2/2/1916
Dear Diary,
Last Night I had a great time with my fellow airmen, and I finally got to know them who they are.
my wingman, Geoffrey Hislop but he calls himself ''The Goofer'' as Alan Smiths his buddy told me how he managed to fly his aircraft into a bunch of trees in training camp back in england and almost got kicked out of it.
Alan Smiths was Geoffrey Hislop best friend, as they grew up in the same town and joined the Royal Flying Corps together.
As we sat there in a Bar in St. Omer, enjoying a beer in the evening breeze I listened to their stories. and ofcourse I told me who I am and why I joined the Royal Flying Corps. later on Geoffrey showed me a photo of his fiancé , he plans to marry her if the war is over, lets hope we will make it so we can all mary someone we love and grow old in peace.
Peace had to wait, as when we woke up at 0600am, our commander in charge wanted us to patrol a area norht east of our airbase. we prepared ourselfs for take off.
My Airco has been patched up, and was ready for take off.
and off we went.
And yet again, once in the air I felt great
the morning breeze really makes you feel fresh and fit.
not far away I saw a train steaming his way forward, and in my mind I really pitty the fact its war...this scenery is a paradise.
meanwhile , watching geoffrey I really got to know why they called him ''The Goofer'', he doesnt fly straight , he zig-zags around...when next to me he gives me a grumpy face, throttles up and speeds forward...but I must admit he made me smile...what a guy.
after a while I came in a state where I just shut off my thoughts and stared around me and just enjoyed the scenery as far I could see.
and the rumble was heard again, and I awoke from my trance...looking forward I saw a town in the distance. The town was different like others it was reshaped by the heavy barrages and I was suprised that buildings still where standing.
On the frontline itself , it was open war. I heard the explosions , even heard gunfire. My god, it was a horrible sight. I clearly saw the british line beeing pounded by germany's barrage. I got angry by the sight of it, seeying my countrymen beeing bombarded. How dare they!, I was wishing for enemy aircraft as I needed something to release my anger on. as we where patroling I couldnt stop looking down.
The more I looked down, the more sick I was getting...I was sweating, shaking and my stomache was restless....
after aproximate 20 minutes I decided it was enough and headed home.
about halfway I saw aircraft in the distance , when they where in range I saw they where French, the french pilots waved at us and we saluted back. Lets hope they will have some Bosch to shoot down to support their country men on the ground. Viva la francé
I finally saw my airbase and safely landed my aircraft on the ground.
it is not even afternoon yet , but I needed to clear my mind of what I saw today.
-Sgt. William Joseph