Dodging “Jack Death”
A German Aviator’s Perils and Escapes on an Observation Tour
In the early days of the war, the value of the flying machine as a weapon was not by any means appreciated. It was used for observation and bomb-dropping purposes almost exclusively. The Germans were the first to realize its possibilities as a gunning as well as bombing or spying craft. They began carrying rifles and pistols with which to pot enemy aviators, and the chivalry of the air, so excellent a feature of the initial period, disappeared, for, necessarily the Allied aviators were not slow to follow the lead. It was, however, in the early stage, September, 1914, that the duel occurred of which the following is an account. The narrative was written by the German aviator, the chief figure in the adventure.
The story, the truth of which is unquestioned, was published originally in the Berlin Tageblatt from which the New York Evening Post made the translation. It is of special interest as a report of one of the first, if not the first of the armed encounters between belligerent planes.