UNDER SHELL-FIRE--ON PATROL IN "NO MAN'S

LAND"-HUMAN TARGETS  TRENCH FEVER

-A MASSACRE-EXAMINATIONS AND COMMISSION.

Upon arrival in France we were very disappointed to discover that the war had settled down to a serious checkmate business, known as trench warfare. There was no use for cavalry so we were transferred to infantry regiments. About forty of us were posted to the 7th Service Battalion of the Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment, a unit of the 55th Brigade of the 18th Division, one of the most famous battalions of the best fighting division which passed through the Great War.

It is impossible to describe my feelings when we first came under shell-fire.

IN THE ROYAL FLYING CORPS-MY FIRST AEROPLANE RIDE-ALONE IN THE SKY-A CRASH -LOOPS AND SPINS-DISAPPOINTMENT-A WAR ROMANCE-DEMOBILIZATION.

About this time the war in the air on the Western Front was becoming a very serious matter, terrific casualties were being sustained on all sides and appeals were made by the War Office for young subalterns to come forward for training in flying, and service with the Royal Flying Corps. Before this date I had made several endeavors without result to get into the Flying Corps. I was therefore very pleased to avail myself of the opportunity offered and was one of the first to volunteer for service with the Royal Flying Corps. I passed my medical examination, satisfied the Selection Committee that I was a suitable type for flying duty, and was eventually posted to the School of Military Aeronautics at Reading. After two months of intensive study of the theoretical technical subjects in connection with flying I sat for and passed the examinations in ground subjects and was posted to a course in practical flying training at Eastbourne Aerodrome, then the 206th Training Depot Station but later renumbered No. 50 Training Depot Station.

CIVIL WAR-FLYING FOR IRELAND-A COUPLE OP NARROW SQUEAKS-LOOSING FOR THRILLS-. MY FIRST TRANSATLANTIC ATTEMPT-THE MEETING WITH KOEHL AND HUENEFELD.

Upon returning to civil life I entered business in London with the North British and Mercantile Insurance Company and after eighteen months of successes and failures I decided in June, 1921, that I would like to return to flying again, and accepted a short service commission in the British Royal Air Force for four years with the colors and four years on the reserve. I was gazetted to No. 25 Single Seater Fighting Squadron, which was stationed at my old Aerodrome at Folkstone and equipped with the single seater Sopwith snipe. In August of the same year I was placed under orders at very short notice for service in India, but unfortunately owing to the situation in Ireland at that time and the fact that our little daughter Pat was scarcely 3 months old, I was reluctantly compelled to resign my commission. I therefore left the Royal Air Force and returned to business once more.

IMMORTALS - THE BREMEN'S PURPOSE - TEST FLIGHTS-THE SHIP TAKES WING-GOODBY IRELAND-A GHASTLY VISION-INTO THE FUTURE.

For four years there has been an increasing fire of ambition burning in my mind to make an East to West transatlantic flight. Disappointment followed disappointment but when over all Ireland the word was flashed that the glorious son of America, Colonel Lindbergh, was soaring across our green hills toward France in the Spirit of St. Louis, the embers of those smouldering hopes burst forth into renewed flame. With the crossing of Chamberlin and Levine in the Wright-engined Bellanca monoplane, followed by Commander Byrd and his valiant crew, Acosta, Balchen, Noville, as well as by Brock and Schlee, intrepid round-the-world fliers who crossed from Newfoundland to London, I determined to do everything within my power to bring the honor of an East to West flight to Ireland. Four times in as many months American pilots had dared to face the raging tempests of the North Atlantic and had reached the shores of the Old World. Pioneers they were from the Western Hemisphere—aerial pioneers of the Twentieth Century. Four times they have brought the challenge to the airmen of Europe.

ABOVE THE STARS-IN THE TEETH OF THE GALE---. AN OIL LEAK IN THE NIGHT-AGONIZING MOMENTS-LIFELESS LAND-FIGURES IN THE SNOW-SANCTUARY.

Switching back from thoughts of transatlantic flying I recall that we were carrying about a dozen beef sandwiches, some peeled oranges and bananas, hard-boiled eggs and vacuum flasks of coffee, tea, and beef tea. Our first meal consisted of one sandwich each, a hard-boiled egg and some tea. This we partook of about 11:00 o'clock on Thursday morning, April 12th. Baron Von Huenefeld prepared the victuals and passed them to us through the opening in the cockpit.

It is hard to break old habits even if one happens to be hopping across the Atlantic by airplane. At 5:00 o'clock the Baron served tea but within an hour after we realized that the weather was beginning to break rather badly and decided to eat a substantial meal before we entered into the serious business of night flying. We had sandwiches, bananas, and drank beef tea and coffee.

THE WRECK OF THE BREMEN-IN TOUCH WITI THE WORLD-HOSPITALITY-MURRAY BAY AND RETURN-A WORD ABOUT FLOYD BENNETT-LOOKING FORWARD.

Upon getting out of the machine, our first concern was to ascertain as nearly as possible the full extent of the damage. We surveyed the machine thoroughly and found that the propeller tips were bent and that the undercarriage had been strained. But this was all.

Our first job was to lower the tail of the machine to the ground. This proved extremely difficult, for even with the aid of three of the natives of the island who came to our assistance, our numbers were far too small to be really effective. In addition, we did not have available the necessary tackle or equipment for work of this nature.

Fortunately for us, a gale was blowing which tended to force the tail of the machine down to the ground. The pressure of the gale on the tail of the machine was gradually forcing the nose of the machine out of the ice, and we were afraid that the tail might suddenly drop to the ground and result in irreparable damage to our trusty craft.