..
His feats exceeded all hopes, and his appearance in the sky fairly
frightened the enemy. On June 5, after bringing down an Albatros east of
Berry-au-Bac, he chased to the east of Rheims a D.F.W., which had
previously been attacked by other Spads. "My nose was right on him,"
says Guynemer's notebook, "when my machine-gun jammed. But just then the
observer raised his hands. I beckoned to him several times to veer
towards our lines, but noticing that he was making straight for his own,
I went back to my gun, which now worked, and fired a volley of fifteen
(at 2200 altitude). Immediately the machine upset, throwing the observer
overboard, and sank on Berru forest." However, Guynemer's day's work was
not done to his satisfaction after these two victories (his forty-fourth
and forty-fifth): he attacked a group of three, and later on a group of
four, and came back with bullets in his machine.
Meanwhile he had been made, on June 11, 1917, an Officer of the Legion
of Honor with the following citation:
A remarkable officer, a daring and dexterous chaser. Has been of
exceptional service to the country both by the number of his
victories and by the daily example of his never-flagging courage
and constantly increasing mastery.
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