WAR

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Late one day in September, Leutnant Hermann Becker was leading his men
home to the field at Giraumont (near Confians-en-Jarnisy, 25 miles east of Verdun)
—seven Fokker D VII's in V-formation, the flanking machines ranged in echelon
upward from the leader. They were returning from a hunt over Verdun and
were heading east. Ahead of them Becker spotted another flight of seven machines
at about the same height traveling in roughly the same direction. Keeping an
eye on them, Becker held to his course and slowly overtook the other machines.
They were two-wingers, big ones. Two-seaters. As the Fokkers closed the distance
between them, the other machines suddenly turned north. Americans! D.H.4's.
Becker fired a red flare and opened his throttle. He brought his nose up a trifle
and turned north on an interception course. Following his signals the men to
right and left spread out into a line abreast and began to close with the DeHavilland
machines whose rear gunners swung their Lewis guns around and opened
fire as the Fokkers bore in. At point blank range the Germans started shooting.
The D.H.'s dropped or dived one by one and disappeared in the clouds below.
Becker waved his formation back into a V and led them down through the clouds.
Penetrating the wall of cloud they became aware how dark it had grown— -it was
virtually night on the ground. A familiar pattern of railroad tracks gave assurance
that they were over Conflans. Looking about, Becker was amazed to see
all seven D.H.'s wrecked on the ground as if they had gone down in formation.
Back at the aerodrome the flight was received with great excitement. The
ground crews had heard the aeroplanes but had not been able to see them. They
had heard the noise of the machine guns and had seen a few torches falling
without being able to make out what they were. They had been wildly jubilant
when, a moment later, all seven Fokkers of the flight had buzzed the field.
Hardly a week later they intercepted a flight of eight DeHavillands just
south of Briey, shot down five of them and "captured" one, forcing the machine
down on their own field at Giraumont. Pilot and observer were guests in the
squadron Kasino before being led away as prisoners.
Only the Americans could have absorbed, or would have sustained, losses
like that. All the D.H.'s were from the same squadron. The loss of 13 machines
and 26 men would have obliterated two Fliegerabteilungen.
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