Guerder was taken first into the
commanding officer's post, and on being questioned about the maneuver
that won the victory excused himself with modesty:
"That was the pilot's affair."
Guynemer, who had stolen in, was willing to talk.
"Who is this?" asked the colonel.
"That's the pilot."
"You? How old are you?"
"Twenty."
"And the gunner?"
"Twenty-two."
"The deuce! There are nothing but children left to do the fighting."
So, passed along in this manner from staff to staff, they finally landed
at Compiegne, conducted by Captain Simeon. No happiness was complete for
Guynemer if his home was not associated with it.
"He will get the Military Medal," declared Captain Simeon, "because he
wanted his Boche and went after him."
Words of a true chief who knew his men. Always to go after what he
wanted was the basic characteristic of Guynemer. And now various details
concerning the combat came one by one to light. Guerder had been half
out of the machine to have the machine-gun ready to hand. When the gun
jammed, Georges yelled to his comrade how to release it.
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