Lieutenant de Beauchamp--the future
Captain de Beauchamp, who was to die so soon after his audacious raids
on Essen and Munich--divined what was hidden in this thin boy who was in
such breathless haste to get on. He would not allow Corporal Guynemer to
address him as lieutenant, feeling so surely his equality, and to-morrow
perhaps his mastery. On July 6, 1915, he sent him a little guide for
aviators in a few lines: "Be cautious. Look well at what is happening
around you before acting. Invoke Saint Benoit every morning. But above
all, write in letters of fire in your memory: _In aviation, everything
not useful should be avoided._" Oh, of course! The "little girl" laughed
at the advice as he laughed at the tempest. He had an admiration for
Beauchamp, but when did a Roland ever listen to an Oliver? One day he
went up in a wind of over 25 meters, and even by nosing-up a bit he
could hardly make any progress. With the wind behind him he made over
200 kilometers. Then he landed. Vedrines addressed a few warning remarks
to him, and he was thought to be calmed. But off he went again before
the frightened spectators.
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