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364 WITH THE GERMAN ARMIES IN THE WEST
When this little excitement was over, the party of officers
grouped themselves with the Duke and the two Generals in
the centre, and I took a few groups which would have been
the finest and most distinguished in my collection had not
this particular roll of films turned out a complete failure
on development.
The next item on the programme was Frenchman number
two, who came sailing serenely along over our heads and gave
rise to the same precautions as before, but he likewise failed
to realise the fine catch he might have made.
A German airman told me one or two details from his own
experience. He usually required three-quarters of an hour
to rise to a height of two thousand metres, and did not proceed
towards the French lines until he had reached this altitude.
The view is glorious. He has the landscape in which the
fighting is raging right underneath him. In fine, clear weather
he can see plainly the marching troops, the ammunition
columns and their transport trains, even when they are
covered with foliage. He spots the artillery positions, unless
they are too thoroughly concealed by hedges and bushes.
He can even see isolated horsemen and pedestrians on the
roads.
But there are many other things that meet his eye in the
course of his aerial adventures. He sees the fire and smoke
from the German and French guns, and he sees the impacts
and the explosions. Beneath him rages a constant turmoil of
thunder and lightning. He admits willingly that he is a prey
to intense excitement. He has never yet been wounded, but
his machine has had its wings perforated by bullets more than
once, and the holes are mended with little patches. He hears
the rattle of the machine guns and the rifle fire, and knows
that all this noise is for his benefit and that he is being observed
through field-glasses from every conceivable hiding-place.
When he hears this eternal din and knows that at any moment
he may be hit and brought to earth, he must indeed summon
all his self-control to retain his presence of mind, for a situation
such as this may overstrain the strongest nerves.
He is out to do his duty, he mzist not fail. He cannot entirely
eliminate the nervous tension, for he is but human, but he
never turns back until he has carried out his orders and finds
out what he must know. His attention is strained to the
highest pitch, he sees everything, hears everything, nothing
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