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Aviation History
1916
1916 - 0011.PDF
Creaghan. Pupils doing straights: Messrs. Hunt and Knowles. Instructors : Messrs. W. T. Warren, M. G. Smiles, C. M. Jacques, H. Sykes, and W. T. Warren, jun. Machines in use : Four tractor biplanes. Ruffy-Baumann Schcol.—Pupils with instructors last week : Durand, Cox, De Launoit, Winter, Hamtiaux, ® ® fefga^SM^ISr N Tuesday the following letter from a ^LpC& flying officer in France giving a vivid WMF*^mM description of a duel in mid-air with III' Jj^Ml! a German aviator, whose Fokker mono- i'VLflnHB plane was brought down, the occupants ^Kl[ WmM being killed, appeared in the Times:— ['ijlBQ^P^jlw "Yesterday being the first fine day, I had instructions to go up in an F.E., with ' P ' as observer, to take some photographs over . It was about the most unpleasant job going, as the numerous woods>about there are absolutely bristling with ' Archies' of no mean prowess, a< I can testify, having had, perforce, to sample some of their wares on many a reconnaissance of late. " It tcok us roughly an hour to get up to 9,000 ft., which time we spent between and climbing, climbing, and climbing still. The air was pretty full of machines, it being the first fine day for some considerable time. We saw no Huns, though we after wards heard that there were three hanging about behind their lines, and worrying a number of our fellows doing photography. Twenty to 12 found us east of ——, not far short of 10,000 ft. up, and distinctly chilly. "A biplane and a monoplane appeared east of us, the biplane leading, with ample evidence of being in a hurry, wilh the mono plane—which appeared to be one of our Morane type—overhauling it hands over fists. We were about 2,500 ft. above the ' buses,' and when within about a mile I got a glimpse of the monoplane's top wing. Black crosses on a white base. Good enough ! "Down went the F.E.'s nose almost vertically; 2,000 ft. we came down, while the air speed indicator went up to 160 m.p.h. and then stuck, not having been designed for the purpose of ex ceeding recognised limits. I expected the F.E. to fold up under the strain any moment, but she stood it like a rock. By this time the other two machines were almost vertically below us—the Hun had caught up the biplane, and was emptying his gun into it at 50 yards' range. It subsequently transpired that just at this moment he had put three bullets in the observer's arm and one through the main petrol tank, with the result that the precious fluid was pouring all over the pilot, observer, and fuselage. " I started pulling the F.E. out of her nose dive about 200 ft. above the Hun, as too sudden a shock would inevitably have crumpled her up. The consequence was that we found ourselves above and behind the unfortunate Teuton, and within 20 yards of him. To my mind he never saw us until we opened fire. Twenty rounds of lead were planted into the back of his neck, though apparently they did not hit him. He then turned his attention to us, turning left-handed and passing directly below us. This neces sitated our getting on to a perpendicular bank and doing a complete circuit to see where he'd go to. The little beggar was describing circuits round us, while we did a sort of ' Inner Circle,' conducted, of course, with a perpendicular bank ; but owing to the fact that our speed was so great and that we were doing complete turns in about twice the length of our machine, the centrifugal force was so great that ' P ' couldn't hold the machine-gun on its mounting ; it swung down, and though the whole gun only weighs 28 lbs., he could not pull it up square. "Things being at the moment distinctly unsatisfactory, we were not sorry to see the Hun head for home. After him we went, both diving lustily, while ' P,' more familiarly known as ' Pongo,' gave him the rest of the drum—another 28 rounds. " I was beginning to get a little anxious, as we were getting vejry "low and expecting ' Archie' to get us any minute, when we got him. A lucky shot found its billet and the pilot was no more. The evolutions that machine described falling 7,000 ft., with no man at the wheel, were extraordinary, viewed from above—first wheels up, then right way again, a loop, several cartwheels, a nose dive, more loops, and several turns on to and off its back, sideways, until it was lost to sight almost on the ground. Good enough ! " By this time another F.E , a Bristol scout, and two Q.c.'s had Pauli, Dobso'n, Edgar. Straights : De l^aunoit, Griffith, and Vernon. The last three students are now ready for their certificates, and should pass during the next fine spell of weather. Instructors : Ed. Baumann, Felix Ruffy, Ami Baumann, and Clarence Winchester. Machines: 60 and 50 h.p. Caudron type biplanes, dual control. ® ® • arrived, but—fortunately for me—too late to claim a share in the finale. The next I remember doing was looking at my watch— 12.45. The incident over, we started climbing again, as those infernal photographs had to be done. At this point the engine began to have a say in the matter, and one cylinder decided to strike. So homeward we wended our weary way. (,,'uile an ovation on landing—the only person who wasn't cheery was the unfortunate observer of the Q.c, who entered into the commencement of the scrap. The satisfaction of knowing that the Johnny who'd pushed three holes into his right arm— considerately avoiding to touch the bone—had been properly ' straffed,' didn't bear any weight. "The Major was delighted, as it was the first machine of this type to show up in this quarter. A number of Fokktsers, as the German Morane3 are called, have been giving our machines a lot of trouble down south, and it is rather thought that this one may have been a picked pilot sent up to put some more heart into the other machines working in this sector of front. For his first appearance he had certainly done remarkably well, driving off three of our machines and wounding an observer. For speed and climb, he left our machines absolutely, so he was well out of the way. " I must say that he was the first German we have run across who put up anything like a real decent show, and our jubilation is tinged with regret at the loss of a very gallant fellow. So much for the episode itself. " We got back satisfactorily, to a late lunch, and soon after having entered up our report a- to whether or not the machine was worth salving, were granted permission to go up to the wreckage. X and I, with a flight-sergeant from my flight and a mechanic, set out about 4 by car, ... A walk of 500 yards brought us up to a line of trenches and dug-outs about 100 yards from the German trenches, though screened from those nearest us by a slight rise in between. That we were in unpleasant proximity was soon apparent, as tUe ' Phew ! phew !' of the bullets came with most disturbing regularity. All the time star-shell-magnesium flares went up and made you sit as still as a rock, as the least movement would give one away. But by now we had reached the wreckage. " As far as I gathered, viewed from the ground, the fall was full of excitement, and our troops for four miles along the lines had stood up and cheered to a man for several minutes on end. In fact, a few had said to the officer in command of the battalion—so he told us— that they all felt that it was worth four days' discomfort to see it comedown 7,000 ft., as the engine was going all the time, and it only took 35 sees, to drop the best part of two miles. You can imagine the pace it was going when it hit the ground. Finishing its descent in a nose dive, as I said, with its engine going, it first struck the top of a dug-out. It would seem that fellows watching its descent and seeing its course to be headed towards them, had taken refuge in a dug-out. The roof was built of trunks of trees of reassuring dimensions, covered with 3 ft. of earth. " The impact was so great that owing to the weight of the engine it had gone slap through the roof and buried its nose into the bottom of the dug-out, leaving a portion of its tail outside, but the rest so telescoped as to occupy not more than a cubic yard. Remembering the fact that this type of machine has an all-steel frame, and that behind the pilot's seat there is nothing of weight, it helps to emphasise what a colossal speed he must have been travelling. The four occupants of the dug-out were all wounded as a result, but none seriously. " Of what we saw in that dug-out, 10ft. by 12ft., by the light of an electric torch through the smoke, the time being midnight and shells going off all round, 1 shall never forget as long as I live. " As mementoes of a very gruesome occasion I have got two decoration ribbons which the observer was wearing—though no medals were found, one of the ribbons is that of the Iron Cross. I have also the magneto from the engine and a pistol for firing coloured flares to range their anti-aircraft batteries on our machines, a portion of the fabric and plane—though the crosses from the wings had already been collared—and a few regimental buttons from his tunic, which we shared out to the mechanic and sergeant with us." A MID-AIR BATT1LE. 11
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