While researching this one, came across it's
extraordinary story.....
Excerpt from: 'History of 3 Sqdn AFC RAAF'
An extraordinary incident happened on the 17th December 1917
when an RE8 piloted by Lieutenant James Sandy with his observer,
Sergeant Henry Hughes, was ranging artillery fire for the 8 inch
Howitzers of the 151st Siege Battery.
35 minutes after they'd started, they were attacked by 6 Albatros
D.5a Scouts. Lieutenant Sandy fought them off and, before long,
he'd brought one down close to Armentieres. About then, two other
3 Squadron RE8s who happened to be nearby, came to Sandy's
assistance.
Within a few minutes, the remaining enemy aircraft broke off the fight
and headed for their own lines. In itself, this wasn't unusual because
German pilots generally held great respect for the RE8 with the pilot's
propeller-synchronised Vickers machine gun and the observer's Lewis
gun to defend the rear.
After the enemy aircraft had left, both of the other RE8s clearly saw
that Sandy's RE8 ... number A 3816, with the unmistakable letter "B"
on the fuselage ... was flying straight and steady as they waved a
farewell and flew off to resume their own assignments.
However, Sandy's wireless messages directing the Artillery Battery
had ceased transmission. By nightfall, A 3816 had not returned to
the aerodrome.
On the following night, a telegram from Number 12 Stationery Hospital
at St. Pol told of finding the bodies of the two airmen in their grounded
RE8 in a neighbouring field. A postmortem of the bodies and an
examination of the RE8 showed that both pilot and observer had been
killed in aerial combat and that the RE8 had flown itself around in wide
left-hand circles until its petrol ran out.
What had happened was that a single enemy armour-piercing bullet had
passed through the observer's left lung and thence into the base of the
pilot's skull. The RE8 came down 50 miles south west of the battle scene
out of skies that hadn't seen any other aerial combat that day. It had
crash-landed without further injuring the bodies of the airmen and with
the throttle still wide open. The aircraft itself was not badly damaged in
spite of its uncontrolled 50 mile flight and this, in itself, was a classic
example of the stability and flying qualities of the RE8.
ade
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