But all the crew got out safely and sat on the bottom of the boat. It was floating in a pool of pure petrol spilt out of its huge tanks, and the air was scarcely fit to breathe owing to petrol fumes. Said the wireless operator to the first pilot—
"Sir, may I smoke?"
The crew were later rescued by two flying boats sent out to look for them.
But only the beginnings of the fighting are recorded, as most of the fighting took place after the 12th of April—the date on which this yarn ends.
The first success in the fighting fell to Clayton and Adamson in Old '61 on February 5.
They were out in the Spider Web with another boat looking for submarines when they found trouble. Five enemy seaplanes dived out of a cloud in formation and settled on their tail. The accompanying boat was some distance ahead, and the surprise was complete.
The engineer and wireless operator dived into the stern and got the rear guns in action. Clayton waggled the tail from side to side in order to give each man a clear field of fire alternately.
One of the enemy dived in to shove home an attack, and Robinson, the engineer, put a long burst from his machine-gun into his engine. The Hun side-slipped, struck the water at speed, the floats collapsed, and the seaplane disintegrated into a twisted mass of wreckage.
The remaining four enemy seaplanes drew off, and the boats carried on.
But on February 15 the Huns got their own back.