Plutarch spoke of the terrible expression of
Alexander when he went to battle. Guynemer's face, when he rose for a
flight, was appalling.
What did he do in the air? His flight journals and statements tell the
story. On each page, a hundred times in succession, and several times on
a page, his flight notebooks contain the short sentences which seem to
bound from the paper, like a dog showing its teeth: "I attack ... I
attack ... I attack...." At long intervals, as if ashamed, appears the
phrase: "I am attacked." On the Somme more than twenty victories were
credited to him, and to these should be added, as in the case of Dorme,
others taking place at too great distances to receive confirmation. In
the first month of the Somme battle, on September 13, 1916, the Storks
Escadrille, Captain Brocard, was mentioned before the army: "Has shown
unequaled energy and devotion to duty in the operations of Verdun and
the Somme, waging, from March 19 to August 19, 1916, 338 combats,
bringing down 36 airplanes, 3 drachen, and compelling 36 other badly
damaged airplanes to land." Captain Brocard dedicated this mention to
Lieutenant Guynemer, writing under it: "To Lieutenant Guynemer, my
oldest pilot, and most brilliant Stork.
Pages:
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157