But, suddenly, from out the clouds swooped a German swallow in a
frenzied attack to retrieve the disgrace. He had all the advantage of
position, and a great fear filled my heart that our champion might not
long enjoy the fruits of his victory. However, when about 400 yards
above our bird, our watchful boys at the Archee guns (the anti-aircraft
guns, so nicknamed because of their peculiar explosive sound) opened on
him, and with the third shot, off flopped his fish tail. He dove in a
wabble to the ground and, in his descent, his petrol tank was struck by
one of our explosive bullets. When it reached the ground in No Man's
Land, it was a mass of flames.
For seven days, every hour of the night and day, the mighty chorus of
1400 batteries rose and swelled unceasingly in a vast concourse of
sound.
Promptly at ten minutes past five, on the morning of the seventh day,
the word having passed from end to end of the lines, the men were up and
over. A mine that had been prepared in the Ridge by our engineers was
exploded, the shock rocking every German trench in the valley, killing
several thousand men and wounding twice as many more.
Pages:
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289