Bill Bruce on Forest Patrol

by Henry Harley Arnold

Breene sent out the call letters and then Bill and his observer watched for the O. K. panels. As soon as they appeared, Bill headed his plane out over the Coast Artillery radio station. Once more Breene sent out the call letters of the station. This was acknowledged by the panel signal, “understood.” Then the airplane sent down a message giving the number of the plane, the pilot’s and observer’s names and the information that they were ready to observe the fire of the guns. Each item was repeated so that the ground station would be sure to get it. Finally the ground crew placed the panels in the position which indicated “battery ready to fire.” Then Bill headed his plane out over the ocean.

It is a sort of lonesome feeling to fly out over the ocean in a land plane. The pilot always realizes that if his engine quits, he must land on the water, and that his plane will float for not more than four hours after hitting the water. Accordingly, Bill wanted to get as much altitude as he could and at the same time accurately observe the falling shots. If his engine quit, he would then be able to glide at least part way back to shore. There is always the possibility of having to swim after a forced landing in the water, as boats are not always conveniently available for rescue work.

Bill climbed until he reached five thousand feet. The tug and target were about twelve thousand yards from shore, and they looked absurdly small. He wondered how the twelve-inch guns could ever make a hit on the small pyramidal target built up on the float. The entire area over which the target would be moved had been cleared of ships. Off to the north there were two steamers running into the Golden Gate, and a third leaving by way of the ship channel. As far as Bill could see, there was no other sign of life between the shore and the Farallone Islands, some fifteen miles out.

Bill had barely reached his position abreast of the target when he saw the splash of a shell as it hit the water. The shell struck just short of the target and then ricocheted and made another splash beyond the target. It then bounded along the water’s surface with ever diminishing leaps until it finally sank beneath the water’s surface. Bill was so much interested in watching the shot that he forgot to hand back a sensing to Breene.

Bill was brought back to the business in hand when Breene tapped him on the shoulder. “Two hundred right, eight hundred short,” Bill wrote on a slip and handed it to Breene. After a couple of circles around the tug and target, another shot splashed, but this time much closer. “One hundred left, two hundred over,” wrote Bill on the slip that he handed back. Thus it went for some time with the shots making a group around the target, which was moving along at a rate of about ten knots an hour.

It was interesting work and Bill enjoyed it. He was doing his best to send down corrections which would make it possible for the gunners to make a hit on the target, but either its motion through the water or the normal dispersion of the spots due to the ammunition would not permit of a direct hit being made. The tug cruised back and forth in the cleared area. The wind and tide evidently made it move faster in one direction than in the other, for the shots did not fall the same distance away during the two runs.

Occasionally Bill would fly the plane back over the shore to see if any additional instructions were being sent up to him by the panels. Each time the same panels were displayed, “Battery ready to fire.” That being the case he must place his plane so that he could see the shots when they fell. Once he was sure that the guns had been fired but he had not seen the first impact with the water. The only location of the shell that he secured was after its first bounce from the water. He then sent down, “lost.” This indicated to the firing battery that the observer had not seen the last shot.

Bill was out well beyond the tug when his engine started missing and then quit altogether. He wanted to glide into shore, but knew that he could not make it from five thousand feet. He had another chance for a quick rescue, and that was to land as close to the tug as he could. However, in order to do that he would have to glide through the section through which the shells were flying. He did not know what to do. Should he take a chance with the flying shells, or should he land in a safe sector on the water and trust that the tug would see him drop and come to his rescue?

He guided his plane in wide circles as he lost altitude. As he descended he could see that the battery had fired on the data sent in from Breene’s last report. Would the battery stop firing when they failed to perceive any additional data, or would it keep on firing? Their last report had indicated that the battery was firing very close to the target.

Bill decided that he would not take a chance of getting hit by a thousand pound projectile. He would land as close to the tug as he could and stay out of the danger zone. As he dropped lower, he could see that the sea was rough. He had not been able to pick up the high waves from his high altitude, but now they were apparent. That would take skillful piloting or the plane would be completely wrecked when it came into contact with the water.