[20] These are used, generally in the ratio of one to four ordinary or armour-piercing bullets, to show the general direction in which the burst of fire is going. Instead of being filled with lead like the ordinary bullet, they contain phosphorus, which commences to burn as soon as the bullet is discharged from the machine gun, and leaves behind it a trail of smoke and fire to mark its course.
[21] A number of balls of fire fastened together and shot up into the air in order to fall over the attacking machine and bring it down in flames.
[22] A type of machine gun. The bullets are fed from a “drum” which is automatically turned when the gun fires.
[23] The tail plane which is used to direct the machine up or down.
[25] A pilot who has brought down five or more enemy machines.
[26] Corresponds to an Adjutant in an infantry battalion.
[28] _A.M.L.O._: Assistant Military Landing Officer.
[32] A formidable line of trenches branching off from the main Hindenburg line of Quéant and defending Douai.
[35] One of the most famous formations of enemy scouts, composed of the “crack” German pilots. Their machines generally had red bodies.
[36] A piece of aluminium shaped so as to cover the engine.
[37] A main plane is made up of two spars on which the ribs are fixed.
[39] A barbarous word invented by the Army, and which means “alighting from an omnibus.”
[40] This, I am afraid, is not quite accurate, as a glance at Appendix II will show.
[43] A type of hangar invented by a Frenchman and generally used on our aerodromes in France.
[44] A method used to bring a machine down quickly without gaining speed.
Air Force Mechanical Transport, work of, 116-17
Albatros machines, 29-30, 31-2, 38, 42 _note_[10], 43 _and note_[12], 54, 55, 88, 103
Allenby, General, inspection of 60 Squadron, 53, 56-7; sent to Egypt, 106
Americans, the, at Beugnatre, 118; men serving in English scout squadrons, 121-2
Amiens, 13, 106, 115-16; a dinner in, 118
“Archie” gunners, 8, 22, 34 _and note_[7], 35, 51-3
Armstrong, Capt. D. V., 3, 8, 11, 15, 17-19; death, 72-3, 128
Arras-Albert Sector, the German retreat, 32-3
Artillery registration, German, 58-9, 61-2
Balfour, Major H. H., 3, 90, 128; description of a flight, 11-13
“Balloon strafing,” 20-1, 38, 47-48; account by Captain Molesworth, 50-3