Salt Lake Tribune | 1918-02-03 | Page 25 | British Fliers Win Against Great Odds

1 BRITISH FLIERS WIN JIGAINSTGREAT ODDS "Hawk" and "Gnat" Per- R form Near-Miraculous Feat on Western Front. ; NEITHER ONE INJURED Engage Nine German Airplanes Air-planes at Once and Destroy De-stroy All of Them. py h.v.craAUOnuJ News Ser tc-. V ON, JVb. This is a true rjry of I wo boy s in the K oy a 1 i 1 i ngr - J -or,s- Them orders well, never mind ' wh.t t P i ce isely were t h e i r orvl at s. 1 1 was reoessai y nay, vital that certain r.fonration should bo obtained, and the i Hawk and Gnat went out to pet it. f As years went neither the Hawk nor j I te G:vu could smg much of a sons 1 :.Vir b;r:hd:iys combined barely equalled number cf German planes set to :vc'r ciedit on the list posted at head-C'ji::ers head-C'ji::ers bul in scr.vpnms: experience ou nisht run the whole allied armies ::: rough a sieve- and you wouldn't find x couple of you lis sparks xith more to !x back on. They reached the line, saw enough of w-.it wns srotr.i: on Hun ward to realize ;r.e importance of ppuins back, and then :(". lite in grim aspect, for out of the !:$t swooptd .i -whole convoy cf Clot has. ro.ir shot by thetn in quick succession. , o ha r the trackless path homeward; ?.;.d. above. :i round, five others ma-lit ma-lit uvered to give the dea th blow. Slaughter Is Begun. Maybe the British boys could have' s.ix?n oil pursuit by setting among the o 1 o " v.: s . but they had no mind to miss jh a f ire prospect of damaging the German serial service, and they pronmt-iy pronmt-iy set about reducirg the odds. The first ;;im feh to the Haw!;, who was pilot. Curving end on and simply akiup for ircrjb'e, a Hun went do-u u in a wreath o: fjames. Then the Gnat had to Ming- for all he was worth, as pre Huns d'ved together, spitting :ead l:ke a. potato sprayer in tr.e direction of his tail. It was a supreme su-preme moment. But the luck and pluck which had helped the Gnat in the landing land-ing a; GalUpo.t, out In the desert whn tr.e Sen ess; hordes were howling round an isolated Briush post, and in a gTeat fx?:-&!czir.p stunt through the -German 1 : - Se rre way. s : ood b y h i m . a n d .twT: t he five went on diving until they -:raihed to earth. ;j Many Tricks Employed. -VI the while the British fighter was the swift chert? of the swallow 1-" gyrations of a tumbler pigeon, r try movement known to the rrafts-";.r. rrafts-";.r. cf the air and others cf which the '."i:k flier had dreamed were employed. A terrific turn absolutely vertical showed Gr-at how two of his enemies had '.-, and the knowledge, you may he rLf, tucked him -up no end. When they dropped to c v 0 feet th e Hawk pot :5 leaden talons into the vitals of the -,zr:h. which w ett down and added to t"? litter of battle below. It xte while the Hawk was ergapinp filth Gotha that th British ma-.-:""- exceeded the Limits of possibility ''A beran to M- sideways, while, as Gnat s-ays, the earth seemed hun- to gobble them up. The remaining1 M dived on them as they fell, pour-" pour-" s cut lead with reckless waste, and a second or two remained, a 6 it stn'd, for the Hawk and the Gnat to be among the mortals. Miracle Happens. Then a miracle happened. Twenty feet c'f the ground the machine righted it-1" it-1" and the Huns on loot, who had scattered scat-tered for the crash., were speechless with T.izement. When the Hawk began to for home, however, every sort of in the German field museum opened them. Again and again the machine ys hit, but not in a ital part, ana the 7- brought their craft to port and -i-ded in the report whli'h the Huns Jr eo anxious to intercept. "A Ginned fine show." eald the C. O. n"Jny were rotten ehots," quoth, the