On the 26th they bombed the stations of Staden, Thielt, Courtrai,
Roubaix, and other places, and located an armored train near Langemarck,
which was subsequently shelled and forced to retire. There have been
several successful conflicts in the air, on one occasion a pilot in a
single seater chasing a German machine to Roulers, and forcing it to
land.
The raid on Courtrai unfortunately cost the nation a very gallant life,
but it will live as one of the most heroic episodes of the war. The
airman started on the enterprise alone in a biplane. On arrival at
Courtrai he glided down to a height of 300 feet and dropped a large bomb
on the railway junction. While he did this he was the target of hundreds
of rifles, of machine guns, and of anti-aircraft armament, and was
severely wounded in the thigh. Though he might have saved his life by at
once coming down in the enemy's lines, he decided to save his machine at
all costs, and made for the British lines. Descending to a height of
only 100 feet in order to increase his speed, he continued to fly and
was again wounded, this time mortally. He still flew on, however, and
without coming down at the nearest of our aerodromes went all the way
back to his own base, where he executed a perfect landing and made his
report.
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