FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1918
1918 - 1037.PDF
SEPTEMBER 12, 1918. ' * AMONG the " matters which they order better in France " ara the descriptions of the " glorious destructions " of the allied fighting pilots. A certain " verve " in which we are lacking, and a prodigality with exclamation points which outdoes the excellent Dumas, marks their work. Listen :— " Lenoir swoops on the: kite balloon, which, with insolently distended 'cheeks, waits there, shivering at the end of its string ! "—" the vast Aviatik, descending, opens, bursts into a rose of flame, and crumbles into space." The pilot speaks :— " Having spotted a Boche, I precipitated myself after him, drew up, and opened fire at point-blank range. He fell without sorrow ; he could not resist me, I assassinated him. So much could not be said for my scrap of the 25th September. There, truly, I experienced the shiver of death. It was a Boche three-seater, each passenger operating a mitrailleuse. And you can bet they worked in unison. Fichtre oui I How did my baby Nieuport get the better of this flying house ? How was it that the explosive bullet which chipped m-y eye socket did not blind me ? How, with all the wounds that rny avion received, did I get back ? How did I, David, succeed in scattering this Goliath in space ? I know not, I. " This I know, the intense joy, the enfolding delirium which filled me when I saw the end of the encounter. My victim fell on a hillside, bounding like a rabbit. They had smashed two of my cylinders, percolated the petrol tank, and cut a spar and two wires. To show how close it all was, I may tell you that the blood of the Germans had spattered my machine, the wings and cowl were dripping. . . ." The light-hearted gallantry of it ! rJ,i ^--:-w-*=.-s wrnrnp^mm Tt*e Sc|tiadroi& Kcp&ipmei&t Officer.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
