Canadian Forrslri/ Journal, Februaiii, 1U17 



953 



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A GRAPHIC DELINEATION OF THE DAMAGE CAUSED BY A NEGLECTED CAMP FIRE ON AN 



ALBERTA SLOPE. 

 The Changing Wind Currents Caused the Curious Indentations of the Burned Grey Patches Against 



the Green. 



to see them suddenly come at me. 

 I hardly realized what was wrong at 

 first as I still believed my escort 

 was with me. Being alone and al- 

 most already surrounded there was 

 nothing for it but to go homewards 

 so I shoved the nose of the machine 

 down till it was going over 100 miles 

 per hour and endeavoured to dis- 

 pense with the company of the Huns. 

 Three of them succeeded in opening 

 fire at short range however and made 

 a sad mess of my new machine. At 

 the end of half a minute there was 

 patrol splashing everywhere from a 

 punctured tank and several wires 

 were streaming in the wind. When 

 we got home and examined the ma- 

 chine we learned that it had to be 

 almost entirely rebuilt so great was 

 the damage they had inflicted. The 

 only consolation was that we had 

 succeeded in getting most of the 

 photographs. 



Photography is now one of the most 

 important branches of the R.F.C. 

 work and its usefulness is amazing. 

 If the Hun is extending his trenches 

 or building new gun emplacements 

 we can keep accurate tab on his pro- 

 gress by means of photos and experts 

 in interpreting the prints can collect 



most amazing intelligence about the 

 existence of barbed wire, telephone 

 lines, light railways, dugouts, etc. 

 that the layman would miss entirely. 

 Open attacks have been delayed for 

 days at a stretch until photos of 

 certain areas were obtained. 



Photos On The Wing. 



The most useful pictures are taken 

 from above and each plate covers a 

 large area. The Hun on the ground 

 can easily tell when you are taking 

 pictures and favors you with the 

 most persistent attention from his 

 "archie" guns. This is annoying and 

 has been known to be dangerous as 

 you soon find yourself sailing through 

 clouds of black shrapnel smoke and 

 high explosive. "Archie" is what 

 shakes the nerves of the airmen so 

 badly. 



Since coming out here in July I 

 find I have slowly worked up the 

 list in seniority, till there are now 

 very few senior to me in the squadron. 

 For some little time lately I have 

 been carrying out the duties of a 

 flight commander which is a captains' 

 job and am now hoping sometime to 

 get the job permanently, preferably 

 in England. 



