighting of the last war was the be-
wildering speed at which it all hap
pened and-the whole combat lasted
less than IS minutes-the immense
amount of interplane radio COM
munication before and during the
action. and the fact that the planes
fire several machine guns simul-
taneously-this is, of course, no
secretly simply pressing a but
ton.
Britain's air minister, Sir Kings
ley Wood, arrived at air headquar-
ters Wednesday afternoon on a tour
of inspection, which was concluded
yesterday despite an incessant rain.
He visited airfields, billets, half a
dozen villages and a group Of French
fighters in the British area.