WAR

air, open-cockpit biplanes like the Spad, the S.E.5, and the Fokker D VII gave
a man everything he needed to span distance, challenge height, and laugh at the
cloud-dappled face of the land. The pilot listened to the sound of the wind in the
wires and knew his speed without guessing; he felt the sun and the wind on his
cheek and from that knew his bearing and whether or not he was flying cleanly,
without skidding or slipping. He felt a sense of oneness with the machine that
was an extension of his brain and hands and feet. His limitations were the
machine's limitations. It would take him as high as there was oxygen to breathe,
and it would dance there, over all but the highest clouds. He could dive and
zoom, loop and spin, and feel a harmony with the wind, and a closeness to the
elements over which he triumphed. The realization of his oldest dream came and
went in a day, and we shall never have such wings again.
The following footnote is from Robert Waddington: "One of the best tactics
of defense in the case of a combat against a number of enemy machines was the
spiral climb. With a 220-horsepower Spad, whose climb was superior to that of
the Fokkers, an experienced fighter pilot could attack alone a large enemy squadron—I
have often done it. Picking a target, the chasseur dived on him from
above, fired one or two bursts in the descent and zoomed with acquired speed
into a spiral climb, quickly putting himself out of range of the enemies' guns.
several occasions, after attacks of this kind, 1 have escaped from large squadrons,
even though my attack brought me close enough to see the faces of my adversaries
under their helmets and goggles."
On
after three years of captivity Roland Garros escaped from the citadel of Magdeburg
and succeeded in returning to France by way of Holland in February 1918.
"I am a novice now!" he said in a newspaper interview. "What am I beside
those who had not even flown before my capture I used to say that the progress
which would be achieved in three years would surpass imagination, but I never
thought I would be the first victim of that progress ."
. .
On his return to active duty, Garros had literally to start over again, and he
was sent to the aerobatic school at Pau. He returned to the Front in Spa 26, commanded
by Capitaine de Sevin, where he threw himself into his flying. He would
break away from his squadron mates while on patrol,
heading straight toward any
machine he saw, and on several occasions he had to be rescued.
On October 5, 1918, the fourth anniversary of the first aerial victory, that
of Frantz and Quenault, Garros departed on a patrol with Capitaine de Sevin
never to return. The Capitaine could not give a precise account of what had happened,
only that Garros had abruptly gone hareing off at a moment when de
Sevin was not able to follow him. In the far distance an aeroplane was seen to
fall in flames then break up in the air.
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