“At this moment I was serenely sailing over the enemy trenches
keeping a sharp lookout for some sign of my own balloon. After flying
five miles over the lines I discovered it and circled around as a
preliminary to diving down upon it. But just then I heard the rattle of
machine guns directly behind me and saw bullet holes appear as if by
magic in the wings of my machine. I pulled back as if to loop, sending
the nose of my machine straight up into the air. As I did so the enemy
scout shot by underneath me. I stood on my tail for a moment or two,
then let the machine drop back, put her nose down and dived after the
Hun, opening fire straight behind him at very close range. He continued
to dive away with increasing speed and later was reported to have
crashed just under where the combat had taken place. This victory I
put down entirely to luck. The man flew directly in line with my gun
and it would have been impossible to have missed him.
“I proceeded now to dive for the balloon, but having had so much
warning, it had been pulled down to the ground. I would have been
justified in going home when I saw this, for our orders were not to go
under 1,000 feet after the sausages. But I was just a bit peevish with
this particular balloon, and to a certain extent my blood was up. So I
decided to attack the ungainly monster in its ‘bed.’ I dived straight
for it and when about 500 feet from the ground, opened fire. Nothing
happened. So I continued to dive and fire rapid bursts until I was only
fifty feet above the bag. Still there were no signs of it catching
fire. I then turned my machine gun on the balloon crew who were working
frantically on the ground. They scattered and ran all about the field.
Meantime a ‘flaming onion’ battery was attempting to pelt me with those
unsavory missiles, so I whirled upon them with a burst of twenty rounds
or more. One of the onions had flared within a hundred yards of me.”
“SUDDENLY MY ENGINE HAD FAILED”
“This was all very exciting, but suddenly, with a feeling of faintness,
I realized that my engine had failed. I thought that again, as during
my first fight, the engine had oiled up from the steep diving I had
done. It seemed but a moment before that I was coming down at a speed
that must have been nearly 200 miles an hour. But I had lost it all in
turning my machine upon the people on the ground.
“There was no doubt in my mind this time as to just where I was,
and there appeared no alternative but to land and give myself up.
Underneath me was a large open field with a single tree in it. I glided
down, intending to strike the tree with one wing just at the moment of
landing, thus damaging the machine so it would be of little use to the
Huns, without injuring myself.