Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 304, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 December 1919 — ENSIGN TELLS OF SEAPLANE FIGHT [ARTICLE]

ENSIGN TELLS OF SEAPLANE FIGHT

Officer Describes How American and British Aviators Held Off Superior Forces. FOUR MACHINES ATTACK 20 Interesting Account of an Exciting .Aerial Oombat During the Late War—Battle Enemy for Several Hours. Washington.—One of the most interesting accounts .of an aerial combat In the late war was made public recently by the navy news bureau, which has headquarters In the navy department In Washington. The story Is told In the report of Ensign R. B. Keyes of the United States Naval Flying corps to Admiral Sims, and relates how four British seaplanes operated by American and British aviators fought 20 German machines several hours In defense of a British plan'e that had been forced to descend $0 the water for repairs. Ensign Keyes was the front gun layer'of one ,ot the machines, in which Lteutenant Galvayne of the British ■Royal Air force was second pilot. In his report the aviator says: “Our three machines from Felixstowe rose from the water at noon, circled Into patrol formation, and proceeded along the coast so Yarmouth. Here we were joined by two more planes. At one o’clock the squadron turned east. Soon we perceived the Dutch coast and followed the sandy beaches of Texolt and Vlleland islands until we came to Terschelling. Sighted German Planes.

/ “At Terschelllng we veered west, but we soon had to turn back because one machine (Eaton’s) had come to the water with a broken petrpl pipe. We circled it, and 15 minutes later righted five German planes steering west, which would soon bring them upon us. - “Lieutenant Galvayne was seated near the wheel. His duty was to kneel with eyes above the cowl and direct the pilot. I was in the front cockpit, with one gun and 400 rounds of ammunition. In the stern cockpit the engineer and wireless, ratings were to handle three guns. “We took battle formation and went forward to meet the enemy machines, but when almost within range they turned and ran away from us. At once we gave chase, but soon found that they were too fast. “We had chased these planes to keep them away from the machine on the water, which otherwise would have been shot to pieces. Finding now that they could keep out of our range, we »»« ck and a « ain c ‘ rcled abled plane. • a “Soon the enemy once more came close, and we gave chase a second time. But instead of five machines, as before, there were only four. "Suddenly we discovered that a large number of hostile planes were steering

toward us, not in the air with the four planes, but very close to the water. Ten machines were In this group, but they were joined In a few minutes by five more. “We swung Into battle formation and aimed for the middle of the fleet. When we were nearly within range four planes on the port side and five on the starboard side rose to our level of 1,500 feet. Two planes passed directly beneath us, shooting. upward. Firing was incessant from the beginning, and the air seemed blue with tracer smoke. The Germans used explosive bullets. I gave most of my time to the four planes on our port side, because they were exactly at our level and within good range, about 200 yards. ' ' “Once I looked round and noticed that Lieutenant Galvayne was In a stooping position. By bending lower I discovered that his head w r as lying in a pool of blood. “From this time on I have no clear Idea of just what our maneuvering was. Evidently we put up a running fight, steering east, then circling. Sud-

denly I found that our machine had been cut off from the formation and we were surrounded by seven enemy seaplanes. We were steering almost southwest. We fought for ten miles or so, until we drove the seven Germans off. One of them was driven down out of control and made a very poor landing. Another was badly hit, side-slipped, and crashed in flames from a height of 2,000 feet. All were severely punished. Lieutenant Galvayne Killed. “The engagement had lasted about half an hour. We descended to the water at 4:45 p. m. ten miles northwest of Vlleland. There I loosened Lieutenant Galvayne’s clothing, made his position easier, and felt for his heart, which I was sure was beating feebly. Then we rose 1,500 feet and sighted two Yarmouth planes. We picked them up, swung into formation and laid our course for Yarmouth. At 7:10 we sighted land, and 20 minutes after were resting in front of the Yarmouth slipway. We at once summoned medical aid, but found that nothing could be done for Lieutenant Galvayne. A shot had gone through his head, “Our boat was riddled. A number of shots had also torn the top between the front cockpit and the beginning of the cowl. The duration of the flight was seven hours and ten minutes.”