...
Three lines to describe a victory, the sixteenth. And what boarding of
the adversary, from above and from below! He springs upon the enemy, but
fails to go through him. Both speeds combined, he does not make much
less than 400 kilometers an hour when he dives on him. The meeting and
shooting hardly last one second, after which the combat continues, with
other maneuvers. Some savant should calculate the time allowed for sight
and thought in fighting such duels!
This was the period of the great series of combats on the Somme. The
Storks Escadrille, which was the first to arrive, waged battle
uninterruptedly for eight months. Other escadrilles came to the rescue.
Altogether they were divided into two groups, one under the command of
Major Fequant, the other under that of Captain Brocard, appointed chief
of battalion. It becomes impossible to enumerate all Guynemer's
victories, and we can merely emphasize the days on which he surpassed
himself. September 28 was a remarkable day, on which he brought down two
enemies and had a fall from a height of 3000 meters. Little Paul Bailly
would hardly have believed that; he would have said it was surely a
legend, the golden legend of aviation.
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