Journal Entry: December 3, 1915
Bertincourt

The men have been having an ongoing discussion concerning which is better, to shoot down the enemy’s observation craft or their scouts. There are two definite camps in this discussion and both groups make very persuasive arguments for their position. One group argues that without the observation craft the enemy’s army is blinded and therefore that would give our army a noticeable advantage and might even be the deciding factor that would lead us to victory. The other argues that by first eliminating the scouts then you can eliminate the observation machines at your leisure and thereby achieving the same goals. Needless to say, our dinners have been very lively and entertaining. Ultimately, their debate is moot because all we have seen are blasted Nieuports. I had hoped that when we received the new Fokkers we could wreak some havoc on the enemy’s two seater machines, but that has not happened. Usually, when we do encounter an observation craft it turns and flees before we can even engage and so we are left with dueling with Nieuports. It is only fitting then that yesterday I scored my eighth victory against a Nieuport and today we fought an inconclusive engagement against a pair of Nieuports. We will continue to perform our duties but I sure would enjoy meeting some fat juicy BE.2cs at some point.



Member and provider of banjo music for the Illustrious BOC