To-day I went to see the boy's parents and they were very grateful.
The boy had grown dizzy while standing on the bank and had fallen in.
They said they would get the order of the French Legion of Honor for
me if they could. That would be a good joke.
Lately, I have flown to the front every evening with Lieutenant
Immelmann, to chase the Frenchmen there. As there are usually eight or
ten of them, we have plenty to do. Saturday we had the luck to get a
French battleplane and between us chase it till it was at a loss what
to do. Only by running away did it escape us. The French did not like
this at all. The next evening we went out peacefully to hunt the enemy
and were struck right away by their great numbers. Suddenly they went
crazy and attacked us. They had a new type biplane, very fast, with
fuselage. They seemed to be surprised that we let them attack us. We
were glad that at last we had an opponent who did not run the first
chance he got. After a few vain attacks, they turned and we followed,
each of us took one and soon forced them to volplane to earth. As it
was already late, we were satisfied and turned to go home. Suddenly I
saw two enemy 'planes cruising around over our lines. Since our men in
the trenches might think we were afraid, I made a signal for Immelmann
to take a few more turns over the lines to show this was not so. But
he misunderstood me and attacked one of the Frenchmen, but the
latter did not relish this. Meanwhile the second 'plane started
for Immelmann, who could not see him, and I naturally had to go to
Immelmann's aid. When the second Frenchman saw me coming he turned and
made for me. I let him have a few shots so that he turned away when
things got too hot for him. That was a big mistake, for it gave me a
chance to get him from behind. This is the position from which I
prefer to attack. I was close on his heels and not more than fifty
meters separated us, so it was not long before I had hit him. I must
have mortally wounded the pilot, for suddenly he threw both his arms
up and the machine fell straight down. I saw him fall and he turned
several times before striking, about 400 meters in front of our lines.
Everybody was immensely pleased, and it has been established beyond
all doubt that both aviators were killed and the machine wrecked.
Immelmann also saw him fall, and was immensely pleased by our success.