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Show - Russia's First Aces in Caldron of Hate v I Commander Utgoff Depicts Desperate Struggle of Black Sea Air Forces to "Carry j On" Despite the Soviet Maelstrom That Engulfed Them Tells of His Ow n ''' ; r , j - JBfc J rV I I Experience in Bombing German Submarine Only to Be Court-Martialled ilj j ktr 1 I j ill B j I By Lie JT. NEGLEY FAR SON, R A . V Related bp Commdndcr Victor V Dtgof, Cross o St. George, St Anne, Sta,ilslaier Legion 4'2fonttUf l.mein commanding the mohHr xmplnnc forces ol the Russian block Sea net. T THOUGHT thai he was dead! But he s I dropped In to sec me fho othci day. and we had a long talk over old times Better days . before the revolution "Our Russians are children." said UlgofT. "absolute children They have the simplicity sim-plicity of children . . and the cruelty. That Is why I can never llnd it in my heart to blame them Do you know, I I think the Lord must have foreseen the future Russian fv-asrtnf when he mid, 'Forgive them, for they know not what they do " ' Commander Victor V rtg-.fr was the first man to fly f'om a ship in this war. Nln-1 hours after Germany had declared war upon Russia he flew about the Eospnrns. 1 1 is record over thr black Sea Is sohrf'thlhg to h envied His father, who was in command of a sharpshooter redmnt was surrounded by the Auslrians In September. 1914 and rather than permit himself to ho mad s prisoner he shot himself At the time of the revolution Commander Utcoff wan the head of the mobile seaplane forces of the Russian Black Sea fleet. And after thai great upheaval he carried on with his fightlnc having to ntrh not onl the enemy but also his own men. in Danger Front nd Rear. "It w.i(c rs If 1 fought two men." he 'x-plalneel. 'x-plalneel. "Ore In front of me and another behind who helrl my arm every time I at-rmpted at-rmpted to attack or defend myself from mv foreign foe " Utgoff'.s case Is so typical of the thousands Of loyal Russian officers who carried on In spite of difficulties that would have daunted many of us, that I think the sacrifice of these brave souls should not he allowed to pass unnoticed T first flew with Uliroff In Sehastopol In 1015. and before I Joined th Royal Flying Corps 1 spent nearly three years with ihe rtusslnns on business connected con-nected with the Russian Government; there-lore there-lore I know something about rhem Anr) I have a great disgust for the opinion of the average Englishman and American regarding regard-ing these unfor'unate people. As- Utgoff said "Evnn my nationality now appears to be a guilt. From the ape of nine T had been educated to be a scientific destroyer de-stroyer My father, ills father, and all my people back Into history hae been the same. At an early ago wo were always sent to the military 'kndet' schools in Russia, which are walled In from the world like monasteries and were taught the dead arts, and how to kill We knew nothing of the world, of real life. We were like Carthusian monks. Then we were graduated to Join a class, a caste. EOAT ON DECK OF NICOLA I PERVYI IN BLACK SEA . VT TAKING .77P '- 'v '- DECK of SEA-PLANE CARRIER ((Q jS Xi' . ' ' ' '; ' . ' KVTzrAtt rST-STO? ' Wr pftther vorrle1 ncr though', about tho real things o existence. Theie was a groove d';rr.f) for each and every one ot u.s. And Ir.im these we ian Hke marbles, to come out of the o'h'-r i nd with gra hairs, a P' nslor. and nr. atrophied broin' and perhaps per-haps a few decorations to pin on our tunics at the village teles. Wr could tell you almost al-most what Napoleon had lor breakfast the daj of Waterloo, but we could not tell you how even the houses we ll cd In were p;iiJ for or built Then came the revolution; and all tlje grooves were smashed. For the first time In our lives we had to ran for ourselvesr an. i to think it was awful mans of im couldn't do t! We who had been taught nothing hut how to destroy ,-vero now faced With Iho ta.sk of creating a new rule to leao an army of 12.000.0cri hysterical men I have rean stories of your Western plains, when thr cattle stampede a lone cowboy ride? ror his Hie before an avalanche of death! Well when I looked up from the radio that gae the details of the revolution In Pctrograd I saw coming down upon us such an aalancho ISO 000 000 people s'nmpedlng' And we could noc ride before; we had to atop a-.d lead Do yen wonder that we who had been trained .is we were found ourselves power-less power-less to hold back the waves of this human sea' I vill give you an Instance of tho wnv we had to carry on with the war after this maelstrom engulfed us. Crew Took Command in Bluck Sea. ' It the month of June. m7, and we lay on the seaplane carrier lmperalor Nlco-lal Nlco-lal Pervyl, twenty-five miles off the coast of Rumania, opposite the port of Consianza Tho city was then held by the GermaiiK and Bulgars, We were to fly over the city and along the coast to locate some suitable pot which could be used as a place to land trce-ps. We were th'-n contemplating taking the r,t.v from the sea this way "The crew of the seaplane carrier num-lvred num-lvred about 600 men. and among them ihcy had therr lo-al executive committee of sailcro end officers Ispolkom was the wlreli -ubbrevlntlon denoting these committees Twelve sailors and one otflcer was the form W-TO RUSSIAN WARSHIP IN THE fe HARBOR QF SEBASTOPOL . I ! i 1 - - j FLYING- BOAT ON THE LAKE SHORE BACK OF CONSTANZA, RUMANIA. cf this local Soviet. There ivaa such a one on every ship. We were a small world, a Ho.'.ting worid, and the committee was our sovernmenl. .We had only about twenty-live twenty-live aviator olllc;-! to control this caldron of hate that seethed between the steel sides of our veesel. Our rule was one of following the path of least resistance, of wit of c.'.l-canory. c.'.l-canory. of strong personal example and sometimes the force ot utter dcspemtinn. when we would have to chance everything and revert to the old iron list We sat an Ihe lid of a volcano and we knew it. The praves of our murdered comrades In the Baltic Sea would not permit us to force' that! IJut still wo oltlcers carried on fighting fight-ing an what else could we do? It was our te-llglon; the sworn und epaulet were our symbols of honor To some of u-; death was f. referable to laying them down to the Germans, Ger-mans, or even to that much more dreaded and subtle enemy that smouldered beneath cur decks tho embryo soviet "As we were about to set off from the ship the head of the 'ship committee' camn to old Capt. Kovanko and asked. 'Is this expedition to bo defensive or offensive'" Thought War Wai Mutual Forbearance "The sailors were then of the opinion that If wo should make no attack upon the enemy the enemy would reciprocate by making no attack upon us. "Capt Kovanko replied without thinking. 'Oh, Just photographic. We want to find a lanolng place.' " That's all right then ' The commltteo' chairman walked off "When I went to look over my machine, a Shche-tlnln 9, lf0 horsc-powr Sajmspn engine, en-gine, three seater. of Russian make. 1 : a that thoro were no bombs In the racks under tho wings. My mechanic. Oskolkoff. a devoted de-voted servant, who had been with me ever since I first .started to fly in 1912, was stand ing by tho engine. 'Where aro tho bombs?' I asked him. "'Oh." he said, looking rather shamefaced. 'I did not think you wanted any I did not know this was an offenslvo expedition.' 'We always carry bombs to drop on anv trains that we may see. &c and particular! to destroy or frighten away any submarine. tnat might be coming out to destroy our 'mother ship.' Sho la an easy mark for them. ns the has to remain stationary to get the iliinea aboard. " Put them on" I directed, and he did so ' The piano was lowered to tho water and l took tho air. It was n day of enchantment with no revolution to think of. Cut I had to fly twenty-live miles to Constanta and return, and my whole soul was intent on the nef'.on of my engine: the beauty of nature as lost to me. The blue-green wastes of ihe st-a tumbling thousands of feet below meant an almost certain der.th. should the Salmsor. fall me. I flew with one purpose, one thought to reach my objective-, execute my mission and return to the little spot of niy ship lurching In the swells of the Black 5er Once back on board I could enjo the beauties of what I had seen In retrospection; retrospec-tion; Tho Salmson hummed like an -nor-mous contented bee. "boon, down below. I glimpsed the while line of the surf breaking on the coast of Rumania, and I saw the flat, lake dottcl teiiain of that, unhappy land. A powdery hix7f forced me to come down to the l.omi foo; level before 1 could get the proper visibility visi-bility for aerial phetos. end I dived dow:i through the 'Archie' bursJa and bean to sweep back and forth nlong the coast photographing photo-graphing the places that looked suitable to Oft' purpose. A nice bouquet of lnccndlar res.l;et: missed me, It seemed by Inches. I linot my last plate, and with a sigh of relief tUined to climb for the return flight to the-ship. the-ship. "Wve were Instructed to always fly around the ship in wide, closing spirals before- attempting at-tempting to take to the water. This was In case there should be an yenemy submarines In the vicinity. In waiting to send us all to th- bottom when the .ship waa faklnjr th planes aboard. I did so. and there, slipping through the toap green sea toward cur mother ship, sped a huge submarine, u sinister, sinis-ter, gray ghost For a moment I stared at the long, needle shaped object below me-then me-then my heart leaped with Joy. as I talk now my heart beats faster. 'God!' I shook my fist over the side. 'I've got you, you sneaking devil.' "I flew nround to come upon it aalnsT-the aalnsT-the direction from which I figured the wind t3 be coming At m signal, Oskolknff, who had also become bloodthirsty at the sight of tre enemy sighted carefully and pulled the bomb clutch. There was a burst of white sea: I did a sharp turn to return over the spot Tne ghost had vanished! I do not think that 1 hit It; we seldom do But. my God' the terror I must have cfented Inside that devilish boat! I knew the panic that folir.ws thoKo appalling vibrations in the water, when the lights blot out and all is d.irk and the crew goes mad with fear I shook with a wave of sublime satisfaction those arc the peaks of life's emotions. A Court-mart-al by Sailor Soviet "I flew over to the Imperntor Nicolal Pervy' and took the water, to do picked uj. When 1 was swung Inboard I saw the sailors talking In excited groups; but I pushed through them to mike my report to Captain Kovanko This over I went to my cihln. and being fatigued I toolc off my Ihlngs to He down. Our ship was ploughing alcr.g on her way lack to the home port, Efehastopol; and I lay in my bunk, thinking how lucky It was that I saw the submarine sub-marine before she got in her shot at our craft. The picture of 'nmo 600 men and officers Struggling In the water for a few moments more of life was not nlco to con-t con-t mp late. "While tluiH ce-uplej I heard a knock at nv door, and a sailor entered and stood tin r - scowling at me. 'Commander Utgoff," he 'aid, you will report before our exccutl-. e ccmmlttee. 1,1 asked him why. and could It not wait till to-morrow. "'No" he replied, 'you will report now' Anei without saluting, he talked from the room. "I arose, dressed myself, and walked lo tho sallorn' mess- where sat the men. In tho hi.: room thej had pulled all the tables into a straight line and behind sat the members o, the executive committee In tho ,'ollow g'ow from the electric llehts I could see that all the Bailors not then on duty were Fathered In the room. There were about 200 present The smoke from fhelr clearettes filled the room and none c-f them were 1 dressed properly. One of the members cf the mSmm court sitting behind the tables, had his shirt tjW open all tho way down to his waist In the flibaf sulphurous glew from the lights their shaven HBSf he::ds shone through tho bluo smoke like a HffiE field of enormous eggs. I walked to the wBi centre and - I underneath a swinging iamp opposite the middle table. BwTr " Nov.. Commander.' the presiding Judge BHfl demanded t,-, know, 'will you explain to US HEgM why did you drop a bomb on a peaceful JlRrlgi su! marine which went out -f the harbor to J get f.ome fresh nlr'' Our brothers on Uo ft DB front don't fight any more, so why are vou 'Balifiu 1 'prpvoketlng ' here an offensive spirit?' SsoHM "I simply could not hold mv ielf In. 'Fools!' H I 'hook my first at them. Bf "'Vou damn simpletons. I began. Then HH 1 called them every name I had learned since bI a child the Russian language is very ex- D presalve I was crying Crying from out- H raged common sense. And. do you know. FH those awful word- , f mine, and the way I IBB lt them have It recalled them to the o!d H ' Bmmi m ed to lt up .-.nd button their tunics, and one or two arose H to their feet. Then I knew that I had them, HH and my hitter feelings began to cool down. 9 Reason began to dictate Inside my head I Hfl knew that I could never leave them in that fl fr;:me of mind Because each one among Hb them would think that h's comr.-.des felt Hi that T had frightened him and i hen fore iLHH each one would get &bout planning how In HB the days to come he could prove to tha B others that he coulj taunt mo and embarrass IbmEI my official hono- I knew the.t whatever iilH ground I had gained I held only for th- pr vent and that to ghJn a lasting ViCtorf V ify T must l?ave them all In a :l frame of minu Story of the Ruscian Rabbit. " "Do PoU know,' I took off m.. cap and laughed at them 'you remind m of tnn iHHs Russian rabbit. He ran like the wind from HBSll? Russia lo Germany Then he sat down HKkw under a bush and began to puff! puff! puff' IMKluH.: I "A German rabbit came up (o him and Bm'm1 said "What's do matter? Why do you sit BBlxK dere an i puff like .le devil?" 'Haven't you heard tho news?" asked tho Bl!tT?!.1 Russian rabbit IH&uH ' 'No.' said the German rabbit. 'What Is? WsTtffitffi ' "Well,' said the Russian rabbit. "I have HHw5$ ! Just heard that all the elephants In Russia Bjjl ' ' are going to have their noses cut off" " 'Well,' said the German rabbit, "why do Krfiflfff you run? You aren't an elephant.' 9s9 i know, said the Russian inooii. 'ous j first tl-ev will cut off m; nose and after-' after-' .-r,. I r.h.iii have to prove that I nm not " 'And so.' T became serious, "after that HHm ". .aceful" submarine had torpedoed us you S would have had to swim over to Constanta only twenty-five miles, and tell them BtHrrlkf that they had made a mistake that we on' K88&i&? came over to take harmless photographs, and were onlv rabbits.' HRfroWli "For a moment they looked solemn and : -i insulted and then they roared with lauchter. Lm Thai lunch wis music to mv ."mil It had HMmHt a coin established my leadership. Though : the Impcrator Nlckolal Pervyl was lurching J d heavily they took me on their shoulders anj WnW W c. rrled me to my cabin iB IK "While I was sitting there In a dreadful V& contradiction of emotions there came a tap I H on my door. It was old Captain ICovunk M :H,- snjlllng like a bridegroom. Utgoff.' he sar KGeIN down beside me. in the dear old days at Ma- Monto Carlo I nvv a beautiful woman win Kk'''': strong men with a smile.' But you are PP'' no! a woman, ar.d you are not beautiful and lJBb yet. so. you won back the command ov. r WBr'' oo men!' hLiM "He shook his old gray head sadly 'I shall filsrijl no v go out and throw my useless "Regula- ' tlons" Into the sea. In Sebastopol I shall BlKFi l-.iy a joke book. It Is the new Hra' A com- BK&,X ' that I thought we h.;d Irretrievably I- s' you regain . . with a laugh"" BBjJfo: |