File:My fourteen months at the front; an American boy's baptism of fire (1916) (14781945355).jpg

Identifier: myfourteenmonths01robi (find matches)
Title: My fourteen months at the front; an American boy's baptism of fire
Year: 1916 (1910s)
Authors: Robinson, William J
Subjects: World War, 1914-1918
Publisher: Boston, Little, Brown, and company
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress

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Text Appearing Before Image:
FOURTEEN MONTHS AT THE FRONT

down toward the ground, big flares are
lighted so as to enable the aviator to pick
his spot for landing. The whole thing is
scientifically arranged, and there are not
many accidents in this part of the work.
One of the most daring parts of the air
work is the dropping of spies behind the
enemy's lines. I believe this goes on on both
sides, and in many cases is successful. The
second time I was going on leave to England
I had made arrangements to go with one of
our fellows from the Flying Corps. We were
to start on a Monday morning, and on the
Friday before he told me that he was going
to make his last flight before going to England,
on the following morning, Saturday.
He started out at 4 o'clock Saturday
morning with a man and a crate of carrier
pigeons in his machine, and he had orders to
drop both behind the German lines and return
to his headquarters as quickly as possible.
As I said, he started out at four and so far
as I know he is not back yet. He may have

190

Text Appearing After Image:

AN ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUN IN ACTION.
Drawn by P. Matani
for The Sphere, London, and copyrighted in the United States by The
New York Herald Company.

BRAVERY OF AVIATORS

been shot down, he may have had an acci-
dent and been forced to land behind the
German lines, or any one of a hundred things
may have happened. All we know is tha
the failed to return.
The anti-aircraft gun was practically un-
known before the beginning of this war, and
there is an enormous chance for improvement
in this branch of aerial warfare. It is very
interesting to watch an anti-aircraft gun in
action, for one can see the gun fired and then
see the shell burst a few seconds later.
So far as I know there is no accurate way
of finding the range of an aeroplane in motion.
The popular way of shooting at a flying ma-
chine seems to be that of firing shells in a
large circle, using the machine as the center,
and then closing in until the aeroplane is
dead in line. There is the uncertainty, how-
ever, of knowing when to time the shell to
burts and so far as I can see it seems to
be pretty much a matter of luck. I heard
an average quoted on the number of hits.

191

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