Victory 37

Combat Report: 1745 hrs, Mercatel, other side of our lines. Nieuport one-seater, English; details not at hand. I attacked, together with four of my gentlemen, an enemy squadron of six Nieuport machines, south of Arras and behind the enemy lines. The plane I had singled out tried to escape six times by various manoeuvres. When he was doing this for the seventh time, I managed to hit him, whereupon, the engine began to smoke and the plane itself went down head first, twisting and twisting. At first I thought it was another manoeuvre, but then I saw that the plane dashed, without catching itself, to the ground near Mercatel. Weather: low clouds and rain.