Good fortune has, of course, played a part in Lieut. Ball’s many successes. He has himself been forced down several times, but thus far not once has he suffered any personal injury. His exploits have won him the D.S.O., the Military Cross, the bar to the D.S.O., and the Russian St. George’s Cross, which is our Ally’s equivalent to the English Victoria Cross. The D.S.O. was bestowed on him for attacking seven enemy machines which he saw flying in formation. One of them he shot down at fifteen yards range, and the others retired. [Illustration: BOMB DROPPING. The dropping of aerial bombs is a more or less haphazard affair, and unless the target is a big one, such as a town or dockyard, it is exceedingly difficult to take aim with any degree of accuracy. _Reproduced by permission of the Editor of ‘The Royal Magazine.’_] Immediately afterwards, seeing five more hostile machines, he attacked one at about ten yards range and shot it down. He then attacked another of the machines which had been firing at him, and shot it down into a village. Still not satisfied, he flew to the nearest aerodrome for more ammunition, and returning attacked three more machines. The bar to the D.S.O. was awarded for subsequent acts of gallantry. On one occasion, observing twelve enemy machines in formation, Commander Ball dived in among them and fired a drum into the nearest machine, which went down out of control. Several more hostile machines then approached, and he fired three more drums at them, driving down another. The record of this heroic young aviator is indeed remarkable, and one is not surprised when one learns that the British Commander-in-Chief, Sir Douglas Haig, has written to the young hero as follows: ‘Well done! D. H.’ CHAPTER XVIII LIEUTENANT ALLAN BOTT, M.C. Lieutenant Allan Bott, who has been awarded the Military Cross for gallantry and devotion to duty in the field, is a member of the editorial staff of the _Daily Chronicle_, and when war broke out acted for a time as a special correspondent in France and Switzerland. He went to Lake Constance to investigate the building of super-Zeppelins, and while at Kreuzlingen, a small Swiss town which is really a suburb of Constance, made an involuntary trip into Germany by entering the wrong train. He spent some hours in Constance, and managed to escape detection at the frontier by travelling under the seat of a cab driven by a friendly Swiss who was going back to Kreuzlingen. On his return to England, in November, 1914, Mr. Bott joined the O.T.C., and after training received a commission in the R.G.A., whence he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps. Since the deeds which have won Mr. Bott the Military Cross he has been promoted from the rank of Second-Lieutenant to Lieutenant. The story of his flight on a blazing aeroplane has been told modestly by the young officer in a letter to his parents: