WAR

Paris. They would be anxious to see him, perhaps they would have important
new plans for les Cigognes. And that evening, without fail, he could go to the
factory at Buc to see about his special Spad. He couldn't wait. He paced
nervously back and forth from the
barracks to the hangars.
Finally, he could stand it no longer. There were holes in the overcast, the
sky would clear, sous-Lieutenant Bozon-Verduraz would accompany him on a
patrol over towards Poelcapelle. The machines were rolled
out and checked over.
Everybody tried to think of a way to hold him. "Commandants du Peuty and
Brocard will be here any minute. They'll want to see you."
clear
Guynemer pointed at the sky—a patch of blue showed, giving promise of a
day.
Commandants du Peuty and Brocard arrived at 9:00 and promptly asked
for him. The two Spads had taken off at 8:30.
Climbing towards the southeast, the two sturdy, box-like Spads piloted by
Guynemer and Bozon-Verduraz approached the lines near Bixschoote. They
passed along the Front towards Langemarck, taken by the British on August 16.
No Boches. They crossed the enemy lines at Poelcapelle and Guynemer spotted
a target, one aeroplane, low down. He waved a conventional signal to Bozon-
Verduraz and turned to climb towards the sun. The weather, which had been
such a source of torment lately, frustrated his plan, for the sun at that moment
was obscured by clouds and there would be no blinding glare out of which to
attack. Guynemer then altered his tactics: he signaled to Bozon-Verduraz, who
had been glued to his tail, to attack from below, to come up underneath the
enemy two-seater in the gunner's blind spot, while he, Guynemer, would bore
straight in from the side. It was a standard two-man attack, but the pilot of the
German machine must have been an old campaigner, for he threw Guynemer off
Verduraz on the way down. As Guynemer dived after the two-seater,
by a neat stunt: a flat, abrupt spin, and the observer got in a shot at Bozon-
Bozon-Verduraz
spotted a flight of Albatros D Ill's approaching. He turned toward them
himself to lure them away from Guynemer who, he feared, might be so intent
on the chase of the two-seater that he would not see
them come up behind him.
Bozon-Verduraz headed his Spad directly into the formation of Albatros, and
opening his throttle, closed with them at a startling speed. He went through the
enemy formation and scattered it, then dived hard to get away. He came back
up over the spot where he and Guynemer had begun the attack on the two-seater
and circled around patiently, waiting for Guynemer to rejoin him, but the sky was
empty.
Low on fuel, Bozon-Verduraz finally headed home. He had waited for an
hour and his neck muscles were cramped from continuous swiveling. For the last
ten minutes he had been telling himself that each circuit would be the last, that
he had to return. He landed at St-Pol-sur-Mer with his tanks dry.
"Is Guynemer here" were his first
"No, not yet," was the answer.
words.
They all knew then, regardless of what they said, that it was the end.
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