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About The North Platte semi-weekly tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1895-1922 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 17, 1918)
THE 8EMI.WEEKLV TRIBUNE, NORTH PLATTE, NEBRASKA. tt OUTWITTING THE By LIEUTENANT PAT O'BRIEN HUN Copyrltfht, 1018, by Pat Alva O'Brien v 1$ V 77i7MMiiUwi DDCCAPC lour "wines" n uiinllflcntlon which PREFACE Thoro Is a common Idea that the ago of miracles Is past Perhaps It Is, but If so, tho change must have corao about within the past few weeks after I es caped Into Holland. For If anything Is certain In this llfo It Is this: this book never would havo been written but for tho succession of miracles set forth In these pages. Miracles, luck, coincidence, Provi dence It doesn't matter much what you call It certainly played an Impor tant part In the scries of halr-brcadth escapes In which I figured during my short but eventful appearance In tho great drama now being enacted across tho seas. Without it, all my efforts and Bufferings would havo been quite un availing. No one realizes this better than I do and I wnnt to repeat it right hero be cause elsewhere in these pages I may appear occasionally to overlook or mlnlmlzo it: without tho help of Provi dence I would not bo here today. But this samo Provldenco which brought mo homo safely, despite all ho dangers which beset me, may work similar miracles for others, and It Is In tho hope of encouraging other poor devils who may And themselves in situ ations as hopeless apparently as mlno oftentimes woro that tills book is writ ten. When this cruel war is over which I trust may bo sooner than I expect It to bt I hope I shall havo an oppor tunity to revisit tho scenes of my ud ventures and to thank in person In an adequate manner every ono who ex tended a helping hand to mo when I was a wretched fugitive. All of them took great risks In befriending an es caped prisoner and they did it without the slightest hopo of reward. At tho samo tlmo I hopo I shall havo a chanco to pay my compliments to thoso who endeavored to tako advantago of my distress. In tho meanwhile, however, I can only express my thanks In this Ineffec tive manner, trusting that In somo mysterious way a copy of this book may fall into tho hands of very ono who befriended me. I hopo particular ly that every good Hollander who played tho part of tho Good Samari tan to mo so bountifully after my es cape from Belgium will sco these pages and feci that I am absolutely slncero when I say that words cannot begin to xprcsa my seneo of grntltudo to tho Dutch people. It is needless for mo to say how deeply I feel for my follow-prlsoncra In Germany who were less fortunnto than L Poor, poor fellows they nro tho real victims of tho war. I hopo that every ono of them may soon bo re stored to that freedom whoso valuo I never fully realized until after I had bad to fight bo hard to regain it. PAT O'BRIEN. Momonpo, BL, January 14, 1018. CHAPTER I. Tho Folly of Deipalr. Loss than nine months ago eighteen officers of the Royal flying corps, which had been training in Canada, left for England on tho Mcganlc. If any of them was over twenty-flvo reare of ago, ho had successfully con- Lieut Pat O'Brien In tho Uniform of the Royal Flying Corps. cealcd tho fact, because they don't ac cept older men for tho It. F. O. Nino of tho squadron wcro British BubJocUs; the other nluo were Aiuerl cans, who, tired of waiting for their owu country to tulto hor placo with tho allies, hud Joined tho British colors In Cauuda. I was one of tho latter. W wero olu to England to cam must be won before a member of the it. F. 0. Is allowed to hunt tho Iluns on tho western front. This was In May. 1917. Bv A u mist 1. rnoHt of ua worn full- fledged pilots, uctlvely engaged nt vari ous parts of tho lino In daily conflict with tho enemy. Bv December IB. every man lack of us who had met tho enemy In France, with one exception, hnd uppenred on the casualty list. Tho excentlon was II. IC. Boyscn, an American, who nt last report was fighting on tho Italian front still unscathed. Whether his cond fori linn linn Rtonri him lin to thin time I don't know, but If It has I would be very much surprised. Of tho others, flvo were killed In fic tion three Americans, one Canudlan, nnd one Englishman. Three more were In all probability killed In nctlon al though ouiciaiiy they are listed merely as "missing." Ono of theso wns nn American, ono n Canadian, and tho third a Scotchman. Throe more, two of them Americans, wero seriously wounded. Anotlicr, a Canadian, Is a prisoner In Germany. I know nothing of thd others. What happened to mo Is narrated in these pages. I wish. Instead. I could tell tho story of each of my bravo com rades, for not one of them was downed, am sure, without unholdlm? thn heat traditions of tho R. F. 0. Unfortunate ly, however, of tho elchtecn who sailed on tho Meganlc last May, I Happened to be tho first to fall Into tho hands of tho Huns, nnd what befell my comrades after that, with ono ex ception, I know only second hand. Tho exception was tho caso of nnnr. bravo Paul Rancy my closest chum wnoso last battlo I witnessed from mv German prison but that is a story I shall tell in its proper placo. In ono way. however. I think tho story of my own "big adventure" nnd my miraculous cscnpo may, perhaps, servo n purpose as useful as that of tno heroic fnto of my less fortunato comrades. Thotr otory, it is true, might Inspire others to deeds of heroism, but mine, I hope, will convey tho equally valuablo lesson of tho follv of despair. ' Many wero tho times In thn ennrso of my struggles when It seemed abso lutely useless to continue. In n hoatlln country, where discovery niennt death, wounded, sick, famished, friendless, hundreds of miles from tho nearest neutral territory tho frontier of which was bo closely guarded that oven if I got mere it sccmod too much to hopo mat I could over get through, what wns tho uso of cndiirlnir further agony? And yet hero I nm. In tho lnmi nt liberty although in a somewhat ob Bcure corner of it tho Uttlo town of Motnence, III., where- I was born not vory much tho worse for wear after all I've been through, and, as I write these words not eight months havo passed smco my seventeen comrades nnd T sailed from Canada on tho Meganlc. Can It bo possible that I was snared to convey a message of hopo to others who aro destined for slmllnr trials? T nm Hfrnld there will bo many of them. icars ago I heard of tho enltnnh which Is said to havo been found on a child's gravo: "If I was so soon to bo done for What, O Lord, was I over boeun for?" Tho way it has como to mo slnen I returned from Europe Is : "If, O Lord. I was to bo dona for. What wcro my sufferings o'er begun forr Perhaps the answer lies in tho auc- gestion I havo made. At any rnto. If this record of mv nd. ventures should provo instrumental in sbstulning others who need encourage ment l Bhnll feel that mv sufforlnca wcro not In vain. It Is hardly likely that nnvono will quite dupllcato my experiences, but I haven't tho Bllghtcst doubt that many will havo to go through trials equally nerve-racking and suffer disappoint ments Just us disheartening. It would bo very far from tho mark to Imagine that tho optimism which I am preaching now so glibly sustained mo through all my troubles. On tho contrury, I am freo toonfess that I irequentiy gnvo way to despair and often, for hours nt n time. flt nn tin. Jected and discouraged that I really didn't care what happened to mo. In- ueeu, i rather hoped that Bomethlng would happen to nut nn end to mv misery. But desplto nil my despondency and hopelessness, tho worst never lmn- pencil, und I enn't help thinking that my salvation must havo been designed to buow tho way to others, CHAPTER II. I Became n Fighting Scout. I Btnrted flying In Chicago In 1012. I was then eighteen years old, hut I had had n hunkering for tho nlr over sluco I can remember. As n youngster I followed tho ex ploits of tho Wrights with tho groutest Interest, although I must confesn I Bomullines hoped that they wouldn't really conquer the ulr until I had had a whack at tt myself. I got more m m i7iTmwww7i 1 1 1 i! i , O'Brien 8tandlng Betide tho First Machine In Which He Saw Active Service. whacks than I was looking for later on. Needless to nay, my parents wero very much opposed to my risking my llfo nt what was undoubtedly, at that umo ono ot tno most hazardous "pas times" n young fellow could select, and every tlmo I had a smashup or some other mishap I was ordered never to go near an aviation field again. So I went out to California. There another fellow and J built our own machine, which wo flow In various parts of tho state. In tho early part of 1010. when trou- bio was browing In Mexico, I Joined tho American flying corps. I wns sent to ban Diego, where tho army flying school Is located, and Bpent about eight months there, but as I was nnxlous to get Into actlvo servlco nnd there didn't seem much chanco of America over getting Into tho war, I resigned and, crossing over to Canada, Joined tho Royul Flying corps nt Victoria, B. 0. I was sent to Camp Borden, Toronto. first to recelvo Instruction nnd later to Instruct. Whllo a cadet I mndo tho first loop ever made by a cadet In Can ada, and after I had performed tho stunt I half expoctcd to be kicked out of tho service- for It. Apparently, how ever, they considered tho sourco nnd let it go at that Later on I hud tho satisfaction of Introducing tho loop as part of tho regular courso of In struction for cadets In tho R. F. C, and I wunt to sny right hero that Camp Borden has turned out some of tho best filers that havo over gone to Frunce. In May, 1017, I and seventeen other Cunndlun fliers left forlSnglnnd on tho Meganlc, whero wo wcro to qualify for sorvlco iu France. Our squadron consisted of nine Americans, a a Robinson, n. A. Mil ler, F. S. McClurg, A. A. Allen. E. B. Gnrnet, II. K. Boysen, II. A. Sraceton and A. A. Tuylor, nnd myself, and nlno Britishers, Paul II. Rnney, J. R. Park, C. Nolmes, C. R. Moore, T. L. Atkin son,- F. c. Conry, A. Mulr, E. A. L. F. Smith and A. 0. Jones. Within n few weeks after our ar rival in Englund nil of us hnd won our "wings" tho Insignia worn on tho loft breast by every pilot on tho west ern front Wo wcro all sent to n placo In Franco known as the Pool Pilots Mess. Here men gather from all tho training squadrons in Canndn and England and await assignments to tho particular squadron of which they nro to .become members. Tho Pool Pilots Moss Is situated u few miles buck of tho lines. When over a pilot Is shot down or killed tho Pool Pilots Mess Is notified to send nn other to tnko his pluco. There aro so many casualties every day In tho R. F. C. at ono point of the front or another that the' demand for -now pilots Is qulto uctlvo, but when a fellow Is Itching to get Into tho tight us badly as I and my friends wero I must confess thnt we got a Uttlo Im patient, although we realized that every time a new man was called It meant thnt some one else had, in all probability, been killed, wounded or captured. Ono morning an order camo In for a scout pilot and ono of my friends was assigned. I enn tell you tho rest or us were as envious of him as. If It wero tho last chance any of us wero over gqlng to havo to get to the front As It wns, however, hurdly more than threo hours had elapsed before an other wire was received at tho mess and I wns ordered to follow my friend. I afterward learned that as soon ns ho arrived at tho squadron he prevailed upon the. commanding offi cer of tho squadron to wire for me. At tho Pool Pilots' Mesa it wns tho custom of tho officers to wenr "shorts" breeches that aro about eight inches long, llko the boy scouts. wear, leav ing n spaco of about eight Inches of open country between tho top of tho puttees nnd tho end of tho shorts. Tho Australians woro them In Salonlkl nnd nt the Dardanelles. When tho order camo In for me, I had these "shorts" on, and I didn't havo tlmo to chnngo Into other clothes. Indeed, I was In such a sweat to get to tho front thnt If I had been In my pajamas I -think I Vould havo goun thut way. As It was, It wus raining nnd I threw an overcont over me, Jumped Into tho machine, and we made record tlmo to tho airdrome' to which I hud been ordered to report As I alighted from the automobile my overcoat blow open and displayed my manly form attired In "shorts" In stead of In tho regulation flying breeches, and tho Bight aroused con sldcrublo commotion In camp. "Must be n Ynnkcol" I overheard ono officer Bay to unothcr ns I ap proached. "No one but n Yankee would havo tho check to show up that way, you know I" But they laughed good-naturedly ns I camo up to them, nnd welcomed mo to. tho squadron, nnd I was soon vory much at home. My squadron was ono of four sta tioned at an ulrdromo about eighteen miles back of the Yprcs line. Thcro wero 18 pilots In olir squadron, which was a scout squadron, scout machines carrying but ono man, A scout, sometimes called a fighting scout, has no bomb dropping or rccon- ' nolterlng to do. Ills duty Is just to I fight, or,"tis tho order wus given to me, "You nro expected to pick fights und not wnlt until they como to yoiH" When .bomb droppers go out over tho Hues In tho diivtlmo n scout squad ron usually convoys them. The bomb tlroppcrB fly nt about twelve thousand feet, and scouts a thousand feet or so above them, if at uuy time they should bo at tacked, It Is tho duty of tho scouts to dive down und carry on the fight, the orders of thu bomb droppers being to . ; , nrnm o 1 1 1 n 1 1 1 1 o 3 1 1 j m 1 1 1 c i c o n o 1 1 1 1 uTutt f . . . . ........ ...... go on dropplnc bombs nnd not to ficht unless they havo to. Thero is seldom a time that machines, go out over tho lines on this work In the daytime that they aro not attacked nt somo time or other, nnd so tho scouts usually havo plenty of work to do. In nddltlon to theso attacks, however, the squadron is invariably under constant bombard ment from the ground, but that doesn't worry us very much, as wo know pret ty well how to avoid being hit from that quarter. On my first flight, after Joining the squadron, I was taken out over tho lines to get a look nt things, map out my location In case I whs ever lost, locato tho forests, lakes and other landmarks and get the general lay of the land. One thing thnt was Impressed upon me very emphntlcnlly wns the location of the hospitals, so that in case I was ever wounded and had the strength to pick my landing I could land ns near as possible to a hosnltnl. All theso things n new pilot goes through dur- Ing the first two or threo days after Joining n squadron. Our regular routine wns two flights n dnv. nnch nf twn hm,r' ,i,,rHnr, After dolnt: our rcciilnr nntrnl. It wn ourprlvllegetogooffonourownhook if wo wished, before going back to the squadron. I soon found out thnt mv Knundrnn wns some hot squadron, our flyers bo- Ing almost rdwavs asslcned to Rneel.il Ing almost always assigned to special uuty woru, such ns shooting up trenches nt n height of fifty feet from tho ground. I received my baptism Into this kind of work the third tlmo I went out over the lines, and I would recommend It to anyone who Is hankerlnc for excite- ment You nre not only nnfc to ho nt tacked by hostile aircraft from above, but you nro swept by mnch!nc-min flro from below. I havo seen somo nf nnr machines come back from Jhls work sometimes so riddled with bullets that wondered how they ever held to gether. Before wo started out nn nnn of these Jobs, wo wero mighty careful to sco mat our motors wero la perfect condition, because thev told us thn "war bread was bad In Gcrmnny." Ono mornlnir. shortly after I Inlmvl tho squadron, three of us started over the line of our own accord. We soon observed four enemy machines, two- seaters, coming toward us. This typo of machlno Is used bv tho Huns for nrtlllery work and bomb dropping, und we Knew uiey wero on mischief bent Each machlno had a machlno eun In front, worked by the pllot, nnd the ob server also had a gun with which ho could spray all around. When wo first noticed tho Hnns. nnr machines were about six miles back of tho German lines nnd wo were lying high up in tho sky, keeping tho Bun behind us, so thnt the enemy could not see us. Wo picked out three of tho machines and dove down on them. I went right by the mnn I picked for myself and his observer in tho rear sent bent pumping at mo to beat tho band. Not ono or my shots took effect as I went rlcht down under him. hlit T turned and gave him another burst of bullets, and down ho went In n snlnnlnc noso Qlve, ono of his wings going one wny ana ono another. As I saw him crush to tho ground I knew thut I had got my first hostile aircraft. Ono of mv'cnni. rndes wus equally successful, but the other two German machines got away. Wo chased them back until things got too hot for us by reason of tho nnnenr. ance of other German machines, and then wo called it a day. This experience whetted mv nnnotltn for moro of the same kind, and I did not havo long to wait It may bo well to exnlnln hero Inst what n spinning noso bend Is. A few years ago the spinning noso dlvo wus considered ono of tho most dangerous things n pllot could attempt, nnd mnny men wero killed getting Into this spn and not knowing bow to como out of it In fnct, lots of pilots thought thnt when onco you got Into a spinning noso dlvo there- wns no way of comlni: out of It. Tt In now used, however, In actual flying. Tho machines thnt nro used In Frnnco are controlled In two ways, both by hands nnd feet, the feet working tho yoke or rudder bar which controls tho rudder ; that steers tho machine. Tho lateral emit mis foro nnd uft, which cuuso the ma chine to rlso or lower, nro controlled bv n contrivance called n "Inv Rflcir " If, when flying In the nlr, a pilot snouui release ms noiu on this stick, It will gradually como toward tho pilot In thnt position tho machlno w.ii - - , 7. ; . begin to climb So If n pllot ls shot nnd loses control of this "lov stick." - -t 5rrSS 5ff" 'd ihvu uo- comes too groat for It to contlnuo or tho motor to pull the piano; for n fraction of a second It stops, nnd tho motor then bolnir tho heaviest, it - -i causes the nose of tho machlno to full forward, pitching down at n terrific rata or speeu and spinning at tho samo time. If the motor la still run ning, it naturally Increases the -speed much moro than It would If tho mo tor wcro shut off, and thcro is great dancer thnt tho wines will double ud. causing tho machlno to break apart Although spins nre made with the motor on, you nro dropping like a boll being dropped out of the sky and tho velocity Increases with the power of tho motor. This spinning noso dlvo has -been frequently used in "stunt" flying In recent years, but Is now put to prac tical uso by pilots in getting away from hostile machines, for when a man Is splnntng it is almost Impos sible to hit him, and the mnn making the attack invariably thinks his en emy is going down to certain death in tho spin. This is all right when a man It over his own territory, because he can right his machine nnd come out of It; but If It happens over German territory, the Huns would only follow him down, and when he camo out ot the spin they would bo above him, Having nil the advantage, and would shoot him down with ease. It Is a good way of getting down into a )g00d wny ,of Eltt,nS down Into 8 c ud nnd ls uscd very oftcn by both sides, but It requires skill nnd cour age by the pilot making It if he ever nee y the pilot making it 1 expects to como out alive, A spin , ng mnd? a pllot intentionally !oks exnct y liko n spln ,s made by a machine actually being shot ?own- s? ono never knows whether it l!?iorced ?; intentional until tho pilot elther rIShts hls machine nnd cornea out of it or crashes to tho trround. . -Another dive similar to this one U know as Just the plain dive. As sume, for instance, that a pilot flylna at n height of soveral thousand feet 13 shot' Ioscs cntrol of his machine, nnd the noso of tho Planfi starts down with the. motor full on. He ls going nt a tremendous BDeed and in mnn Instances ls going so straight and swiftly that the speed ls too great foi the machine, because It was novel constructed to withstand tho enor mous pressure forced against tin wings, and they consequently crumple up. If, too, In an attempt to straighten the machine, the elevators should be come nffected, as often happens In trying to bring a machine out of n dive, tho strain is ngaln too great on the wings, and there Is the same dis astrous result Oftentimes, when tho patrol tank ls punctured by a tracer bullet from another machine in the nlr, tho plane that Is hit catches on fire and either gets Into a spin or a straight dive nnd heads for tho earth, hundreds of miles an hour, a mass of flame, looking llko a brilliant comet In the sky. The spinning nose dive ls used to greater advantage by the Germans than by our, own pilots for the reason that when a fight gets too hot for tho German, ho will put his machine In a spin, nnd as tho chances are nine out of ten thnt we are fighting over German territory, he simply spins down out of our range, straightens out before he reaches tho ground, and getson homo to his airdrome. It Is useless to follow him down Inside the German lines, for you would In all probability be shot down before yon can attain sufficient altitude to cross tho line again. It often happens that n niint win bo chasing another machine when suddenly he sees It start to spin. Per haps they nre fifteen or elchteen thou- sand feet in the nlr, and the hostile niaciiino spins down for thousands of feet. He thinks he has hit the oHmr machine und goes home happy that no nns brought down another Hun. He reports tho occurrence to tho squadron, telling how ho shot down his enemy; but when the rest of the squadron come In with their report, or some nrtlllery observation hnii nnn sends In a report It develops that wnen a rew hundred feet from tho ground tho supposed dead man In thn spin has come out of tho spin and gone merrily on his wny for hl ni drome. In a desperate battle with four Hun flyers, O'Brien Is sent crashing to earth behind tho German lines from a height of 0,000 feet. Tho next Install ment tells of his miraculous es cape from death and of his re gaining consciousness to find himself a prisoner of war. (TO BE CONTINUED.) Why They Are Lonely. Tho peoplo who nro lonely in this wnrlfl n-i tiling i "ro u,wny3 "00K "h u"vi"iiib o como to them: they hopo for pleasant ndven hires ti, v.tnf .. " . . . i "-"(.t muiti iiuiu mcir menus U"d om their fam.lynd they aro. uover satisueu. llut tho happy men and women are thoso who never think to demand for thomselvivi.n ,h nnd give and glvo uguln. nnd find Joy I n,,,.,., ,i .,"'.., . ujr luujr juiu ujijiuriuiiiiy to civo Joy. Exchnngo. Strange Contradiction. "De mnn dnt don't sco do bright sldo o' life," BaM Undo Ehen, "Is gunernlly elm-low," uu bii.no icucr uut's afraid of bis