Produced by R.G.P.M. van Giesen [Illustration: cover (front)] [Illustration: cover (spine)] Winning his Wings BY PERCY F. WESTERMAN LIEUT. R.A.F. "No boy alive will be able to peruse Mr. Westerman's pages without a quickening of his pulses."--Outlook. Winning his Wings: A Story of the R.A.F. The Thick of the Fray at Zeebrugge: April, 1918. With Beatty off Jutland: A Romance of the Great Sea Fight. The Submarine Hunters: A Story of Naval Patrol Work. A Lively Bit of the Front: A Tale of the New Zealand Rifles on the Western Front. A Sub and a Submarine: The Story of H.M. Submarine R19 in the Great War. Under the White Ensign: A Naval Story of the Great War. The Dispatch-Riders: The Adventures of Two British Motor-cyclists with the Belgian Forces. The Sea-girt Fortress: A Story of Heligoland. Rounding up the Raider: A Naval Story of the Great War. The Fight for Constantinople: A Tale of the Gallipoli Peninsula. Captured at Tripoli: A Tale of Adventure. The Quest of the "Golden Hope": A Seventeenth- century Story of Adventure. A Lad of Grit: A Story of Restoration Times. LONDON: BLACKIE & SON, LTD., 50 OLD BAILEY, E.C. [Illustration: THERE WAS NO TIME FOR QUESTIONS. DEREK COULD DISCERN SEVERAL FIELD-GREY FIGURES ADVANCING RAPIDLY] Winning his Wings A Story of the R.A.F. BY PERCY F. WESTERMAN Lieut. R.A.F. Author of "With Beatty off Jutland" "A Lively Bit of the Front" "A Sub and a Submarine" &c. &c. _Illustrated by E. S. Hodgson_ BLACKIE AND SON LIMITED LONDON GLASGOW AND BOMBAY Contents CHAP. I. ON PARADE II. DEREK'S FIRST FLIGHT III. THE DERELICT IV. THE NIGHT RAIDER V. THE NEXT DAY VI. ACROSS THE CHANNEL VII. WHEN THE HUN PUSHED VIII. THE HUN BOMBER IX. A SLIGHT DISTURBANCE X. KAYE'S CRASH XI. THE JAMMED MACHINE-GUNS XII. BOWLED OUT XIII. THE COUNT'S RUSE XIV. WITH THE TANKS XV. OUTED XVI. THE SHELL-CRATER XVII. TURNED DOWN XVIII. THE FIRST DAY AT SABLERIDGE XIX. U-BOAT VERSUS MOTOR-BOAT XX. THE BLIMP AND THE SKATE XXI. AN INDEPENDENT COMMAND XXII. A MOULDY STATION XXIII. AN ERROR OF JUDGMENT XXIV. THE GUARD-SHIP XXV. SALVAGE WORK XXVI. CHRISTMAS EVE XXVII. HARD AND FAST AGROUND XXVIII. TO THE SEA-PLANE'S AID XXIX. IN THE INTERESTS OF THE STATE XXX. THE CHOICE Illustrations Page THERE WAS NO TIME FOR QUESTIONS. DEREK COULD DISCERN SEVERAL FIELD-GREY FIGURES ADVANCING RAPIDLY _Frontispiece_ GV 7 TO THE RESCUE! IN A COUPLE OF STRIDES HE OVERTOOK THE MAJOR, AND BORE HIM BACKWARDS TO THE EARTH SHE PRESENTED A PUZZLING PROPOSITION TO FRITZ THE TASK OF GETTING HIM ON BOARD WAS NOT AN EASY ONE IT WAS A CASE OF TAKING ONE'S CHANCE WITH THE APPROACHING STORM WINNING HIS WINGS CHAPTER I On Parade "On parade!"