Primary tabs
Transcription
[Page 28]
Ben didn't turn up yesterday. I suppose he found it hard to get a lorry to take him this way. I hope there's a letter for me tomorrow. This is just to keep me from breaking the resolve to write every day - next letter will be a decent one. Leist arrived yesterday but as yet I haven't seen him.
ST. GRATIEN,
France, June 29-18.
The night before last Lieut. Deshon and I went for a stroll and as we were going along on the outskirts of the village we saw a 'plane disappear over a little rise of ground about 200 yds. away. We remarked that she seemed in trouble and decided to see what was the matter, but when we got over the rise we found a valley in front of us and away on the other slope of it, a mile off, we saw the 'plane lying still and tiny figures running to it. We made up our minds to go and have a look at her and on the way met the pilot and observer who were being taken by two English officers to the latters' camp. Deshon spoke to the observer, a boy of about 19 or 20 and asked him if everything were all right. He replied, and it was evident he was very much keyed up, that they had been attacked at 20,000 ft. by 5 Huns, their engine knocked, and so they were forced to plane about 15 miles, every second expecting the engine to catch on fire and roast them. No wonder the poor kid was shaken up. When we got to the machine we found 200 or more Americans there who had come from a neighbouring camp. The machine was riddled with bullets and it's a marvel they were missed. From above, below and both sides the machine guns had been playing on them. The Americans were examining the machine all over like gulls