Deeds of heroism and bravery : $b The book of heroes and personal daring
History
Deeds of heroism and bravery : $b The book of heroes and personal daring
World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives
“The three remaining Huns followed Miller down. One of them got
Thompson in the arm and leg with an explosive bullet. The plane was
out of control. By some miracle, Thompson says, as they were about to
strike earth, Miller came out of his forward position, pulled the stick
back, and the plane landed without a crash.
“Thompson had enough strength to jump out of the cockpit and run around
to Miller, who, with a strength that was superhuman, was climbing out
of the cockpit, bleeding profusely, his face ghostly white.
“He reached his arms up, man-like, and let them rest limply on
Thompson’s shoulders. With closed eyes, and with a voice barely
audible, he mumbled: ‘Thompson, God bless you! They got me, but I got
you home, boy—and we brought the pictures back. Get a motorcycle,
Tommy, and take them to headquarters. You write a report—I can’t,
Tommy; you see I can’t, Tommy. And be sure to put in it that the
pictures are good—that the mission was successful.’
“These were his last words, and he fell over unconscious. His wounds
were of a hopeless nature, and he died without regaining consciousness
a few minutes later in a sort of improvised dressing station in the
front lines.
“Well, those are incidents in the life of the observation game.
“The official records credit Johnny Miller with the destruction of
two enemy planes, and the French Government has bestowed upon him
posthumously the Croix de Guerre with Palm, but those of us who had
the pleasure of serving with him and who have lived to tell the tale
credit Johnny Miller with having been just a plain, ordinary, brave
fellow, who gave his life with all willingness to insure the successful
completion of the mission to which his country assigned him.”
SUBDUING THE TURK
When Captain Butt, the British Ace, Found Bakshish a Cure of Captivity
When the war broke out, Alan Bott was one of the younger set of
newspaper men in London. Soon after England cast in her lot with
France, Bott was training with the airmen. Right speedily he became
a fighting flyer and anon an Ace, with seven German planes to his
credit. He won the Victoria Cross, and the rank of Captain. Readers may
remember having heard him lecture when he made a tour of this country
early in 1919, and gave very impressive pictures of adventures in the
air. Not many aviators had the varied experiences that fell to the
fortune of Captain Bott, for though he was for a time with his fellows
of the Royal British Air Force operating in France, he was transferred
to the East later and many of his thrilling adventures were in the Holy
Land. He gave an account of one of these soon after his arrival in this
country. He said:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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