Show I BRITISH SOLDIERS oni nimo IN AFRICA TELL WEIRD ADVENTURE TALES C Captain tain of Royal Flying Corps Rivals Rider Rider- Haggard Haggard Haggard Hag- Hag gard in Experiences i IR IRISHMAN REAL HERO IF Falls ls From Aeroplane Is v j w Wounded Escapes Germans By y HAL LONDON Aug 19 Hair Hair raising tales tates of adventure from the jungles of Africa where General General General Gen Gen- eral Smuts is operating against I ItI the the Germans are not uncommon but It is seldom that the wild events encountered by Capt A. A T. T OBrien O'Brien I of ot the Royal flying corps told here today have been equalled If It the war office had used its ImagInation imagination imag Imag- im it would have Issued its re report report report re- re port upon O'Brien's adventures in the form of a paper backed novel He lie reported to General Genera Smuts last April far down in German Africa be below below below be- be low His work as an aerial scout ahead of the British troops operating against the Germans won him fame Flying over the jungles and tangled brush country during the tho rainy season is difficult When an army of vigilant enemies is added the task becomes more than dangerous The intrepid Irishman finally engaged on on the losing side of an argument with enemy antiaircraft guns Ribs Are Crushed He was flying over jungle country when German guns located him One O of his wings collapsed and the machine machine machine ma ma- chine Into the trees which partially broke the fall then crashed to the Had it not hot been for the tre trees s both driver and machine would have been smashed to bits As it was three of O'Brien's ribs were crushed and for several hours he lay in a swamp unconscious Slowly he recovered his senses and took an inventory of his injuries lIe He could walk without difficulty but wh when m he swung his arms the broken ribs hurt cruelly Holding his arms tight to his sides he scouted through the neighboring jungles where he discovered discoVered discovered dis dis- dis- dis covered unmistakable signs of the ene erie my my Later he heard a column of infantry in- in fantry approaching and fearing capture capture capture cap cap- ture he set fire to the disabled aeroplane aeroplane aeroplane aero aero- plane and lashed dashed off through the un un- Hour after hour he maintained maintained main main- tamed a fast pace with the pain in his side aide increasing with every step When night fell he crawled high into a vine covered tree So Sound nd sleep was impossible impossible im im- im- im possible but at intervals between fighting insects and making way for jungle creepers he managed to rest and in a rough way bandage up his side With dawn he started out again and before noon had forded two rivers and swam a third Toward nightfall of the second day he came to a river of considerable considerable considerable con con- width with a swift current and signs of crocodiles By this time his hunger and thirst were beginning t to tc sap sap his strength but without thought of his condition or the danger he faced he plunged into the brackish water Crocodiles Pursue I At At t the first splash a score of or huge crocs rocs on a point of land downstream I made for him Then followed a race between tween the and the quarry that nearly ended disastrously for the Irishman The last few yards were heart breaking for foras as he glanced back backover backover backS over his shoulder he could see the S yawning awning mouths and ridges of jagged te teeth teth th straining to reach him He scrambled scrambled scrambled scram scram- bled up the muddy bank followed by a dozen vicious snaps as the crocs slashed at his heels Almost exhausted he trudged through the tangled brush near the I river Gaining a point on some higher ground he looked back at the scene of his escape To his horror he saw the shaggy mane of a lion loping S Stoward toward him with nose glued to his trail The nearest place gf safety safety safe safe- ty was a tall tree which he climbed S monkey fashion but with slightly more mors h haste ste than a well trained ape would display The king of the forest nosed L about the root of the tho tree for some sometime sometime time whining in disappointment over his lost meal but eventually went his I way By this time OBrien O'Brien was well nigh i exhausted His clothes were torn and I his flesh lacerated by the brush The pain of his wounds produced a high I fever and the brackish water which he i was forced to drink made him ill All Al AlI 1 night long he ho staggered on but heI he I remembers little after sundown of the I second day OBrien O'Brien i Is Rescued Toward noon of the third day after his disappearance a sentry far out ahead of the British lines saw a movement movement move move- I ment In the brush and thought arI an ar I animal had strayed near He lIo raised I his gun to fire when a human hand L was raised above a cluster of brush Amazed the sentry went forward and I there found OBrien O'Brien half halt crazed with thirst soaked with mud and covered I with blood from scores of slight cuts The airman was wag carried to camp unconscious unconscious unconscious un un- un- un conscious and for weeks remained in ft I that state or raving in the delirium of fever His wife to whom he had been married married mar mar- ried ned but a few weeks before he left for South Africa had left England to tc I Join him before he was reported miss miss- ing When he recovered from the fe fo fever fever fe- fe ver var he opened his eyes for his first t conscious look at his surroundings anc and I found his wife was sitting by his side she he having arrived In the meantime and nursed him through the critical 1 Illness The details of Captain O'Brien's terrible terrible terrible ter ter- ordeal were contained in a letter lette r from his wife to relatives in England Englan I and have just become public It is 1 3 probable that OBrien O'Brien will be decorated ed for his services to the Bri British government gov gov- and in recognition of ot his har har- diness in surviving an ordeal that tha t would have meant death to the avera average aver aver- a age soldier |