WAR

It would appear that the raid was an unmitigated failure. Capitaine Happe
was relieved of his command, humiliated, and sent into the trenches, his ideas on
strategic bombing dismissed as "visionary." Capitaine Happe was a very unlucky
man, but he was also right, and nothing will change that. His doctrines were
finally accepted after bitter experience proved their validity.
On March 5, 1917, Raymond Collishaw was cited by Commandant du Peuty
of the French Air Staff and awarded the Croix de Guerre with Palm for his
work
as escort pilot on this and other Allied raids.
When he took over command of "B" Flight of Naval Ten, Collishaw had
scored several confirmed victories and was an experienced, capable leader. Like
Collishaw himself, the personnel of "B" Flight were Canadians. The original members
were Flight Sub-Lieutenants W. M. Alexander, E. V. Reid, J. E. Sharman, and
G. E. Nash. The Flight was known as "Black Flight" because the engine cowlings
and wheel covers were painted black to facilitate recognition. Similarly, "A" and
"C" Flights were "Red Flight" and "Blue Flight."
These color markings were largely for the benefit of the ground crews who
were expected to run out to meet the squadron when it returned from patrol and
hold down the wings of the aeroplanes so that the pilots could taxi the machines
in to the hangars. The rotary engines of the First World War period generally
had no throttle and had to be run full on or else switched off. A cut-off button
on the control stick could be used to cut the ignition to certain cylinders, but then
raw gasoline was exhausted and this presented a fire hazard on the ground. It
was much simpler to have a couple of men hanging on the wings to restrain the
aeroplane. To make "Black Flight" more recognizable, the entire
forward section
of sheet-metal panel was eventually doped black. Outside of the black areas,
however,
the aeroplanes were painted a standard dark greenish-khaki.
On June 4, 1917, Naval Ten moved to Droglandt where it flew under the
operational control of No. 1 1 Wing RFC, and during the months of June and
July, Collishaw and his Canadians literally ran wild.
On June 5 he dived on an Albatros two-seater between Wervicq and Poelcappelle.
He fired 50 rounds into the enemy machine and it dropped out of
control, bursting into flames on the way down. Northwest of Poelcappelle he and
Reid both fired on a second machine which fell erratically until lost from view.
On June 6 he led an offensive patrol over Polygon Wood and tangled with
15 Albatros scouts. Collishaw shot down two machines in flames, a third one out
of control. The following day he sent another scout down out of control while
leading a patrol in the neighborhood of Lille. On June 14, while leading a patrol
in the vicinity of Menin, he attacked six Albatros scouts and again drove one of
them down in a spin. On June 15 he led an offensive patrol north of St-Julien
where a flight of five German scouts was encountered. He attacked one of them
from close quarters and it dived straight down, the pilot or motor hit. After
Collishaw shot his man down he saw Reid also shoot down one of the enemy. On
the same day he led another offensive patrol with two more Canadians, Fitzgibbon
and Page (who later commanded "C" Flight), and Nash, Alexander, and
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