Item 02: John Herbert Butler correspondence, 1914-1920 - Page 63

[Page 63]

attacked by Bedouins. Brown was going to stop & hold the Bedouins with his machine gun while Austin got away on Cole's machine, seated across the engine cowling, & hanging on for dear life. Cole started off with Austin but could'nt get off the ground, - hit a mound of earth, ran over a little hillock, & crashed! They were'nt hurt but the machine was, - up the poleski. Well they beat the Bedouins off took what they could from their machines & made for our lines. That was in the morning about 7.30 or 8am. They reached our Light-Horse outposts late in the afternoon after having walked about 17 miles through enemy country. We made certain they would be prisoners.

Well about ½ hour after the first trouble with Brown, - The other 5 of us were making for home you'll remember – my engine coughed once or twice, & then gave out. I had run dry of petrol (still in enemy country) We were about 6,oooft up, so I vol-planed down & looked around for a suitable landing ground where the other machines could land too. I signalled to the others that I was to have a forced landing (with a smoke bomb signal)