Show outwitting NyU TW ML r THE V HUN D by y lieutenant pat obrien copyright 1018 by pit pat alva alv obrien OBRIEN FINDS HIMSELF A PRISONER OF WAR AFTER A nil miraculous ESCAPE FROM DEATH synopsis put pat obreen Oll len rien a resident of 0 ill III after seeing service lit in the american lying flying carpi on oil the lie Afe mexican mican border in 1010 1910 joins the british royal flying carlig in ili canada and after ft a brief training period la Is sent to france lie ITO Is assigned to i squadron in active service on the front ho cli gages lit ID several liot hot fights with gei Go flyers lie he emerges victorious CHAPTER ill 11 2 captured by the huns I 1 shall not easily forget the of august 1017 1 I killed two ilium lit tile double seated machine in the 11 ac morning another in the evening and then I 1 was captured myself I 1 may have spent moro more eventful lays dna in my lily life but I 1 cant recall tiny any just now that morning in crossing tile line oh all parly early morning patrol I 1 noticed two german balloons I 1 decided that na as soon ns as my patrol was over I 1 go oft off on my lily own hook and set sef what it german balloon looked like at close quarters these balloons tire are used by loth both skies sides in conjunction with the lie artillery A man sits up in ti alio ic balmon balloon with a wireless apparatus and dl if recta the lie firing of tin lilt runs guns from his point of vantage lie he can follow the work of his own artillery with it a remarkable degree of ac accuracy curney and at the same time lie he can observe tile ene mys movements and report them the germans are very good it at tills this work end and they use it a great number of machine obrien was driving when he was overcome and captured by the huns these balloons it was considered a very important part of our work to keep aein out of thy the sky there are two ways of going after a 0 balloon tit in a in machine nelline one of them Is to cross the lines at a low attitude altitude hying flying so near the ground that the roan man with the gun tant cant bother you sou you fly along until you ou get to tile the level of the balloon and if in the meantime they have not drawn the balloon down clown you sou open fire on it and the bullets you use will set bet it on fire if they land the other way la Is to fly over ever where you vou know the balloons to be put your machine in a spin so that the they y cant lilt hit you ou get above them spin over the balloon and then open fire in going back over the line you cross at a few hundred feet this ihla Is one of the hardest jobs in the service there Is less danger lit in attacking an cn cinis aircraft nevertheless I 1 had made enado up my mind to either cither got get those balloons or make them de descend seena and I 1 only hoped that they would stay on oil the job until I 1 had a chance tit at them when our two hours duty was up therefore I 1 dropped out of the forma tion ns weer we crossed ossed tho the lines and turned blick back again I 1 was tit at a height of feet considerably sider ably higher than the balloons Sh shutting uffing my motor off I 1 dropped down through the clouds thinking to find the tho balloons nt at about ne live or six bis miles behind tho the german lines just ns as I 1 came out of the cloud blinks banks I 1 saw below me about a thousand feet a two senter seater hostile lios machine tiding icing artillery observation and directing the german guns tilts this was nt at a point about tour four miles behind the alio german lines evidently the german artillery saw raw me and put out ground sig signals nills to attract the alun machines attention for I 1 saw the observer quit ills hla work und grab ills his gun while their pilot st stuck stick ick tho the noso nose of ills machine straight downs down nut but they were too late to escape me ilia awas J was diving toward them at a speed of probably two hundred miles un an hour shooting till nil tile the time ns as fast as possible their only chance iny lit in tile the that the force of my drive might raught break my wings I 1 knew my danger lit in that direction but as soon boon na as I 1 came out of 0 ray my dive the linns would have their chance to get me mild and I 1 knew I 1 hall had to get them thein first and take a chance on my wings holding bolding out fortunately some of ray my birst bullets found their mark and I 1 was able to conc coma I 1 tru ou of my dive at about four abou thois feet they never cimo cime out thel r of r 4 but halik all lt then clime came the hottest sit ett nation lit in the eair I 1 had ever experienced lip to that lint time the depth of my lily live dive had brought me ilia within roach reach or of the mac lilno guns from the ground and nd they also put a bari barrage age around tile 1110 of shrapnel front from antiaircraft guns tind and I 1 had till nil opportunity to ride tile barrage as they cull call it hi it the he 11 V p 0 j to make the situation more interesting they began shooting onions at inn ine flanning Fla ining onions tire rockets shot from a rocket pin gun they tire used to lilt a machine when it Is flying low und and they are effective up to about ne five thousand feet sometimes they are shot up tip one after till nn other in strings of about eight and they are arc one of the hardest things to go 90 through it if illey lilt bit tile machine it la Is hound bound to catch fire ana n nd then tho the jig ls 14 up lip all tho the time line too I 1 wils was being attacked liy by Arch aichle le tho antiaircraft gun 1 I the machine guns and tile alie flaming onions but archie the antiaircraft affre fire got ili me four or live five times havery time it bullet ahir plugged gea me or rather my illy machine it made ft a loud hang bang on oil account of the tension on the material covet coveting covering ing the wings nono none of their shots hurt me until I 1 was about a mile from our lines find then they lilt my lily motor fortunately I 1 still etall had attitude altitude enough to drift on to our own side of tile lines for my motor was wag completely out of commission they just raised tile dickens with roo me till all tile tho time I 1 was descending and I 1 began to think I 1 would strike the ground before crossing tile the line but there was it 11 slight wind in my lily favor end and it carried roe me two miles behind our lines there tho the bal balloons loong I 1 had gone gon out to get had the satisfaction of pinpointing pin pointing me through the directions which hey ahey were able to give to their artillery they commenced shelling my lily machine where it lay this particular work Is to direct tho the fire alre of their artillery and they are used just us as tile tho artillery observation airplanes tire usually two men are stationed lit in each balloon They ascend to a height of several thousand feet about five miles behind their own lines and are equipped with wireless and signaling apparatus they watch the burst of their own a artillery check up tho ilia position get the range and direct the next shot when conditions oro are favorable they are able to direct the shots so accurately that it Is quick work destroying the object of their attack it was such a balloon as aa tills this that got my position marked mo me out called for an all artillery shot and they commenced shelling my machine where it lily lay it if I 1 had got the two balloons instead of the airplane I 1 probably would not have lost my illy machine for lio lie would in all probability have gone on home and not bothered about getting my range and causing the destruction of my machine I 1 landed funded in ill a part of tile the country that wits was literally covered with shell holes fortunately my illy machine was not badly damaged by tho the forced land lam ing ag I 1 leisurely got out walked around it to see what the damage was and concluded that flint it could he be easily repaired in fact I 1 thought if I 1 could find a space long enough between shell holes to get a start before leaving the ground that I 1 would be to fly on from there I 1 was still examining my plane ond and considering derng tile the matter neatter of a few slight repairs without any particular thought formy own safety in that unprotected spot when n shell came through the ner knocked mo me to the ilia ground clad landed a few feet away it had no sooner struck than I 1 made it run for cover and crawled into a n shell hole I 1 would have liked to get farther away but I 1 know now where tile tho next shell would burst and I 1 thought I 1 was fairly safe there so BO I 1 d down and let them blaze nv ay tile the only damage I 1 suffered sur was from the mud which splattered up lip in III my face and over my clothes that was roy my introduction to it a shell hole nod I 1 resolved right there them that tile the infantry could h have ave nil the shell hole fighting chef jhc thc wanted but it did not appeal to roe me though they live in then them through ninny many a long night anti and I 1 had only sought shelter there for LL a few mi minutes allies after the germans had completely demolished my machine and ceased firing I 1 waited viti ted there a short time fea bearint rint perhaps they might send over a lucky shot eliot hoping to get mil mi of after tor nil all but evidently they conc conclude ludel enough shells had been wasted on one man I 1 crawled out cautiously shook tho the mud off nod I 1 looked over in the direction where my machine had once uv been beell there th tre enough left for a debeni so souvenir venIr but I 1 got a few such as afi they were und ani read lly ily observing lint flat nothing could ile be done avith what was wag left I 1 made iny way back to infantry where I 1 was able to telephone in 1 a n report A little later ol loof our antoino lilies hiles clinic out after mo ilia and took roe me back to our airdrome most of my lily squadron thought I 1 was lost beyond doubt and never expected to bee ce me ino aguill again but my friend vaul barcy had lifted held out that I 1 was nil all right and as I 1 was afterwards old fold said dont send for another pilot that irishman will be buck back it lio lie lias has to walk and lie know knew that the only thing that kept ino a from froin walking was the fact that our 0 own wil automobile lind find been sent out to bring me bome lioma I 1 had bad lots to think about that day rind and I 1 lint hod learned ninny many things lings ti one was not to have bae too much coall confidence dence in my lily win own ability one ot of the niep men in ili tile the squadron told nio me that I 1 I 1 luid had better not take those chances that lint it was going to lie be a long war und and I 1 would be plenty of opportunities to bo be killed without delibera deliberately toly wishing them on tit 1111 sell later I 1 was to learn the truth of ills his statement that night my lily ill light glit I 1 ench each squad ron Is 19 divided into three flights consisting of six men ench got ready to go out again As I 1 started to tut put on lily iny tunic I 1 noticed that I 1 way kasnot not marked up for duty as usual I 1 asked the con command imand officer it major what the reason fenson jur unit that was a and nd he that lie thought I 1 had done enough for one clay Ilo however wever I 1 I 1 knew that it if I 1 did not go someone olto else from froia another flight would have to take iny illy pl and I 1 insisted upon going up with my mv patrol us its urnel nod tile the major reluctantly consented rod had lie he known what was in store for me I 1 tint sure lie he havo have changed his mind so BO readily As it waa we lind had only live five machines for tills this patrol anyway because beenu sens ns wo we crossed the he lines one of 0 them lind had to drop out on account of motor trouble our was apat up at 8 p ni in and up lip to within ten minutes ot of that hour it hall had been entirely uneventful at 7 tilo 1 W p in however how iVr while lille dij i w were pro flying tit at a height of 0 feet we observed three other anglish machines which were about feet below us pick a light with nine nun lion mar fillies I 1 knew right then that we were in for it because I 1 could see pee over toward the ocean a whole lock flock of him machines which evidently cM dently had bad escaped the attention of our scrappy country roen men below us so wo we dove down on those nine at first the fight was fairly even there were eight of us ug to nine of them but soon the other machines which ilch I 1 had seen in the distance and which were flying even higher than wo we were arrived on the scene and when they in turn dove down on us there was just twenty of them to our eight I 1 four of them singled me out I 1 was diving und and they dived right down after me shooting as they came their tracer bullets were coming closer to me every ino moment ment these tracer bullets tire are balls of fire which enable the shooter to follow the course ills ids bullets anro taking and to correct ills ilia alm aim accordingly they do no more harm to a pilot if lie ho Is lilt hit than tin nn ordinary bullet but if they lilt hit the petrol tank good night I 1 when a nia machine chine catches fire in flight there la Is no way of put ting it out it takes less than limit a min tile for the fabric to burn off the wings and then the ninth lne drops like till mi arrow leaving leading a trull trall of smoke like a comet at h their heir tracer bullets camo closer ali binl closer to mo me I 1 realized hint my lily chunchi of escape were cre till nil their very next shot phot I 1 felts felt must lilt me once sonic days before when lien I 1 wits ns thing flying over oer the line I 1 had writ nichea ched it light above nu me A Ger german ninn machine was ns set nt on fire anti and lived down through our formation in flames on oil tta its may to the ground the thin hun was div ding tit nt such n anglo angle that both ills his wings came oft off and ns as lie passed within it few hundred feet of nio me I 1 raw caw the look of horror on oil ills face now nott when I 1 expected any moment to suffer stiffer a similar I 1 could not help thinking of that poor loor uuna last just look of agony I 1 realized that my only chance lay ny in enking an Imi nelman turn tills was via invented bya gernian one of the greatest Krent who ever lew flow and who bowns was killed la in fiction some time before tills turn which I 1 anade successfully brought one tf of their machines right in front of me ine and ami ns its lie balled barely ten yards away I 1 had bad the drop on him ind anti lie knew it IL ills ilia white face and eyes I 1 can still sec mee ile iio knew beyond question that ills bis lost last moment lind had come because ills bis position prevented ila his inking ulm at me while my gun eun pointed p straight nt at him sly first arst tracer bullet passed within a yard ord of its his hend tho the second looked ns as if it lit hit ills bis shoulder tho the third struck him in tho the nock neck and then I 1 lot let him have the lie whole works nod he be went down in it 11 spinning noso nose dive all tills this time tho the three other hun alun machines were ero shooting aay tit nt me inc I 1 could henr hear the bullets striking ni my machine one after another I 1 tile tho slightest idea that I 1 could ever cur beat those three ilens but thorn there va rio nothing thing tor for me to do but tight and ra ruy hands were ero full in ili fighting your lour machine ta Is dropping dropping all the time I 1 glancies glanced nt at my luy instruments and iny illy altitude was ns between and ni feet while I 1 was as still looking tit nt the ln lit At tile the whole hole blamed works disappeared A burst ot of bullets went vent into the instrument board and blew blaw it to smithereens another bullet went w nt through my upper lip came out of the roof of my illy mouth and lodged in my illy throat and tho next nest tiling thing I 1 know was when tien I 1 came to in it |