WAR

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CO. condemning the ship the men were expected to fly. Navarre innocently said
that the parasol was a good aeroplane but that one had to know how to handle
it, and he offered to put on a little demonstration to show how good it was.
He was expressly forbidden to do any stunting in the parasol.
"They'll be telling me how to eat, pretty soon," grumbled Navarre.
In defiance of the no-stunting injunction, he took off and staged an exhibition
right over the field, ending up with two meticulously controlled tailspins, one
to the right and one to the left. He landed and was placed under arrest. He
protested that he was only trying to give a boost to morale by showing what
could be done with a Morane. He was sentenced to 15 days confinement to
quarters and forbidden to fly.
During the 15 days arrest, his brother Pierre cycled into camp. Pierre was
in the trenches near Arras and had obtained permission to visit Jean at Brias.
When the time came for Pierre to return to his outfit, Jean asked for permission
to accompany him, but was refused. He went anyway. Not only went, he flew
him back. When he returned he was given 15 days for disobeying confining
orders and 15 days after that for flying while grounded. At this rate the war
would be over before he could exhaust the spite of his CO.
His luck turned when fortune intervened in the person of Colonel Bares,
director of aviation at GQG, who showed up one morning at Brias with an old
Gras musket and incendiary ammunition for it. He wanted someone to have a
crack at the
German observation balloons
Drachen—against which no one had
as yet enjoyed any particular success. As soon as Navarre got wind of it, he
presented himself before Colonel Bares and requested permission to try the
experiment. This, of course, hard on the heels of the rest of the squadron having
declined the honor.
The commanding officer turned red and his eyes bulged but he didn't say
anything because Bares promptly evinced an interest in Navarre and started a
conversation with him, the upshot of which was that Navarre's remaining punishment
days should be rescinded and he should try the experiment.
The next morning Navarre and Lieutenant Jean Moinier took off in the
parasol, armed with the Gras musket and six rounds of the special ammunition.
In those days the Drachen all operated at a standard height of 900 metres, or
3000 feet, so Navarre climbed to a comfortable height above that, crossed the
lines, and spiraled down over the first balloon. Lieutenant Moinier blazed away
with all six balls but the old musket was not made for accurate shooting and its
unrifled bore spewed the slugs out every which way. Navarre held the spiral down
pas{ the balloon to give the Lieutenant as steady a platform as possible and when
the ammunition was gone and he leveled out the aeroplane was only three hundred
feet off the ground and the Germans were throwing up a curtain of lead. The
Morane plowed through cannon, machine gun, rifle and pistol fire while Navarre
and Moinier sat sweating, eyes closed, teeth clenched. The noise was terrific;
when it stopped, they opened their eyes and saw that they were back over the
French trenches—in an aeroplane that was shot full of holes.
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Colonel Bares had a citation published for both of them.