Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 64, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 March 1915 — WOMAN SAVES . GERMAN AIRMAN [ARTICLE]

WOMAN SAVES . GERMAN AIRMAN

Cry of “Don’t Kill Him; He Is a Brave Mani” Stays Bayonet Against Cheat. c AVIATOR HAD SHOT THREE MEN Companion With Whom He Was Rid- - Ina Killed by Bullets from Division. J —— Rotterdam—A German aviator, who owes his life to a French officer’s chivalrous cry, writes to his father; •‘lt is a miracle that I am still alive after my experiences of the last few days. 1 left one morning in my aeroplane with Lieut. J. , an aviator of firqt rank, to reconnoiter the movements of the enemy’s troops around Sedan. Near Betrix we were caught in r.ain clouds, and had to descend to 1,000 yards. Immediately we heard the sound of shots. A whole division of the enemy was firing at us. “j , who was piloting, was struck In the stomach. The motoi stopped working, and the aeroplane descended gradually in a volplane toward the enemy’s lines. When we were about 800 yards above them the machine dipped suddenly. 1 turned around and saw that J had fallen back in his seat, dead. A second bullet had struck him in the forehead. 1 seized the controls, and mataged to restore the equilibrium of the machine. 1 was aiming at the forest beyond the French lines. “The minutes during which I planed at a height of 200 yards above the enemy seemed an eternity. Rifle bullets whistled around my head, and suddenly I felt a violent shock in the temple. Blood poured down and nearly blinded me, but I still held my hand on the controls. “But the machine struck an airpocket and almost capsized. As the dead body of my comrade interfered with my steering, I had to land among the enemy. “When the biplane struck the ground it turned right over and flung me to a considerable distance. French soldiers ran at me from every side. “I took out my revolver and shot down three. A moment later I felt a bayonet point against my breast. Then an officer ran up shouting: “ ‘Don’t kill him; he is a brave man! ’ “The cry saved my life. 1 was taken to a General, who asked me for certain information, which I refused to give. Then, from loss of blood, I fainted, and was carried back to- the where the bullet that had struck me in the forehead was extracted. It had not smashed the bone, for its force had been broken by my aviator's helmet. “They dressed my wound, and gave me red wine to drink. 1 must say the officers behaved toward me with greatest correctness and perfect politeness.” The aviator then recounts how, during the confusion caused by a German attack, he succeeded in escaping and returning to his own lines.