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Aviation History
1931
1931 - 0378.PDF
FLIGHT, APRIL 24, 1931 Three " Sidestrands " of No. 101 (Bomber) Squadron flying in echelon. (FLIGHT Photo.) Military Crosses, nine Distinguished Flying Crosses, andfour Meritorious Service Medals. On one occasion in September, 1918, during the final victorious advance of theAllied armies, the squadron was congratulated by Brigadier-General Charlton on the work it did one night inspite of very adverse weather, and on more than one occasion officers of the squadron were congratulated by SirJohn Salmond, G.O.C., R.A.F. in France, for very fine pieces of night-bombing work. One of these was Capt.Halford. His objective was Busigny railway junction, and he flew down very low and got a direct hit on it,though the searchlights and anti-aircraft guns were very active. In addition to the congratulations of the G.O.C.,the pilot received promotion for this exploit. A few months before, the same pilot had made three trips in onenight to Bray and had dropped no less than 52 bombs on it. The squadron had some curious tasks set it. One reads took hold of the joystick, and by a series of fiat turntsucceeded in turning the machine round in the direction of home. Then the engine began to give trouble, butSmith's resourcefulness was not yet exhausted. By a skilful use of the throttle, he succeeded in landing tht-machine safely on our side of the lines. On another night in September, 1918, Capt. H. V\Stockdale, with 2nd Lieut. Shergold as observer, was out bombing when the machine was caught in a concentrationof searchlights, from which the pilot could not escape. Then an anti-aircraft gun scored a direct hit on the engine,and that, one would have supposed, was the end of the fighting career of those two officers. Not a bit of it!Stockdale landed the machine safely in complete darkness, without the help of flares. The two officers were un-harmed, though Shergold was badly shaken. They were 15 miles behind the German lines. They set out to walkback. Presently Shergold almost collapsed from ex- of it being sent out " noise drowning " for a tank advance haustion, and Stockdale had to half-drag, half-carry him. in the last battle of the Somme. Machines at other times On the way they met a German officer, whom they fell: ;1. were sent out on tank patrols. Capt. Beeston was out He was evidentty left unconscious, though the records lo t h tk tl i bd th d ' ' ' J1 *"~not give details of what he was hit with or whether he v.likely to recover. By a great piece of good fortune, t: one officer was the only German whom they met. In trthey reached the trenches, they got through a Gern p ponce on a two hour tank patrol in very bad weather, and in the course of it he set out to bomb Levergies. Therain was heavy and the clouds were low, but he dropped his bombs all right, and then finished his tank patrol. He _„_, ____ .... .._,„... . „landed in very heavy rain after being three hours in trench, they crawled under the wire, they crossed ' the air. man's-land, and they safely reached a British trench, 'One very extraordinary feat was accomplished by an this Stockdale received well-deserved promotion, observer, Lieut. Smith. The rule that two pilots might Lieut. Anderson was another gallant observer. Abounot fly in the same machine may have been justified by month before the Armistice he crawled out on to a lo\ the exigencies of the time, when it was difficult to keep ' ' " '" " __•... J *.i-_ w,mH= up the supply of pilots, and the idea of losing two in one catastrophe could not be tolerated by the authorities. But this rule put the observer in a very parlous position when anything happened to his pilot. In this case the pilot fainted when the F.E.2.B. was 10 miles beyond the German wing of the machine he was in to drop the bombs working the underneath releases. For this he too was c< gratulated by Sir John Salmond. The Re-formed Squadron _, In April, 1928, the Squadron was re-formed at Bircha^i lines and facing eastwards. Smith, of course, could not fly Newton, under the command of Squadron Leader J. C ^a machine, but he had. some knowledge of how to work the Wood, now a Wing Commander on the staff of No. < controls. He pushed the inanimate pilot aside, leant over, Group. From the first it was destined to use 354
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