Rushden Echo, 4^th May, 1917, transcribed by Gill Hollis

German Airman's Fate - Burnt To A Cinder
Big Fight in the Air Witnessed by a Rushden Soldier
Private F. Howes Recovers from Trench Fever

Pte. F. Howes, 10272, --- Northants Regiment, son of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Howes of 8, Fitzwilliam-street, Rushden, has been spending ten days sick furlough at home, after having been in hospital 15 weeks with trench fever contracted in France.

He enlisted on June 29^th, 1915, and has been on the Western Front about four months, proceeding to France at the age of 18 years and eight months.  He has twice had trench fever, his first attack being on August 13^th, 1916, when he was also sent to €œBlighty€ for four months.

Seen by a representative of the "Rushden Echo,"€ he said:-

"€œI have no thrilling experiences to tell you of, although I had plenty of excitement on the Somme.  One day in the early morning we were making an attack and my battalion was in support.  Pte. Holloway, whose parents reside in Glassbrook-road, Rushden, stood at my left, when suddenly he said to me €˜I am hit. Turning to look at him I found that he had been struck in the leg with a shrapnel splinter, but fortunately the wound was not serious, and he was able to make his own way to the dressing station.  At about the same time a sergeant of the Sussex Regiment came to my part of the trench with a piece of shrapnel embedded in his arm.  As my position was fairly well protected and the sergeant was wounded I moved out to let him take my place, which he did.  I hadn€™t left the spot three minutes before a shell dropped at that point and blew off the sergeant€™s right leg from above the knee, so that I had a very narrow escape.  The doctor came along to the injured N.C.O. and administered morphia and he was then removed to the dressing station.

€œOne evening about 5 o'€™clock I saw a very exciting fight in the air.  That day there hadn€™t been very many airmen up, but at the time I have mentioned one of our aviators and an observer were up in a Scout.  They had just got over the German lines when all of a sudden no fewer than eleven Taubes rose and surrounded them.  In view of the superior numbers of enemy airmen they were obliged to make a run for it; nevertheless, they put up a stiff fight for their lives, and their manoeuvres to get away were remarkable.  However, the plane must have been hit in some vital spot, or the pilot struck, as the machine was driven down just at the back of our lines.  We heard subsequently that one of the airmen was dead when the machine reached the ground, and the other was wounded.

€œAs soon as the news was received at the aerodrome, our chaps were not long in seeking to get their own back, as in a very short time eight of our machines were in the air.  In the meantime the Taubes had gone back, but, seeing our challenge, they got up again, and very quickly a big air battle was in progress.  After about a quarter-of-an-hour€™s fighting we saw a Taube being driven down by a British machine.  The German was doing his best to keep his machine under control, but the British airman was letting him have it in the neck.  When the Boche got too far down he made an attempt to turn and make off, but by that time our machine gunners had got his range and let him have it thick and fast.  In a very short time we saw his machine burst into flames, and down he came with a rattle.  Some of our chaps went out, but couldn€™t get near enough to the burning machine to make any attempt at rescue because of the heat, so that the German airman must have been burnt to a cinder.

The other German machines bolted, and all our machines got back safely.  Our chaps went wild with excitement, sticking their €˜tin hats€™ on their bayonets and yelling like mad.  However, we soon shut up, as the Boche€™s artillery started to strafe us pretty thick.

(To be continued next week.)

Rushden Echo, 11^th May, 1917 

Continued from last week:

Pte. F. Howes, 10272, ----- Northants. Regiment, son of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Howes, of 8, Fitzwilliam-street, Rushden, has been spending ten days sick furlough at home, after having been in hospital 15 weeks with trench fever contracted in France.

  Our representative thus continues his account of his interview with Pte. Howes, who, he says, remarked:-

  €œOn my second time out I saw another fight in the air on the Arras front.  It was a fine day, and a lot of machines from both sides were in the air.  One of the German machines came very low over our billet, and he must have been hit, as apparently he couldn€™t rise, and he came to ground about 600 yards in front of our billet.  A little later one of our own airmen, who was flying low, collided with a tree, and the machine came down nose first.  The machine then bounced and broke into two pieces between the seat of the observer and the tail.  I was one of a party of four that went out to pick up the airmen, and at the time the aeroplane was under the enemy€™s rifle fire.  When we reached the spot we found that one of the airmen (the observer) had received a severe gash on the face from one of the steel wires, and he was nearly dead from loss of blood.  The pilot, who was slightly wounded, asked that his comrade might first be extricated, but our chaps could not do this without moving the machine.  Before a stretcher could be brought the observer had died, but the pilot was able to walk to the dressing station.

  €œIt was on December 28^th that I was taken ill for the second time and sent home.  During the four months I have been out there altogether I have never got at close quarters with the Germans so far as fighting is concerned, although I have been near enough to plenty of prisoners, as I have carried plenty of their wounded on stretchers.  One chap I had to help carry must have been a good seven feet tall, and he was a weight.  The stretcher wasn€™t long enough for him, and his head hung over one end, and his legs over the other.  I wasn€™t sorry when we dropped him.€

  Asked his opinion as to when the war would end, Pte. Howes said that he wouldn€™t venture to prophesy, but he didn€™t think fighting would end it, although the Allies are making good progress.

  Mr. and Mrs. Howes have three other sons serving their country €“ Pte. Arthur Howes, who is serving with the Pioneers in France; Seaman Bert Howes, who is patrolling with the Navy; and Seaman Ernest Howes, who is similarly engaged.  All these boys are well.