The Childrens' Story of the War, Volume 3 (of 10): From the First Battle of Ypres to the End of the Year 1914Parrott, Edward
History
The Childrens' Story of the War, Volume 3 (of 10): From the First Battle of Ypres to the End of the Year 1914
Parrott, Edward
World War, 1914-1918 -- Juvenile literature
During the fighting around Ypres the Royal Flying Corps did splendid
service. A _Daily News_ correspondent tells of one young flying man who
seemed to make a perfect hobby of his work. The following account of his
doings will give you an excellent idea of how airmen direct the fire of
guns. "From dawn to sunset," says the correspondent, "this young officer
is up and about, doing the most wonderful things with the utmost
coolness. The other morning, up ahead of the lark, he volplaned[69] from
a great height right in the midst of the German lines, as though he
meant to make a brief morning call for breakfast. The Germans were too
astonished for the moment to do anything but gasp and gape at him,
though he was easily within range. He impudently stopped his engine,
dropped half a dozen 'puffs' (as our Tommies call the aeroplane bombs)
into a cavalry cluster, waved his hand, and off and above he went again.
"Hundreds of rifle shots whirred around him as he fled; two of them
struck him; and three minutes later he was down in the British lines
once more, with blood trickling through the rents in his tunic. He was
patched up and bandaged, had a good, hearty lunch, and before teatime he
was up again in one of his mad frolics in the air. 'Surely you've had
enough for one day,' said General ----; 'have a rest at least until
to-morrow. We don't want to lose these matinée performances of yours;
they're too fine for anything.' But the young aviator jammed his
armoured helmet on his head, and said he couldn't resist making a
flight, because it was great fun, and kept him fit. So off he went
again.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account