May 30, 1918 - Don Martin relates great war story of British airmen Kirk and Richards

Don Martin dairy entry for Thursday, May 30, 1918: 

With [Edwin] James (whom I am getting to like a bit) went to Baccarat by way of Epinal. Had motor trouble which delayed us considerably. Returned by way of Nancy. Arrived Neufchateau at 8 p.m. Wrote cable for New York about [Leslie] Kirk and [William] Richards, English airmen who landed in German territory and made their way back to their own lines.

       Don Martin finally got the kind of story he was looking for--the story of Kirk and Richards' plane downing and miraculous escape. Finished after midnight on Thursday and dated Friday, it was featured on page 1 of the Saturday, June 1, edition of the New York Herald. It is a great example of Don Martin’s storytelling skill that made his war dispatches so well received by his readers back home in America.

2 FLYERS FALL 10 MILES 
INSIDE HUN LINE, ESCAPE

Swim Ninety Foot River in No Man’s Land Under Heavy Machine Gun Fire

DIG UNDER ELECTRIFIED WIRE, CLIMB TRENCHES

Lieutenant and Aid Lie in Rushes for Hours 
with Only Heads Out of Water

By Don Martin

Special Correspondent to the Herald with the American Armies in France

Special Cable to the Herald

NEUFCHATEAU, Friday

         Swimming a ninety foot river in No Man’s Land in a hail of machine gun fire; crawling under heavy barbed wire entanglements of the enemy; hiding in a hedge all day with the Boches hunting and sometimes getting within a few yards; being mourned as dead by their comrades, who already had packed their personal belongings to send to their folks, are only a part of the wonderful and thrilling experiences of Lieutenant Leslie Kirk and Observer William Richards, both British bombers.

          I saw Lieutenant Kirk today among his comrades and heard the full details of this amazing tale of the pair. The hero who perhaps is the most picturesque of all airmen is a Scotchman from Glasgow, twenty-three, who has been in many of the most successful raids of the British reprisal squad.

          He said in a modest way, “Oh, it’s just a piece of luck, that’s all.”

Machine Smashed in Fall

            Lieutenant Kirk and his companion escaped death when the machine in which they were on a bombing trip was damaged by the German barrage and forced to descend from a height of four thousand feet, ten miles inside the German lines. The machine was smashed to bits and both men were badly bruised and shocked. The crash attracted the Germans within a few seconds, but the airmen, rallying all their remaining strength, dashed to cover in the woods. They heard voices all about them and finally stole from cover and walked until dawn was breaking. Then hidden in a hedge, with nothing to eat but half a bar of chocolate.

         At nightfall they resumed their journey toward their own line. As they neared the German first line they made a noise which instantly drew a savage machine gun fire. The bullets spattered all over and about them in a torrent until they thought their finish had come. In vain they shouted “Kamerade!” The shooting continued, but doing no damage.

         Being unable to surrender, they ran as fast as possible and finally reached the advanced wire entanglements, having skipped over the German trenches by sheer good luck and with great difficulty.

Dig Under Electric Wire

           Here the wire was as dense as rabbit netting and was supposed to be charged with electricity, as is the custom of the Germans. Having no nippers, they finally dug beneath the wire with their knives and hands and forced their heads and shoulders under it and lifted it up. They were three hours at this terrific task before they got through.

            Then after crawling some distance they reached the river’s edge in No Man’s Land. The river is deep, but the current is not swift. The fear that probably wire was stretched under the surface of the water forced them to decide that their only chance was to swim.

          Observer Richards went first and in five minutes reached the other side. He then shouted in a hoarse whisper that he was all right. Lieutenant Kirk started and made it, though he was a bad swimmer.

        The swim was made all the more thrilling and perilous, as the Germans, hearing suspicious sounds, trained machine guns in that direction. The bullets spattered the water in a stream, while Lieutenant Kirk was crossing. One struck within a few inches of his head. Lights also flared up, but too late to reveal the airmen, who were able by this time to take cover in the rushes on the edge of the stream.

Only Heads Above Water

          They lay there for several hours with only their heads above the water, the rushes concealing their heads, and knowing death lurked on both sides. Then the men crawled on their bellies for several hundred yards until they came to the French-American first line, drenched to the skin, but warmly welcomed by the startled French-Americans.

            At daybreak Lieutenant Kirk telephoned to Captain Lindsay, the commandant, only to be told word had been sent that he was lost. Today Lieutenant and his companion appeared at the headquarters of the squadron and became the centre of a great celebration. They were in the midst of it when I saw him. He said: --

         “We hadn’t gotten rid of our bombs – in fact, we were just getting to our objective --  when shrapnel hit the engine and put it out of business. The shells were breaking all around us as we came down, but the machine was messed up so badly that nothing was left of it, in fact.

         “I don’t know how we escaped death. It was just luck and nothing else. Oh, yes, they fired at us with machine guns twice and I don’t know how we escaped. Only luck again, and I guess I am a lucky Scotchman. It was mighty unpleasant lying in the water among the rushes, but better than being killed. The swimming was bad, too; I do all right when the wind is good, but I always was a bad swimmer.

Cry “Kamerade” in Vain

         “While we were lying in the rushes we heard our own squadron pass over us on a bombing trip. I wished I’d been with them. They are queer peope – the Huns. When they turned their machine guns on us at first the only thing we could do was surrender or be killed. So we called it quits and cried “Kamerade!”

      “But that did not change the situation. They kept peppering just the same, so we shouted, ‘All right, go to hell!’ and we started off. It is funny how close bullets can hit all round, yet miss. Luck again, I imagine. The river we swam is the only river in No Man’s Land. The boy with me is the bravest kind of kid.

          “We thought the wire stretched under the surface, but he stepped in and struck off, taking a chance. You see I was anxious to get back, as I have leave beginning on Sunday, and don’t want to miss it. There is nothing else I can think of.”

         Lieutenant Kirk is a man of few words. When he paused, Captain Lindsay, with a glow of pride in his eyes at Lieutenant’s achievement, said, “Kirk, show him your hands where the wire got you.”

             Lieutenant Kirk hesitatingly held up his hands which were deeply cut. “Kirk is sore at only one thing; that it that he had to spend two days among the Germans,” said Captain Lindsay with a laugh.

      A brief dispatch about an air battle victory, dated Thursday, May 30, was published in New York Herald, May 31.

Lieutenant Charles A. Hamilton

wins brisk battle over enemy biplane

 By Don Martin

Special Correspondent of the Herald with the American Armies in France 

 [Special Cable to the Herald]

WITH THE AMERIAN ARMY IN FRANCE, Thursday

     In a brisk battle with a Boche biplane over the German line yesterday Lieutenant Charles A. Hamilton, an American flier, sent the enemy machine crashing to the ground in flames. Then, although he had a bullet through his arm, he guided his own machine safely back to the airdrome and waited until definite news of the fate of the Boche arrived before seeking medical attention.

            Lieutenant Hamilton went up on the alert with two other Americans and singled out one machine. He went away above and then dropped down, training his gun on the German machine, a two seater.

The lieutenant is sure he wounded both of the Germans.