Night Bombing with the Bedouins

In a spirit of the deepest reverence I dedicate this unworthy effort to the memory of a true sportsman, a loyal friend, and a gallant officer who was killed in action while serving his Country as a Pilot in the American Air Service, LIEUTENANT SAMUEL PIERCE MANDELL America has given of the finest of her Youth to uphold the Cause of Right, but she has given no one of more splendid promise than he, whose service was an example of devotion to duty, of readiness for action, and of undaunted courage. His life was an inspiration to the living "to carry on" and finish the great struggle for which he died, that he and those like him may not have died in vain. CONTENTS I. Per Ardua ad Astra 1 II. The "Bedouin" Squadron 12 III. The Bedouins at Ochey Aerodrome 39 IV. A Night Raid 50 V. Some Epics of Night Bombing 71 VI. The Guiding Hand 86 ILLUSTRATIONS Lieutenant Robert H. Reece , R.A.F. Photogravure Frontispiece Jimmie Walks up and down the Trench 14 Entrance to Officers' Mess 40 The Patriotic, Scientific Mechanics 44 After the Landing 84 NIGHT BOMBING WITH THE "BEDOUINS" PER ARDUA AD ASTRA In prehistoric times the first man to make for himself a stone hatchet probably became the greatest warrior of his particular region. He may not have been as strong physically as his neighbor, but with the aid of so marvellous an invention as a stone hatchet he undoubtedly conquered his enemies and became a great prehistoric potentate, until some other great man made a larger and stronger hatchet; so down to the present invention has followed invention and improvement has been added to improvement to such an extent that it is difficult to imagine what new weapon of destruction man can develop in the future. What would the past generation have said of a man who had prophesied great armies fighting in the air? Even in the early months of the war there were but few who realized what an important part of the war was to be carried on in the newly conquered element. When the infantry saw an occasional box-kite-looking machine drifting slowly over the lines, struggling to keep itself aloft, how many, I wonder, foresaw that in a few months these machines would be swooping down on them like swallows, raking them with machine guns by day and…