WAR

in February of 1915 Roland Garros reported back to M-S 23 from Villacoublay
with his armed single-seater. For several weeks he flew on the variety of missions
that was usual before the days of specialization, but he never got a crack at a
Boche. The air is a big place and it would be a mistake to suppose that aviators
encountered enemy machines every time they went up.
On the first day of April Garros took off alone with 200 pounds of bombs
to drop on the railroad station at Ostend. At a point several miles on the other
side of the lines he caught sight of a German two-seater that was flying more
or less directly over the French lines and drawing the fire of the French antiaircraft
batteries. The enemy machine, an Aviatik, was some 1500 feet above
him so Garros immediately began to climb to put himself on the same level.
Since he was in a position to cut off the retreat of the Aviatik, Garros allowed
himself a considerable length of time—six or eight minutes—to manoeuvre into
position. Judging himself to be well placed he rushed straight in. At a range
of about one hundred feet he fired. The observer in the two-seater answered
with a rifle. Garros fired off the 25-round Hotchkiss clip and quickly reloaded,
firing off another clip. The Aviatik dived away, but Garros clung to its tail.
As the two machines descended to perhaps 3000 feet Garros closed up and
triggered a very short burst from his third clip. The Aviatik suddenly caught fire.
An immense flame enveloped it and it fell spinning toward the earth.
"It was tragic, frightful," wrote Garros. "At the end of perhaps 25 seconds
(which seemed long) of falling, the machine dashed into the ground in a great
cloud of smoke."
In his own words the episode ends on a note of shocked horror: "I went by
car to see the wreck; those first on the scene had pilfered souvenirs—side arms,
insignia, and the like. I took energetic steps to retrieve them. The two corpses
were in
a horrible state—naked and bloody! The observer had been shot through
the head. The pilot was too horribly mutilated to be examined. The remains of
the aeroplane were pierced everywhere with bullet holes . .
."
Imperial War Museum I London