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Aviation History
1917
1917 - 1030.PDF
mind that he might imagine the noise Was made by a dog. I gave colour to this impression by paddling round in the manner of a retriever, and Whining nicely, making, meantime for the bank from which I had plunged in. " I scrambled out again, cold and somewhat disappointed, and made for the railway bridge with the idea of getting into our lines. I was making my course by the flashes of our own guns, which were plainly visible ahead. I found, however, I was out of my reckoning, and stumbled once' more into the Boche's quarters. I hid when I could, posing as a workman. I came across a small straw-stack, well behind a Hun camp, and lay ' doggo ' for the night. Un- fortunately my luck was dead out ; a Boche transport man came to my nesting place for an armful of straw and collared my head in the armful. He was quite surprised. I knew it was no good trying to bluff him, so I surrendered once more with as good a grace as possible.- " I was sent back to Cambrai. Afterwards they moved me by train—a very uncomfortable journey—under close escort to Osnabruck and Klausthal (Harz), and then to Strohen. Our food was obtained chiefly from the parcels from home. They invariably arrived safely, and more often than not untouched by pilfering fingers. Everyone German about the place seemed ' fed up ' with the war. The guards Were tired of doing guard duty on little food, but the country folk did not seem so badly off. Vegetables and milk seemed more plentiful, and the people looked better fed and happier." THE lieutenant, after getting away undetected from the Strohen camp with emergency rations of biscuits and chocolate (sent from his Devonshire home), hid by day and travelled by night, successfully eluding in a ten-night tramp all the soldiers hunting for him. " One early morning," he said, " I went into a cornfield, after walking nearly all night, to prepare a snug hiding- place for myself among the stooks. An aged farm labourer saw me arranging the sheaves and called out : ' Here, what are you doing ? ' I replied in German, ' Can't you see what I'm doing ? ' He evidently could not, for he ambled quickly towards me. I thought it was time to leave, so I left via a big ditch and dodged behind a haystack and so got away. " I found another hiding-place that day, and the next night I milked a Hun cow in a field." THE Aero Club of America has notified President Wilson of its approval of the proposal to name the first national airway "The Woodrow1 Wilson Aerial Highway," in appre- ciation of the President's support of the cause of aeronautics and also in commemoration of his signing of the $640,000,000 aerial appropriation. The airway is to run in a straight line from New York to San Francisco, with connecting branches in all parts of the United States. A committee of the Aero Club is now working on the details, and it hopes to have the line established within a few months. Many prominent men are interested in the project and are serving on the board of directors. IN France, as here, wages disputes, just and very much the reverse, have from time to time cropped out, and have in most cases been settled in reasonable time without doing much harm to the cause of the Allies. Naturally, French aeroplane factories have not been free from the contamina- tion, and last week, what at one time promised to develop into serious trouble was once again avoided by the acceptance by both sides of an arbitration aw'ard, as to the main questions involved, promulgated by the Permanent Committee -of Conciliation and Arbitration of the Seine. Possibly the disputants may have been influenced in their speedy accept- ance of the " award " by the prompt action of the French Cabinet, which at once notified both sides that a strike movement would not be tolerated, and that, while confining itself to intervening in a just and friendly manner in the settlement of the dispute on the question of wages, decided to take over the factories and apply military discipline to the workmen, considering that their action might be detri- mental to the national defence. Military factory discipline in France is not exactly the same thing as " controlling " a manufacturing firm in England. Moral : immediate decision of the workmen to " carry on." ; - • CAPT. LEWIS SCOTT WHITE, R.F.C., Fighting Instructor at Wiltshire Camp, who was decorated with the M.C. on • Wednesday last week, did not live long to enjoy his honours. Two days later he met his death at Wantage. HAVING in mind the present moonlight visits of the Gotha squadrons to London, anything much more fatuous can hardly OCTOBER 4, 1917. be imagined than to announce an anti-aircraft gun practice in North-East London for Monday night last at 7 o'clock. .-"* The " practice " was fortunately promptly cancelled, else there might well have been a big haul of casualties had the Gothas managed to strike the particular-district about the same time as the gun practice was supposed to be in fulj ' . swing. Officialdom has occasionally some queer notions of the fitness of things. IN the new " barrage " system of defending London from nocturnal raiders is to be found the answer as to warnings""*^ or no warnings. Any member of the community who requires much more direct intimation to get to qover than is conveyed by the curtain of shrapnel which now1 precedes the approach of the raiders must be past praying for. Clubbing in such cases would be about the only effective argument to employ as an alternative. • _ THERE is material for thought in a few remarks at Sheffield last Saturday from General Sir David Henderson, upon the occasion of the presentation to Newfoundland of Sheffield's gift—a fighting aeroplane for the front. Sir David, after reminding his hearers that the Air Service had expanded since the beginning of the war at a greater rate than any , other service, said that the " Master Cutler " of Sheffield had unsuccessfully endeavoured to draw him on the subject of a United Air Service. All the same, he had strong opinions on the subject, and he had stated them for the last two years to the proper people. Some day those opinions would be known, with others, and perhaps before very long. The italics are ours. ~ — ~ t " THOUGHTS during an Air Raid," an address to the people of London from the Bishop of London, just issued, should help to reconcile the public even still more to the infliction imposed by the Huns. Nevertheless, there is nothing like hitting back and hitting back hard to ensure the rules of the game being thoroughly understood and appreciated. The first four clauses of Dr. lngram's address set out that:— ." (1) This is our bit of danger. We have suffered very little in our country compared to our Allies, but while the enemy is in Belgium we are in the war zone. Let us recognise it and be proud of it, and continue to show the fortitude and courage which our fathers, sons, brothers and friends show under far greater dangers every day and night. " (2) Any sign of fear or panic only encourages the enemy to persevere. His only object in these otherwise useless > raids is to terrify the civilian population at home, and the calmer we are the more we defeat him. " (3) The risk to any individual person among seven millions is very small if we obey the police regulations and warnings. The sound of the firing comes far more often from the guns of our gallant defenders than from bombs dropped by the enemy. " (4) If we do happen to be among those who are killed, we die for our country and for the freedom of the world as- really as our brothers die in the tremches, and are upon the Roll of Honour of our country." THE following is taken from " An Oration : on the great conflagration of civilisation, in the Modern War Oratory style," by Mr. Arnold T. Prentice in the Saturday Westminster : " Their adaptation of aviation for causing consternation and perturbation or intimidation of qur island population is a demonstration of the aberration of their mentation, for the visitation of a creation of aviation, though causing cineration of habitation and dissipation of fenestration and assassination of civilian population, will never cause attenua- tion or relaxation of our determination for the administration of a severe castigation or flagellation to the nation whose exultation in such a violation of civilisation gives indignation and nauseation to the population of every decent nation." . . Now Germany will perhaps realise what she is doing ! : TEN YEARS AGO. ~ • Excerpts from the " Auto." " FLIGHT'S " precursor and sister Journal) of September, 1907. " FLIGHT " was founded in I908. --.•.-..:...,•-: -.-.. -* • •.=:.. .•-•'. ~- ••*'. -.:•;:.' REISNER AEROPLANE. •:-"•.•..--••-."" % •' •: ••' - •"•"• ~;*: . ;.-./:- M. Reisner, Professor of Mathematics at the Aix-la-Chapelle Polytechnic, has just had constructed by Messrs. Voisin a full-sized aeroplane, with which he will shortly be making experiments. The aeroplane is of the typical double-decked type, mounted upon a light tubular framework carrying a 16-cylinder 70 h.p. Antoinette engine. At the rear, also carried by a light framework, is a large box kite, acting as a tail for the purpose of giving the necessary stability. The main aeroplane has a total surface of 56 sq. metres. 1030
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