No Parachute: A Fighter Pilot in World War I (Wings of war)

[Don]

No Parachute: A Fighter Pilot in World War I (Wings of war)

by Arthur Stanley Gould Lee, Arthur Gould Lee

Hello

Has anybody got a copy of this book.Its out of print.

Their is a reference to a Lieutenant Mills " Q" anti aircraft battery in the book, which I have a big interest in

Regards to all

Gerry

[Tartan_Terrier]

Yes, what do you want to know?

[Don]

Hi Tartan Terrier,

Is there a reference to a, Lt Mills from "Q" anti aircraft battery somewhere in the book ??

Gerry

[Tartan_Terrier]

Here is the whole section where he is mentioned. Hope this helps.

I got down to the ground, and was quickly surrounded by troops, from whom I learned that I'd come down south of the Bapaume-Cambrai road, west of Graincourt, well under a mile this side of the fighting. The Hun had gained ground here, after fierce fighting, but there'd been no breakthrough. At length one of the numerous officers around, a gunner, introduced himself as Lieutenant Mills, of 'Q' Anti-aircraft Battery, situated half a mile or so distant, and did I need any help?

We found that the cause of my descent was a chunk of archie, which had gone through the cowling immediately behind the engine, and sliced off the H.T. leads, which were wound tightly round the shaft. There was nothing to be done, the machine would have to be salvaged. I asked Mills to send a signal to the squadron while I decided what to do.

The air was crowded with planes, and for some time I stood and watched them fighting each other. During half an hour I saw three come down, one a flamer, but none near me. Both British and Boche archie were busy, sometimes overlapping, black and white puffs. I saw something I'd never seen before. A machine was hit by a shell and blown to fragments. Bits of it fell quickly such as the engine and the pilot's body, but most of the rest seemed to float lazily down like leaves from a tree in autumn.

As darkness drew on, the machines gradually thinned out until only odd ones were left. Then a about twenty Tripes and V-strutters appeared, in a final sweep of the salient at 3,000. Lieutenant Mills, who had come back again, said they were the Circus. Two of them dropped down, and one dived after a solitary D.H.5 that came from the Cambrai direction, and fired succesive bursts at him as they flashed across our front twenty feet up, the D.H. zigzagging along the front to Bapaume, and duly keeping to the right, I hope.

The second Hun came down at my Camel, and put a long burst into it. Mills and I dived into the trench at the first bullet, though he did no damage that I could see. But this little episode persuaded me that I'd had enough for one day. I wanted no more nights in smelly dugouts nor cadging other people's rations. More important, the Hun might yet launch his breakthrough at dawn, and where would I be then? An additional reason was the shelling that now began.

Mills promised to put a 'Q' Battery guard on the machine, and after abstracting the watch from it's case, and a map and my automatic, I set off for Havringcourt in an ambulance belonging to the 4th London Territorials, 47th Division, who were in the thick of the local fighting. Once there, it dark, and I was soon groping around trying to find the road out of the salient across the nearby Canal du Nord. Nobody I spoke to had any idea.

[Don]

Thank you so much, this is very helpful it gives a location where my Grandfather was serving

Best regards

Gerry

[Tartan_Terrier]

You're welcome. Glad to have been of assistance.

Regards

T_T