NIGHT FLYING

Waikato Times, Volume 89, Issue 13816, 22 July 1918, Page 2

NIGHT FLYING

A LANE OF BRITISH MACHINES. (By "Night Hawk.") Above us rode a nigh white moon; below us was the incredible desolation of the Soninie —miles on miles of craters and shell-holes, blown-in trenches, and abandoned gun pits—a vast, abominable expanse of Pain and Death. We had just crossed the valley of the Ancre. The Somme lay ahead, a thin, silvery snake of a river curving away into the night. Beneath | us in these tragic fields lie villages and ' towns for eveT sacxed to the memory j and valour of British troops—Beaumont. Hamel, Pozieres, Miraumont, Bapaume. | Across the low hills and o\er the t ley the roads run in long, straight ribbons converging on Bapaume and Peronne and Albert- Beyond Albert lie Amiens and the gate to Paris. This is the direction of the German thrust —and all their roads of communication are packed with moving columns of supplies and troops. Early that morning we had received the news that the German hordes were advancing, that our fellows, fighting ; gloriously, were slowly yielding ground, 1 and that the issue of the battle lav 10 a very large extent in our hands. All that day omr scouts and bombers r and fighting machines had been out, 5 flying low, firing into the German 1 masses as they advanced, bombing their reserves, disorganising their communi-

cations. Now was our turn. The day-flyers , were resting. We were carrying on their work. The roads, white in the moonshine, were packed with black silhouetteslorries, staff ears, guns being hurried forward, moving companies of men. My pilot and I in all our flying ex- j perience together have never had so much excitement crowded into such a limited space of time. We did five trips of about an hour each that niglit, ( and everv time we came upon wonder- | ful targets. Our experiences werej shared by nearly every other machine j in the squadron. The air between the] aerodrome and the area we wore bombing seemed to be one long lane ot British machines. On the wav home we met a dozen or more machines going out: on the way out we met the same number returning home. We blinked our navigation lights at each other, and went on wit i the work. And so from dusk to dawn that night and every night since we hive been helping our comrades m the trenches to win the big battleI have spoken with many of t.iem, an,l thev say it's " great" to hear the mi'ditv hum of our machines as we over t'l.eir lines. Often ti.ey fjui w::t ' the vicious little spurts of flame Irom ' our him- guns as we sour-h ..t< 1 roads for (icrman troops; nearly al\.a ■ 1 they heur the detonations oi ' bombs. . . ..... \\Y have started big billefs; . e\« i:i lof our ■ r '■ ■■ • ' illirht "'-••mbed (! ' Y ,j,•.t r,ji-;'on. ": on the ?an:e -i ' 11 si-i \at '.on I ■allmin 11'■:' 1 ■ i> : 1 j ■i ■' ■