A British airman with an extraordinary record, Captain James B. McCudden, who is only 23 years of age, was awarded the Victoria Cross on March 29 "for most conspicuous bravery, exceptional perseverance, keenness, and very high devotion to duty." He had already won nearly every decoration awarded in the British Army, including the Military Medal, the Military Cross, and the Distinguished Service Order. He went to France with the first British army in August, 1914, and, having had some experience of the air, was pressed into service as an observer at Mons and gave valuable information of enemy movements during the retreat. As a Sergeant he was officially promoted to be an observer, and quickly won fame for his expert handling of guns in several stiff fights. As the pilot of a single-seater scout McCudden has had over 100 fights and some wonderful escapes without sustaining the slightest hurt. The crack German pilot Immelmann was a deadly rival, and they had three duels, but the fight was broken off on each occasion without either man being able to claim an advantage. In the official announcement of the award of the V. C., it was stated that Captain McCudden had then accounted for fifty-four enemy airplanes, forty-two being definitely destroyed. The official statement added:
On two occasions he has totally destroyed four two-seater enemy airplanes on the same day, and on the last occasion all four machines were destroyed in the space of one hour and thirty minutes.
While in his present squadron he has participated in seventy-eight offensive patrols, and in nearly every case has been the leader. On at least thirty other occasions, while with the same squadron, he has crossed the lines alone, either in pursuit or in quest of enemy airplanes.
The following incidents are examples of the work he has done recently:
On Dec. 23, 1917, when leading his patrol, eight enemy airplanes were attacked between 2:30 P.M. and 3:50 P.M. Of these two were shot down by Captain McCudden in our lines. On the morning of the same day he left the ground at 10:50 o'clock and encountered four enemy airplanes; of these he shot down two.
On Jan. 30, 1918, he, single-handed, attacked five enemy scouts, as a result of which two were destroyed. On this occasion he only returned home when the enemy scouts had been driven far east; his Lewis-gun ammunition was all finished and the belt of his Vickers gun had broken.
As a patrol leader he has at all times shown the utmost gallantry and skill, not only in the manner in which he has attacked and destroyed the enemy but in the way he has during several aerial fights protected the newer members of his flight, thus keeping down their casualties to a minimum.
This officer is considered, by the record which he has made, by his fearlessness, and by the great service which he has rendered to his country, deserving of the very highest honor.
Zinc Coins in Occupied Belgium
To obviate the great shortage of fractional currency in occupied Belgium, a shortage that hindered the most modest transactions, the German authorities decided early in March, 1918, to emit a large issue of zinc coins with a face value of 50 centimes, (10 cents.) The new coins have a diameter of 24 millimeters and bear on the face a coat-of-arms with a lion above a laurel branch, and with the value of the coin on the right. The obverse bears a five-pointed star, the inscription "België-Belgique," and the date. The centre of each coin is pierced by a hole 4½ millimeters in diameter.
Arrest of Irish Plotters
Sixty-nine Sinn Fein Members Imprisoned for Treasonable Relations With the Enemy
Current History Magazine for June contained a brief reference to the arrest of leaders of the Sinn Fein movement in Ireland, May 18, 1918, for being in treasonable communication with the Germans. Among the leaders arrested was Professor Edward de Valera, President of the Sinn Fein Society and a member of Parliament, who had refused to take his seat; also George Noble Plunkett, a Count of Rome and Member of Parliament; Mme. Markievicz, wife of a Polish Count; Arthur Giffith, one of the founders of the Sinn Fein movement; William T. Cosgrove, Treasurer of the Sinn Fein and Member of Parliament from Kilkenny City; Joseph McGuinness, Member of Parliament for South Longford; Darrel Figgis, an Irish poet; Dr. Richard Hayes, Herbert Mellowes, who led the Sinn Fein rising in Galway in 1916; Professor Monaghan, President of the local Sinn Fein Club at Drogheda; Pierce McCann, President of the East Tipperary Sinn Fein Executive; Frank Drohan, President of the Clonmel Sinn Fein Club; Dr. Thomas Dillon, Sean Milroy, and Sean McEntee, members of the Sinn Fein Executive; George Nichols, Coroner for the County of Galway, and Peter Hughes, Chairman of Dundalk Urban Council and a prominent Sinn Feiner. In all sixty-nine were arrested and imprisoned in England, not 500, as at first reported. The arrests were made between midnight and dawn by domiciliary visits, and were accomplished without any disorder, being a complete surprise.