German aviators made an ineffectual attempt on the night of May 21 to raid Paris. Three persons were killed and several wounded in the outskirts of the city, but none of the raiders reached Paris itself. The following night another attack was made, and this time one of the German aviators succeeded in reaching the city. Bombs were dropped at various places, causing thirteen casualties, with one killed. German aviators also attacked the railroads north and northeast of Paris, but the bombs dropped caused no serious damage.
Forty-four persons were killed and 179 injured in the London area during an air raid on the night of May 19. Four of the German machines were destroyed, and a fifth fell flaming into the sea. This was the sixth raid on London since the beginning of 1918, and with the exception of that on Jan. 28 the most disastrous. Many of the casualties were among persons who were on the streets or in doorways, thus disregarding the warnings to seek shelter.
AMERICAN AVIATORS
Aerial fighting is the only form of modern warfare which gives opportunities for individual deeds of heroism; and every army has its list of airmen, dead or alive, who have distinguished themselves in thrilling fights high above the earth. Here, because there were Americans fighting in the air, mainly with the French, before the United States entered the war, this nation has already a record which can vie with that of the other belligerents. On April 27 the standing of American aviators based on the number of adversaries shot down was as follows: Major Raoul Lufbery, 18; Major William Thaw, 5; Lieutenant Frank Baer, 5; Sergeant Baylies, 5; Captain Charles Biddle, 2, and Sergeant Vernon Booth, Sergeant August Grehore, Second Lieutenant Henry Grendelass, Sergeant Thomas Hitchcock, Lieutenant Friest Larner, Sergeant David Putnam, Sergeant W. A. Wellman, Lieutenant Allan Winslow, and Lieutenant Douglas Campbell, 1 each.
As the above list shows, Major Raoul Lufbery was easily America's leading airman, having far surpassed the initial record of an "ace," attained when an airman destroys five enemy machines. But his career was cut short on May 19, when he was killed in a dramatic combat with a German biplane behind the American sector north of Toul. Lufbery lost his life after six other American airmen had tried in vain to bring down the German machine. A German bullet set his petrol tank on fire, and Lufbery leaped from his machine.
LUFBERY'S LAST FIGHT
It was early in the morning when the German biplane appeared over the American airdromes moving slowly. Immediately the "alerte" signal was given and two Americans started up, and two others followed. When they got to a height of about 2,500 meters they found themselves face to face with a giant German biplane with a wing spread of sixty feet, carrying a pilot and two gunners, and driven by two engines. The engines were armored, and the pilot sat in a steel house. The gunners wore armor and occupied protected positions, each manning a heavy machine gun. The American fighters sent streams of bullets in vain against the new enemy.
By this time other Americans were in the air, trying to bring down the German, who loafed along, not seeming to mind bullets at all. The scene, in full view for many miles, looked like a lot of swallows pecking at a giant bird of prey. When one of the Americans landed, out of ammunition, reported his inability to do damage to the German machine, Lufbery asked and received permission to try. He mounted up above the German, got his machine gun going well, and swept head first at the monster plane. When part of the way had been traversed he swerved off, supposedly because his machine gun jammed. But in a few minutes he was back at the German again, dashed by with his machine gun going, but produced no effect. He was seen to turn and start up at the enemy again, when suddenly he swerved and a thin line of flame shot from his machine, which seemed to hang still for a moment and then dart down. This took place at an altitude of 2,000 meters. When his machine was at an altitude of about 1,500 meters the American ace was seen to arise and leap into midair. From long experience he knew that to stay in his seat meant to be burned to death horribly. His body fell like a plummet, landing in the midst of a flower garden back of a residence in the village of Maron, while his machine fell in flames and landed on the ground a mass of wreckage. At Lufbery's funeral it was announced that the battleplane which had caused his death had been brought down by French airmen.
Lieutenant Douglas Campbell, a Californian, by bringing down his fifth German airplane on May 31, secured the distinction of being the first American-trained ace. Besides Campbell, America then had two other aces, Major William Thaw and Captain D. M. K. Peterson, but both Thaw and Peterson got their training with the French Army.