106 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



stronger the machine is than is necessary 

 for plain flying. The Spad is made so 

 that a man can't burst it, no matter what 

 he does in the air — dive as far and as 

 fast as he can and stop as brutally as he 

 can, it stands the racket. Of course, 

 motors do stop, and if it happens over a 

 mountain range — well, that's just hard 

 luck. 



Have had a few patrols since last I 

 wrote ; one at a big height, 4,000 to 4,500 

 meters, considerably above the clouds, 

 which almost shut out the ground below, 

 a wonderfully beautiful sight, but beastly 

 cold, and a couple when the clouds were 

 low and solid. The patrol stays at just 

 the height of the clouds, hiding in them 

 and slipping out again to look around. 



If it stays below, the enemy anti-air- 

 craft guns pepper it, whenever near the 

 lines and at a low altitude, that is rather 

 awkward ; so the patrol shows itself as 

 little as possible. 



It's lots of sport to try to keep with 

 the patrol ; be behind the chief of patrol, 

 see him disappear and then bump into 

 a fog bank, a low-hanging cloud, and not 

 see a darn thing; then dive down out of 

 the cloud, wondering whether the other 

 guy is right underneath or not; shoot 

 out of the cloud and see him, maybe 500 

 yards away, going at right angles ; then 

 bank up and turn around fast and give 

 her the gear full speed to catch up, and so 

 on ; see a Boche regulating artillery fire, 

 start to maneuver into range, and zip ! 

 he's out of sight in the clouds, and the 

 next you see he is beating it far back of 

 his lines. Not very dangerous this 

 weather, but lots of fun. 



Chalons sur Mame, 

 December 8, 1917. 

 Yesterday we were awakened at 6 and 

 told that we were going to move out, bag 

 and baggage, at 2. So, as new barracks 

 were not ready, we came down here last 

 night and have been seeing the sights of 



the town since. It is full of Americans, 

 ambulances, doctors, Y. M. C. A. work- 

 ers, everything but fighting men, which 

 I trust we ! 



see before long. 



THE LAST FLIGHT 



On December 12, while on patrol, B. 

 Stuart Walcott met a German biplane 

 carrying two men. Three cable reports 

 agree that he shot down and destroyed 

 this machine about two and a half miles 

 within the German lines. He then started 

 back for the French lines and was over- 

 taken by three Albatross German planes. 

 He was overcome and his machine went 

 down in a nose dive within the German 

 lines, it being assumed that either he was 

 shot or his machine disabled. 



There was still a hope that he might 

 have escaped death. Inquiries were at 

 once instituted through the American Red 

 Cross and the International Red Cross, 

 with the result that on January 7 a cable 

 came from the International Red Cross 

 stating that it was reported in Germany 

 that S. Walcott was brought down dur- 

 ing the afternoon of December 12 near 

 Saint Souplet, and that he was killed by 

 the fall. 



On January 11 the French Government 

 awarded the Croix de Guerre to the fallen 

 flyer, with the accompanying citation : 



"Corporal Walcott, an American, who 

 volunteered for the duration of the war, 

 and a young pilot of admirable spirit 

 and courage, on December 12, 1917, at- 

 tacked an enemy airplane. He pursued it 

 four kilometers behind the German lines, 

 where he brought it down. He was in 

 turn attacked by three other monoplanes 

 and was driven down." 



The medal was received on his behalf 

 by members of his squadron and has been 

 forwarded to his father, Dr. Charles D. 

 Walcott, Secretary of the Smithsonian 

 Institution, Washington. 



