Evening star., 1940-12-25
Pilot Braved Death
10 Fly Lobsters 10
Friends at Front
World War Colonel
Landed as They Crowled
All Over Plane
By DEVON FRANCIS,

Associated Press Aviation Editor.
NEW YORK, Dec. 25.-This is the
story Of the Christmas Holsters that
got plopped in the pot of fighting
squadron on the western front just
IS years ago-and came near wreck
ing one of his majesty's airplanes
IN the process.
Col. Harold Fowler is a round
faced man who looks a bit like
Winston Churchill and knows the
air fighting of yesteryear as he
Knows the morning stubble on his
chin When the war started in 1914,
Col. Fowler, English born, resigned
his job as secretary to United States
Ambassador Page in London to join
the air force and in 1917 trans
ferred to the American air force,
having become an American citizen
Three days before Christmas, 1915,
the colonel, in active command of
q fighting squadron, was given 48
hours leave to visit London.
Bring us back something fresh"
implored the 20-odd officers at the
Rirdrome, just behind Armentieres.
Lobster" remarked Col. Fowler
to himself as he threw a leg into
the cockpit of his BE-2-C fighting
plane and snugged himself down for
the flight over the Channel. IN
bring back Holsters"
Lobsters Tied Up in Sacks.
London never looked more gay.
Col. Fowler was melancholy when
the hour arrived for his return
And there were the Holsters, four
dozen of them-alive, kicking and
tied up in stout paper sacks. Help
ers slowed them away carefully be-
hind him.
'Lobsters" the colonel ruminated
as he took off and climbed into the
teeth of a wind off the Channel.
What a dish-fresh from London,
too"
Everything was all right clear
across the Channel. He was rea-
sonably warm in his flying suit, and
the Holsters took their first venture
into the air with. he had to concede,
a certain amount of Savoir faire
He couldn't ask for better behaved
Holsters.
AS he left the Channel behind him
and set course for his home air
drome something cold and hard got
in the way of one of his rudder
pedals.
1t was one of his Holsters on the
loose.
Another one edged along the side
OF the fuselage.
The inside of the airplane, in fact,
was crawling with Holsters.
Colonel Elects to Fly On.
Several thousand feet aloft in
flying machine, the colonel re-
marked to himself, was no place to
go about setting lobster traps. He
had choice of landing and de-
lobstering the airplane, thereby TAX
ing a chance on losing part of the
squadron's Christmas dinner, or of
trying to reach the airdrome.
He elected to fly.
The Holsters didn't. They swarmed
around his feet, threatening at any
moment to foul the rudder controls
and send him spinning earthward.
; A man couldn't die very heroically
in a lobster setting.
BY dint of much kicking Col.
Fowler managed to keep his controls
free. The airdrome appeared over
the nose of the ship. He cut the
throttle and smacked down. The
Holsters, as it were, came en- train.
I've got lobsters," Col Fowler
announced as he rolled to a stop,
'but you'll have to find them"
They did-all 48 of them. They
had to unlace the canvas on the sides
of the fuselage and retrieve some of
them from inside the tail
III take the looking one
that got wedged behind the rudder
pedal and refused to move" an
nounced Col. Fowler at Christmas
Day mess. The coward Don't let
me hear again of a lobster that
refuses to die for his majesty" q