Jumping Through an Aerial Bonfire 



One of the most sensational 

 episodes of the great war 



By Carl Dienstbacli 



THE great war has 

 led to many radical 

 changes in the me- 

 thods of warfare. Some 

 were discontinued alto- 

 gether, others modified, 

 still others greatly de- 

 veloped. The trench-war- 

 fare, which reached a 

 higher development than 

 ever before, naturally in- 

 fluenced the artillery tac- 

 tics and led to an extensive 

 use of observation bal- 

 loons. These balloons, 

 which were and still are 

 used on all fronts, are 

 essential for directing the 

 fire of the artillery and 

 have amply demonstrated 

 their usefulness. The de- 

 struction of the enemy's 

 balloons is one of the most 

 important tasks devolving 

 upon the aviation branch 

 of every army. It might 

 be said that it is part of 

 their daily routine to seek and, if possible 

 destroy, by gunfire or aerial bombs, the 

 observation balloons which direct or 

 correct the fire of the enemy's artillery. 



It was one of those attempts to destroy 

 an enemy observation balloon on the 

 Italian front which led to one of the most 

 sensational episodes recorded during the 

 great war. One of the allied flyers, having 

 ignited the gas of the hostile balloon, 

 dashed with terrific force through the 

 fiercely blazing bag and, although dis- 

 abled by the shock, succeeded in landing 

 safely behind his own lines. 



There is nothing very sensational or 

 romantic in the circling of an airplane 

 around an airdrome, while on the other 

 hand the most daring fiction has never 

 invented and pictured anything half as 

 wonderful and sensational as was that 

 daring dash of that allied airman clean 

 through a burning hostile observation 



Collision was inevitable. 

 The airplane dashed clear 

 through the burning balloon 



balloon, three thousand 

 feet above the ground. It 

 was another incident de- 

 monstrating the dramatic 

 possibilities and the ele- 

 ment of romance in fly- 

 ing. 



Four ally flyers at- 

 tacked the hostile ob- 

 servation balloon, which 

 was guarded by three air- 

 planes. While each of the 

 allied flyers engaged one 

 of the hostile flyers in 

 combat, the fourth flew 

 straight for the balloon, 

 opening fire with incen- 

 diary bullets at short 

 range. So intent was he 

 upon the destruction of 

 the balloon that he mis- 

 calculated the distance. 

 When he found that it was 

 too late to avoid a col- 

 lision with the burning 

 balloon, the daring air- 

 man put on full speed and, 

 withour hesitation, dashed straight 

 through the fiery monster. 



The wings of his airplane were broken 

 by the shock but the stays and braces 

 held them long enough to enable him to 

 glide down to safety behind the lines of 

 the Allies. Tattered pieces of the bag 

 of the balloon were still clinging to the 

 wings of the airplane when it reached the 

 ground, grim evidence of its sensational 

 dive, unparalleled in the history of 

 aviation. 



Had the fabric not yielded, or had not 

 the gas been ignited before the collision, 

 this airplane would undoubtedly have 

 shared the fate of the Austrian airplane 

 which, a short time before the beginning 

 of the war, accidentally rammed an 

 Austrian dirigible, was upset and crashed 

 down in flames, entangled in the folds of 

 the burning balloon. The result was 

 complete disaster. 



690 



