By George, I think my mates are finally getting the hang of aerial fighting. This afternoon's sortie was a wonderful example of what can be accomplished through teamwork. Lt. Sheeley and myself had been ordered to fly a line patrol sortie in the Loos area and before we left I huddled with Barry and his observer to discuss what each of us would do in any particular situation. We took off and in no time we were orbiting over Loos. In just a few minutes time I spotted a Hun machine that was blatantly flying over our side of the lines and signaled Barry, and turned to engage. It wasn't long before I was in position and Tom started banging away with his Lewis. I knew that Tom had hit him hard in the engine and I began to pull away to begin another firing run. Before I could even manage to do that, Tom was tapping my shoulder and pointing downward. I looked in the direction he was pointing and here came Barry charging in to administer the coup de grace. Tom quickly took a photograph of the Hun right as Barry was finishing him off.
It looks like maybe my mates are finally starting to understand what I've been telling them all along about aerial fighting. When we landed I told Barry that the drinks are on me. It won't be long until everybody has joined in and maybe then we can really start to do some damage to the Hun.
As a side note, I did manage to score my 20th victory in the morning sortie, but in light of the afternoon's happenings I think it's not nearly as important.
Member and provider of banjo music for the Illustrious BOC
