[Newspaper Illustrations, Ltd.
OUR HOUSE AT HOOK, SOON AFTER NEWS OF HARRY’S RESCUE FROM THE ATLANTIC.
[Facing p. 174.
Photo by]
[Newspaper Illustrations, Ltd.
HOME AGAIN! HARRY AND GRIEVE AT GRANTHAM STATION, AFTER THE ATLANTIC FLIGHT. MR. SOPWITH IS STANDING IN THE DOORWAY.
[Facing p. 174.
During the war several thousands of Sopwith aeroplanes were supplied not only to the British Government but also to France and other countries; and it not infrequently fell to Harry’s lot to pay flying visits to Villacoublay during the years 1915-1917. On one occasion, while Harry was there, a certain British General—who shall be nameless—came on the scene, full of his own importance and talking loudly of what he knew and of what he did not know. The subject under discussion was the Sopwith Camel, a machine which Harry loved to fly and believed to be well-nigh perfect, despite adverse criticism occasionally directed against it. The General said he had had a good deal of experience of the Camel, and that he found great difficulty in getting the machine out of a spin, which, of course, was a serious matter.
In an undertone to a colleague, Harry said: “I don’t believe he has ever flown one.” He then ordered a Camel to be brought out from the sheds and extended to the General an invitation to make a flight with him. Having carried the “Brass Hat” about 2,000 feet up, he put the machine into a right-hand spin, from which he did not attempt to recover until within but a few hundred feet of the ground. Instead of landing and permitting the General to stand on terra firma, he went up again and repeated the manœuvre, but with a left-hand spin this time. Harry got out of the machine as if nothing untoward had happened. He made no comment; but those who witnessed the incident affirm that the way he looked at the General spoke volumes; and as for the General, well, he suddenly discovered he had to go off and inspect other sheds!