There are many dangers in being high in the air in a craft made of wood, canvas, and dope, carrying a load of fuel, powered by what is supposed to be a smooth series of explosions in the engine, and creating other explosions by firing a gun.
One effect of all those explosions is that the engine and the gun can get rather hot.
What a man he was. Certainly, the others fought too. But they had wives or children, a mother or a profession. This they could forget only on rare occasions. But he constantly lived beyond those boundaries that we only cross during great moments. His personal life was blotted out when he fought at the front. And he always fought when he was at the front. Food, drink, and sleep was all he was willing to concede to life. Only that which was necessary to keep that machine of flesh and blood going. He was the least complicated man I ever knew. Entirely Prussian and the greatest of soldiers.
The twelve men in the honor guard, with eyes on the ground and rifles reversed, then preceded the car to a small war cemetery. Following the car were English NCOs and officers, including fifty aviators stationed in the local area. "The fliers had gathered hurriedly to pay their last respects to the brave and noble enemy. They brought wreaths wound in immortelle and decorated with the German colors.
