Winged warfare

It was the mud, I think, that made me take to flying. I had fully expected that going into battle would mean for me the saddle of a galloping charger, instead of the snug little...

Altogether I spent four months in France as an observer. How I longed during all that time for a fight in the air! But no real chances came, and, finally, I quitted my seat as a...

With a dozen other flying men I landed at Boulogne on March 7th, 1917, for my second go at the war. At the Boulogne quay we separated, and I wish I could say that “some flew eas...

On March 25th came my first real fight in the air, and, as luck would have it, my first victory. The German retreat was continuing. Four of us were detailed to invade the enemy...

The fates had been so kind to me in my first fight in the air, that the next time I crossed the lines my squadron commander had designated me as patrol leader. I knew this was a...

It was a German boast at this time that their retreat from the Somme had upset the offensive plans of the British and French for months to come. How untrue this was they were so...

Easter Sunday was one of the most beautiful days I have ever seen, and we felt that at last the gods of the weather were going to smile on a British offensive. The sky was a won...

Dawn was due at 5.30 o’clock on Easter Monday, and that was the exact hour set for the beginning of the Battle of Arras. We were up and had our machines out of the hangars while...

It was apparent to us by this time that the Germans were bringing their best pilots opposite the British front to meet the determined offensive we had been carrying on since Apr...

Just to show there was no ill-feeling, the Major that afternoon proposed some excitement of an entirely different sort. There was no patrol marked down for us, so the Major took...

April 30th was a red-letter day for me. I celebrated it by having a record number of fights in a given space of time. In one hour and forty-five minutes I had nine separate scra...

The first few days in May we spent escorting machines taking photographs. It was rather exciting work, for several times we went very long distances into Hunland and stayed over...

When I left for my leave to England, I was not very keen on going. The excitement of the chase had a tight hold on my heart-strings, and I felt that the only thing I wanted was...

The second day after my return I began another three months of strenuous battles. The squadron had been assigned a new kind of work to do, in addition to regular patrol. This la...

My record of machines brought down was now in the vicinity of twenty, and I saw I had a rare chance of really getting a lot before going on my next leave--at the end of my secon...

All of June was marked by the most perfect weather. The prevailing strong west winds stopped and a light breeze blew constantly from the east. Some days there was hardly a stir...

By this time I had learned nearly all of the fundamental principles of fighting in the air and had more or less decided upon exactly what tactics were best for me to use. I also...

A new kind of enemy was meeting us now--a two-seater machine which mounted a small cannon, or shell-firing gun. This was a sort of “pom-pom” gun, discharging about a one-pound s...

We were greatly excited now over the fact that in a few weeks we expected to have a new type of machine--a much faster and better one all round. It also had two guns instead of...

The new machines were almost ready now and at any time we were to use them, but in the meantime I was working hard with my Nieuport. One day at noon, while out alone, I came as...

Walking across the aerodrome to the squadron headquarters, which was stationed on the other side, I had tea with the men there and then came back. The next night we had a big ce...

When I left the aerodrome to start for England I had a vague feeling I would not be back again. I had heard nothing more about my transfer, but the very fact that there was a gr...