AIRMAN WHO HIT A MOUNTAIN

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16208, 10 May 1918, Page 2

AIRMAN WHO HIT A MOUNTAIN

1 Strange adventures in the air have befallen many airmen during tho war, but the strangest must surely be that of Flight-Commander A. 11. Waistell, 11.N.A.5. Ho bumped into a mountain without seeing it! Tho story is told in a dry official way in the "Gazette,"' which announces that he lias been awarded the D.S.O. "for the determination and pluck shown by him in carrying out a bombing raid on Chanak on the night of October 17th, 1917. In spite of the fact that there was no moon and that the weather conditions were so adverse that other pilots were unable to reach the objective, he succeeded in reaching Chanak and dropping his bombs. On the return journey he tit the side of a mountain, being unable to see.it on account of the darkness, the machine catching fire on crashing. Although severely injured about the face and knee, he was able to climb out r.f machine, and eventually reached the aerodrome, having ridden ten miles over extremely rough country with a badlv lacerated knee."

i I . Writing home from Palestine to a I relative, L<ieut .-General Sir Philip Chet- ' wodo states: —"I attended a concert of ' the famous Welsh singers in Jerusalem. They sang quite beautifully. For the first time 'Land of my Fathers' (the Welsh National Anthem) re-echoed through the streets of Jerusalem in I Welsh." '