Journal Entry: September 2, 1915
St. Pol-sur-Mer

Well, the game has just changed and not for the better I might add. Tom and I were ordered to fly our usual line patrol which consists of flying up to Loos and flying south a few miles and then returning back to St. Pol. This morning was no different than the countless other times we have flown this mission. We had just arrived at our patrol sector when just like clockwork, here comes a Hun Aviatik flying along without a care in the world. I tell you, you can set your watches by the Hun, they are a punctual people. Anyway, I signal Tom and began to dive into my usual attack position. Before I get there, I hear the ack-ack-ack of machinegun fire and almost like magic three holes appear in my right wing. I turn and look at Tom to see if maybe he had shot our plane in his zeal to get at the enemy, but no, he was still just sitting there waiting. Then that ack-ack-ack again and this time I happened to be looking directly at the Aviatik and I'm thunderstruck by what I see. The observer is actually shooting at us. To be honest, I was so shocked that I instinctively put the plane in a steep diving turn and got out of there and flew straight back to St. Pol. Upon arriving, the first thing I did was warn all of the other pilots that it looks like the Huns have finally armed the Aviatik and the easy times are probably over. This changes everything, now every Aviatik we approach we must assume that it is armed. It looks like the Huns have finally grown tired of us continually shooting down their aeroplanes. Life just got a lot harder.


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