The Exploits of Chapman, Prince, Rockwell, Guynemer, Marchal, Immelman, Boelke, Richthofen and Others
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group. Apparently riddled by bullets, Baisley and Prince capsized and fell headlong. The French Captain, thinking them finished, signaled to Rockwell for full-speed home. Prince, however, managed to right his machine a scant 300 feet from the ground, just above the French trenches? Where he succeeded in grounding safely by a swift volplane to the field half a mile from the firing-line. Altho the machine had holes in several places, the airman had nothing worse than a bullet through his leather helmet. Balsley was less for- tunate, but had an equally miraculous escape from death. Wounded in the hip by an explosive bullet, he fell upside down, thought himself doomed, but, held in the straps, was able to right his machine enough to land right side up, altho the crash was so violent as to smash the plane and momentarilly stun the pilot. The Texan's luck held further, for he groun4ed behind the French communication trenches, whence help was forthcoming. While the battle of Verdun was still raging on June 22 and with varying fortunes) the war in the air was going on near that region of the front on a scale surpassing any pre- vious operations by aviators in a single day. Treves, in Rhenish Prussia, 'more than 70 miles from the battlefront; Carlsruhe, capital of the Grand Duchy of Baden, more than 85 miles behind the German lines, and Mulheim, across the Rhine in Baden, were all visited in a single day by French air-squadrons, and, in the case of Treves, with disastrous results. Tn addition to these raids (all three cities had been raided before, but no two at the same time), there was air- fighting at many points along the battle-front in which four German airplanes were shot down. One French ma- chine was lost in the operations. These raids were made in retaliation for German raids on Bar-le-Due and Luneville. Eighteen bombs were dropt on Treves, and the report said "a great fire broke out." Carlsruhe was attacked by nine airplanes, which dropt forty shells. Ten more paid a call at Mulheim, dropping fifty shells. The last squadron en- countered a squadron of Fokkers on its return, and in the fight one of the Germans was shot down and one of the French compelled by motor-trouble to land. The other Ger- man planes reported shot down were: one at Lamorville by Sub-Lient. Nungesser (his eighth), one south of Lihons by Sergt. Chainat and Sub-Lieut. Guynemer attacking simul- taneously. Chainat had previously shot down four and Guynemer nine Germans. The remaining German was shot down by artillery fire north of Luneville. A fight was also reported between a French air squadron and some Germans who tried to raid villages in the Meuse Valley. Two Ger- man machines were brought down by one Frenchman. French machines raided several German communication points in Lorraine, north and east of Verdun. The first American airman to die for France was Sergeant Victor E. Chapman, son of John Jay Chapman, a lawyer of New York and a well-known writer. He was shot dead over the German lines before Verdun in a fight with two Aviatiks. Chapman was studying architecture at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris when the war began. He had enlisted in the Foreign Legion at the outbreak of hostilities, was transferred to the aviation division in the summer of 1915, and had joined the American escadrille near Verdun six weeks before his death. He had already had seven machines shot under him and had sent down four Germans, all falling within their lines, when late on June 23 he started on a trip over the front, where he found Norman Prince engaged hotly with five Aviatiks, and immediately flew to the rescue. Chap- man was attacked by two aviators, one behind and one be- fore, and was killed in mid-air. He was dead before the machine reached the ground. The Germans continued to riddle the falling machine, and had shot away its wings before it landed. For months Chapman's name had appeared frequently in dispatches as one of the most brilliant of the aviators com- posing the Franco-American Flying Corps. When John Jay Chapman, then at his country home in Barrytown, N. Y., was told that his son had been killed, he said, "My son's life was given in a good cause." Mr. Chapman had said before, "If Victor is killed in battle, I am resigned. I am proud that he joined the French Army, and I think that every American boy ought to do the same." Chapman was in his twenty-seventh year. He had then served about five months with a machine-gun detachment of the American Legion. He was wounded after the first month's fighting, and on recov- ery was assigned to the flying corps as a reward for bravery in the field. He served first as a pupil, then as an observer, and finally became pilot, being rated as one of the best in the service. All reports indicated that the struggle for mastery of the air on the Western Front had reached a pitch of intensity unprecedented during the war. After the battle of the Somme began the French and English employed swarms of fighting-airplanes to break up the German aerial reconnais- sance, which was greatly favored by the terrain, as French troop movements and the drawing together of huge masses of ammunition supplies were easily spotted by German fliers on the rolling plain of Picardy with its little villages and lack of woods. Germans praised the daring of French ffiers, which was proved by the extraordinary number of twenty-two that were shot down behind the German front, but contended that the Fokker fliers established new records of superiority over French fighting airplanes in a ratio exceeding two to one. Battles were being fought with increasing frequency by July 10, not only among men at the front, but far to the rear, as a result of the French and English air-raids on German lines of communication. Every night when weather conditions permitted, French squadrons were all action, try- ing to drop bombs on railways, bridges, and spots behind the German front, short bright nights particularly favoring these excursions. Early dawn became a favorite time in which to drop bombs. Eye-witnesses described squadrons as sailing in close formation on the straightest possible course toward their goal. Most of the airplanes were loaded with bombs and convoyed by fighting airplanes to cheek the German Fokker fighters. When under way, German fliers were divided into small groups, and after finishing a job, returned home singly. German correspondents unanimously reported that little serious damage was inflicted by these night raids. Lieutenant Marchal, of the French Corps, in June left French soil and flew over Berlin, where he dropt procla- mations, and then continued his flight, intending to land within Russian lines; but was forced to descend in Joland, where he was taken prisoner by Austrians. An official com- munication given out in Paris on July 24 described his ex- traordinary achievement: "On June 20 at 9.30 o'clock in the evening, Sub-Lieutenant Marchal ascended at Nancy on hoard a Nieuport monoplane of a special type, taking with him a supply of fuel sufficient to last fourteen hours. His mission was to cross Germany at a low altitude in order to drop proclamations on the capital at Berlin and then to descend in Russian. This audacious flight was accomplished point by point, and, after flying all night, Lieutenant Marchal was com- pelled to descend at 8.30 in the morning of June 21, near Chelm, Russian Poland, at least 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the Russian lines. He was made a prisoner. The proclamation which Lieutenant Marchal dropt on Berlin hegan with the words: "We could bombard the open town of Berlin and thus kill the women and innocent children, but we are content to throw only the following procla- mations." Marchal, in the course of his journv, covered in continu- ous flight a distance of about 1,300 kilometers (807 miles), most of which he traveled during the night His proclama- tion, besides the words above quoted, contained remarks on the "causes of the war and the principal reasons why the Allies are bound to win." Not so much the boldness of his flight through hostile country, as the remarkable humanity and good sense of his system of bombardment, invited many to approve and admire him. Captain Boelke, of the German Flying Corps, on Septem- ber 10 had reached a total of twenty-two Allied flyers brought down. His twentieth "bag" was Captain Wilson, of the Royal Flying Corps, attached to a division stationed near Pozieres. Wilson was flying over the German lines when Boelke rose to meet him. Boelke outguessed, out-maneuvered and out-shot the Englishman, who dropt to the ground safely after having a wing broken. Boelke landed near him, and in surrendering Wilson asked for the name of his captor. "Boelke," replied the German. The chagrin and humilia- tion of defeat and capture were lost for a moment to the Englishman, who put out his hand and, as Boelke shook it, said: "If I had to be shot down I'm pleased that it should have been by so good a man," Wilson was sent back to Cambrai, and the next day Boelke invited him to lunch at the officers' mess, where the captured flyer exprest his ap- preciation of the exceptional treatment he had received, and told of the high regard in which the English held the Ger- man flyers. That night he was sent to a German prison- camp. Boelke was a good-looking young chap of twenty-five, thin, wiry, of the quick, graceful type usually associated with airmen. Kiffin Rockwell, the American aviator, brought down his fourth German airplane in September, and so was only one short of the number that would rank him among stars of the air service like Guynemer and Nungesser, who were now chronicled by name in French bulletins after each success. Flying near Verdun at about 3,000 meters, Rockwell at- tacked a double-seated German airplane just beneath him. He killed the gunner with his first volley, and probably wounded the pilot, for the machine immediately began to descend in a circular spiral. Rockwell plunged in pursuit, caught up with the German at 1,800 meters, and riddled him with bullets. He saw him fall near the trench-lines. In the act of descending to verify the result, the American was attacked from above by two Fokkers. A swift turn which "banked" his Nieuport almost vertically saved his life. He tried to maneuver to engage each foe separately, but, after a brief fight, finding his ammunition exhausted, de- cided to retreat, and succeeded in escaping unhurt. On September 23 Rockwell came to his death, mortally wounded by a German airman, over the town of Thann. His body fell in reconquered territory near the spot where Rockwell, who was from Atlanta, Georgia, had shot down his first adversary five months before. Rockwell, at the time of his death, was serving as a volunteer in the Franco-American Flying Corps on the Ver- dun front. A few hours prior to his last engagement he had been promoted to the rank of second lieutenant, but died without knowing of the new honor. He already had received the Military Medal for shootiug down a German two-seater near Hartmansweiler-Kopf. He had beaten down another before Verdun and had participated in a thrilling combat with a strong German force. Sergeant Rockwell was one of the first American volunteers to join the Foreign Legion. He was regarded in French aviation circles as an "ace," a name given to the most skilful and daring pilots. Lieutenant William Thaw, of Pittsburgh, before he was wounded, and Rockwell, made a formidable fighting pair. They frequently were in the air together and always chasing an adversary. Rockwell had fought thirty-four air battles since recovering from his last wound, or an average of more than one a day. When he met his death he was returning from a bombing expedition of which he was one of the fighting-machines that furnished the escort. The one absorbing topic in Paris on September 25 was a series of successful airplane raids in German territory. No fewer than 56 combats were fought by French airmen in a single day, during which four German machines were de- stroyed and six others badly damaged. Next day French airmen fought 29 combats and brought down ten German machines, while seven others were damaged. Guynemer, in one flight, brought down his seventeenth and eighteenth machines. Two French airmen performed the astounding feat of flying to Essen, the seat of the Krupp works, where they bombarded this main center of Germany's gun and ammunition supply. The airmen were Captain de Beau- champ and Lieutenant Dancourt, who traveled over 500 miles of German territory in daylight, launched twelve bombs, in spite of being fired on by anti-aircraft guns, and returned safely to their own lines. For the first time two airplanes, with a full load of bombing material, had cov- ered a distance of 250 miles. The Allies lost many machines, however, in the course of September. Britain's list was 74 for the month. On September 29 more than two score German, French, and British airplanes met, with disaster. Paris reported that French airmen, in battles in the air with Germans in France, had accounted for twenty-six airplanes, while Berlin recorded the bringing down of twenty-four Allied machines, twenty of them on the Somme front. Weather conditions late in September were exceedingly advantageous for aerial operations and air corps on both sides were busy. The French War Office recorded the destruction of twenty- three German airplanes. On the Somme front alone, there were twenty-nine combats. The British report said that five German airplanes had been destroyed, making a total of twenty-eight. Berlin reported the destruction of twenty-four Allied airplanes. On September 27, Sub-leutenant Nun- gesser, whose exploits had made him the best known of the French aerial fighters and the rival of the German, Boelke, outdid his previous achievements by bringing down two German machines and a captive balloon. This brought up to seventeen the number of aircraft destroyed by this aviator. Norman Prince, who originally was from Beverly Farms, Mass., died on October 14 in a French field-hospital of in- juries received in a fall with his airplane, when both his legs were broken. He was a nephew of Dr. Morton Prince, of Bos- ton, who at the time of Norman's death was in Paris. Frederick H. Prince, father of the aviator, lay at the same time danger- ously ill at his home in Massachusetts, stricken with typhoid fever. News of his son's death was withheld from him through fear that the announcement might have serious con- sequences. Frederick Prince, Jr., elder brother of the aviator and himself a member of the American corps, was at his brother's bedside when the end came. Prince was the third of the Franco-American Flying Corps. to meet death within a few months, Chapman, on June 23, Rockwell, on Septem- ber 23. Prince was a graduate of Harvard University, prac- tising law in Chicago when the war started, but he gave up his practise and went to France, where he was soon attached to the French aviation service. He had been decorated for gallant and distinguished service and mentioned a number of times in dispatches for activity in air-fighting. He was considered a brilliant and courageous' pilot. A largely attended memorial service for Prince was held in the American Episcopal Church in Paris where -the French Government was represented by Colonel Valhere and several of the Sergeant's comrades in the flying corps who had left the firing-line and attended the service, as did several French aviators. The death of Prince was a fresh reminder of the extent to which America was already represented in the world-struggle. Within a few weeks. three young men, Chapman, Rockwell, and Prince, had lost their lives. These young Americans had gone to the front in the spirit and temper of Crusaders, having had an eager and compelling desire to serve the cause of Democracy as menaced by Prussian militarism. Captain Boelke, the famous German aviator, in the course of an air-flight on October 28, came into collision with an enemy airplane and was killed, and his machine was landed within the German lines. The day before he had shot down his fortieth adversary. Boelke had been the most spectacular figure among thousands of aviators flying at the front. He had seemed to bear a charmed life. As late as September it had been reported that he had escaped almost certain death on five different occasions when his airplanes were almost shot from under him. Boelke started in the Imperial Flying Corps as an observer, later becoming a pilot. His steady eye, sure nerves, and courage soon sent him to the fighting detachment of the seryice, where his duties were to meet and fight off French and English battle-planes and reconnaissance-machines. In this he was more successful than any other aviator. He always flew alone, managing his machine and its gun by himself. Boelke was a native of Dessan, and had taken up aviation in peace times as a sport. Official figures for 1916, announced in Berlin, claimed that German aviators had been victors in a majority of the aerial battles on all fr6nts, and that Germany had lost fewer battle- planes than her antagonists. The total losses of airplanes' on both sides during 1916 were said to have been 1,005. Of these the Entente forces lost 784, the Germans 221. On the West Front alone both sides lost 920, and of these 180 were German war-planes. Guynemer had brought down his twenty-sixth German airplane, which fell in flames in the vicinity of Maurepass in the Verdun region. Germany produced one superman of the air in Lieutenant Baron Von Richthofen, who came into prominence early in 1917 when he had brought down his fifty-second airplane, the greatest number at that time brought down by any avia- tor of any army. The nearest rival so far as known was Guynemer, who was believed to have shot down forty Ger- man machines. Richthofen, until 1917, had been compara- tively unknown. His rise began soon after the death of
A British Airman's fight with Germans
Eight German machines in all were encountered in this battle, which was fought
on the Western Front at the height of 500 feet. The Englishman was A.W. Hammond.
He shot three of the Germans down out of control, and after being wounded
and having his machine take fire, effected a safe landing.