| Show f Chateau Joe Own h Story Stogy I In Patrol Over Boche Roche Lines Joe Misinterprets a an Wiggle and Plunges Into an Air Conflict n L f I t. t M I w r r vt M l l t I 1 I I Z r. r 3 I. I i ur Chateau Chatou a J Joo 00 c h fat at left Ir part and two French airmen in th the tho o L Escadrille l r By Dy JOSEPH C. C cm t t. t 1916 1918 i bj Jobe A 0 0 O. 11 NE of the most comfortable camps ONE I was ever In in la tho the Champagne District had only one disagreeable feature te The Germans kept coming over In n flocks No matter how many manyour manyour manyour our fellows knocked dow down there thero ere were wore more of ot them the next day If It It had bad been possible to have an craft air gun which would reach and target accurately accurately accurately ac ac- ac- ac you could have shot ahot German aviators over that camp like lIko you would shoot turtle doves In a a. Kentucky Kentucky Kentucky Ken Ken- tucky hemp field But of course there Isn't any such gun Most Host of ot tho the Germans Germans Germans Ger Ger- mans came In biplane machines one man acting as pilot and another ping bombs where he thought they would annoy us most There Thero was a hospital 1 close up to the front line Une which they all aU used for target practice That Irritated us a alot alot alot lot lot lot- bc because use we were Instructed to respect respect the Red Cross wherever we wo saw It H. It made us especially anxious to get the Boches In that neighborhood neighborhood neighborhood neigh neigh- and I had a special eagerness because I hadn't yet Jet scored a down As a matter of fact while whilo I didn't say anything about It I had bad never fired a ashot ashot ashot shot at a known enemy target Our chief didn't suspect that nor did any of the men In the escadrille They called me a game same kid because they thought I had on my first flight chased an enemy plane away Into the German lines whereas on that notable occasion occasion I had merely got rattled and got lost One morning three three days after my unintentional 1 heroism we were sitting sHUng round very comfy comly In our snug quarters quarters quarters while the odors of ot an especially elaborate midday dinner which our cook was Ras preparing made the atmosphere atmosphere atmo atmo- sphere Interesting and homelike It Il was a bright winter morning and everybody was happy and jovial When a messenger arrived with orders for our chief to go so out with witha a patrol of four tour planes at two In the afternoon we te gave three cheers and stood up for the chief to pick out his men I was one of ot the three he se se- He meant to lead of ot course himself Then we all sat down and had our fine fino dinner which the coo cook k had hustled up for us after the flight light orders order's arrival I Out Ont for a n Boche I I This Is the day you'll get Jet a Boche Boehe said maid my as he helped m minto me e Into my leather union suit Ho had ha d been working on on my machine for a an n hour and it was in tho the finest shape shap ne e possible I T was No 4 In the patrol an and d was last to go up When I followed d the tho chief and the tho other two men T went ent off oft the ground like a meadow lark Just one little run and a jump and I was flying I spiralled up after the others singing a n song My thoughts thought went back a year and I pictured pictured pictured pic pic- to myself tho the scene In the Standard Oil on offices and wondered what the tho grouch that used to work next to mo would think If it he could see me now Our chief was a famous ace and a marvellous flyer He Hb must have felt as pa keen and blithesome as the res rest t of ot us for when we wo had got up a thousand thousand thou thou- sand metres ho began doing just for practice We Ve all followed ved suit and went along like a lot of tomb I ler her pigeons For the tho first time in m my i life I did an intentional tail tan spin an and shot up again after what you would t. t call 11 back a B. somersault In tho the terms term of ordinary acrobatics At n metres etres chief chic our headed beaded toward the lines and with the wind in ouI ou oui I r favor wo we went vent slop along with him at tremendous tremendous tremendous tre tre- speed S Wo passed over the hospital which had bad been bean bombed so often otten and even cyon at that height I could see little brown men limping about They looked like crippled toys Just as we wo came well over the tho two strips which from rom our elevation looked like plough-furrows plough but which were the tho German lines we e saw a n. lot of cream puffs off oft on our right and away above us Wo Yo Instantly headed i In n that direction knowing that this i Indicated that a German had been sighted by our anti aircraft batteries i I It Is an Invariable rule flying on the French front for our aviators to abandon anything else also they may be doing when they thoy see seo cream puffs I and head right Into them You know it if you got get hit that it will not be Intentionally intentionally In in- In- In for it Is only our antiaircraft anti anti- a aircraft guns that make mako the yellow ellow smoke which glues gives the tho explosions their name name f German anti-aircraft anti guns make bl black ck smoke The Tho yellow puffs mean that a Bocho has been sighted by our our men Vo We Sight an nn Enemy When we got In among the puffs w we had sighted tho Germans were Vero gone We Ve c sailed o on ory over o tho tho- German lines Unes and began doing te teasing Ing them them at at about 1000 metres Suddenly our chief headed back inthe In Inthe the tho direction from which we had come and wiggled his piano to Indicate that he had sighted an enemy The wiggle Is ordinarily used for such sucha a notification In a flight squadron The Tho only trouble about that Is that It sometimes leads to misunderstandings for It Is quite possible that a flyer rIer who Is excited may wiggle accident accident- all ally ail This fact tact is what got mo me into trouble later on tho the flight which I 1 Iam Iam am describing When Then our chief wiggled we wo all got sot gota sota a sight of tho the enemy plane It was wasa a a biplane machine going In for observation over our lines A moment later we saw a second sC plane of or the tho same type They wore right over the tho city of or Rheims and not more than 2000 metres high Our chief piqued after them and we followed doing almost vertical dives to comedown comedown come comedown down on top of ot them them the the only way to get an enemy plane The They sighted us however before we could fire a ashot ashot shot and and- heat beat It back to their own territory It was beginning to look like a bum day for tor us We returned to our patrolling pa pa- trolling rolling and aaM hour u n tor fo a half halt hour Then the tho Germans suddenly sud Bud thinly denly began hegan shelling us as If the they y meant to shoot off everything e the they y had In their shell dumps as quickly as possible However much you OU dislike dislike dis dis- like them youve you've got to give she I it t t to o these Germans for far sincere trying Iv Ive I've e often noticed how much more mor rifer effective tive Uve their anti aircraft fire tire is than ours In the instance I speak of the they P had undoubtedly signalled along their whole lino line for 01 fire to be held until we were vere well In range and then for everything that could shoot to shoot at us on a n. given signal They had despite the fact that an airman has little fear of ot fire from the ground a pretty good chance to get set one of us The Air Filled Fillet With 1 Shells For a few cw minutes shells were bursting all around us and the tho air was wasso wasso wasso so filled with tho the black smoke from their explosions that we could see seo each other only at Intervals Wo We snaked and jumped and ducked as actively as possible That Is wo we flew flewIn In zigzag courses and sought first high and then lower levels In order to confuse confuso con- con ruse fuse their aim I dont don't know how the rest of or our patrol felt but I know I Iwas Iwas Iwas was scared stiff When ouro down on the ground after a flight light you Jou always al always al- al ways was laugh at tho the efforts of land batteries bat bat- teries to hit bit a flyer but when youre you're up a half halt or three-quarters three of or a n. mile mUo and they're there coming close enough to smell the tho smoke Its It's different By the time wo we had got sot out of ot range o of the tho batteries we had bad been up an hour Wo We circled back toward Rheims and suddenly our chief chloe headed In toward to toward toward to- to ward the German lines I didn't know why he had done It so I r pulled over toward No 3 who was flying considerably considerably considerably con con- low below blow me All of our patrol were headed the tho same samo way at this moment and we were going to toward toward toward to- to ward Berlin at about miles an hour I watched No 3 to see sec what we wore were expected to do From Irom m my superior height I was In a better position position po po- to follow tollow any manoeuvre order than he be was Then I saw him wiggle which meant to me mo that there thero were enemy planes dead ahead Ho He was climbing I piqued and went a quarter ter tr of or a Tulle mUo ahead of him easily Then I just kept on going I if Mistake stake a n Wh I I was chuckling chuckling- to think that I had so manoeuvred to get the tho advance position position po po- over all aU of our patrol I J wont over No 2 a little to tho the loft left of oC him and he ho waved his hla hand to m m. m nr Just then r I caught sight of tho the German which I r supposed we were all aU chasing chas chas- ing As a matter of fact tact none o of t our patrol except I had seen him c No o. o wiggle as he afterward told me hud had been entirely accidental The German was a long way oft off I r went after actor him with all the speed I t had d believing belle that the chief chIc and the rest of the patrol were close behind nd me The Tho German hadn't cau caught ht sI r h t of me B Hd was CI flying In leisurely along the German front making a course parallel with their front line and about a quarter of or a mile behind It t. t Then he ho headed in going directly I back of ot their lines In In all probabilIty i ity he had ty done a tour of patrol duty and was going back boric to his hangar completely unsuspecting that an ambitIous am am- youth routh recently ern employed ed at atIn 0 J a week In n. n 1 N evv U- U p t 4 J Tho anti aircraft anti aircraft nuns guns and even the ordinary land lan batteries bat bat- teries opened firo fire 7 on in mo me m A n. n 1 N evv York CIty was spas just then en highly excited excite ed cd at the prospect of making him the subject of oC his first citation for brIngIng bring- bring ng Ing down a noche Boche 1 r did an almost vertical pique to como down on top of him from metres He must have got sot the hum of at m my engine for forlie he lie saw me The noise of or m my motor prevented me from hearing but hut I could see that he was firing firing- at me ma that is is the thO machine machine machine ma ma- chine gunner In his plane was firing at me mc I was In a battle plane with a machine machine machine ma ma- chine gun sun Axed over my head and synchronized syn syn- I to fire ire between the tho propeller pro pro- peller blades J My Gun GUll Jams I Heres one ono that Ive I've got I said to I myself i hope nOpe I send him down before be be- toro tore the tho other fellows come como up up I wanted all the credit myself I realized realized realized real real- that in tho position I had it wasten was wasten wasten ten to one ono that I would down the Ger Ger- man I was ivas piquing obliquely down upon him and I I. couldn't well miss I r held my fire Ire until I was within metres of him and then pressed the trigger of or the tho machine gun Sun One lone shot followed and that was all I pressed the trIg trigger er once twice three times time more Nothing happened My I gun was jammed I stopped my descent descent descent de de- scent and looked around for the rest cf ct tho the patrol Th There re was nothing insight in sight I x was wart Th ThA f a r. r d 11 1 I other men had not followed me in tor tho the simple reason that they didn't know I was going In and hadn't seen the German I instantly made a vI virago rage to get hc headed ded back toward home The Tho German German German Ger Ger- man had bad now got really interested in inthe inthe the tho fight Ight It took him a minute or two to ob observe o er that something had happened to my gun but it didn't tako t. him a second longer than that Then he came after me mo like a hawk after atter a u. dove His gunner was sending bullets BO so close to me that I could hear them hiss past my Meanwhile Meanwhile Mean Mean- while the tho anti-aircraft anti guns and even the ordinary land batteries opened fire tire on me I was perfectly certain that my hour had bad come and that I would bo ho t all mussed up in tho the wreck of or my machine down within the German lines linc at nt minute any There was no notime notime time to climb climb- There was nc in to do but beat it And beat it I did with I terror tugging at t every nerve I have A d straight flight light would do do as I was not more than 1500 metres high and well within range of the land bat bat- teries I wasn't out of or range of ot the Bocho Doche fire Iro until the hospital near our front frontline frontline line Une was in sight As I passed over it I hadn't any more ambition about prize money I was just thankful that I wasn't one of ot the little crippled dolls that I had noticed going out I had managed to get over my scare by the time I landed at my hangar The rest of the tho patrol had bad been In for foran foran foran an hour My was watchIng watch watch- Ing lug anxiously for tor me and the good old chap was all smiles when ho helped i mo out of ot the tho machine The Tho Chief Is Incredulous I The chief came over er to see seo me mc He uttered tha Lr Branch for G I. I I I i What was the idea 1 Ho He wanted t w j I t f know why I had left the rest of oC the t j h men of ot the patrol And heres here's the the l r ti tJ rotten part of ot It When I told h hip n I that I had German h Ce lilal It been chasing a It l raised his eyebrows in a way bl ithe it I f fI I I I. I would have considered an insult i a Col he he hadn't been an ace I got ere I It for tor chasing one when I merely merel 5 a alost Ot lost tried to w. w but hut when I really had r I if f t m set get on one and one and would have havo got I m my gun sun hadn't jammed jammed my my ef f G didn't believe belle me f. f Gt tr So I took the chief over ocr to the e f ett t hangar and showed him my mac We c counted Coupled eleven cleven bullet holes in t It J kE L kc Next Sundays Sunday's stor story will bo be 1 1000 00 1 nn ase De worth of ot shells not likely to ge get t mare r J t flyer flyer Air combats combat seldom last las ocr- clot than 30 seconds seconds-If seconds If two planes plans 1 t I touch each other it means cert certa death for flU both nH t 1 I K 1 |
