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N0KFQ > TODAY 19.11.15 17:21l 46 Lines 1898 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 74770_N0KFQ
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Nov 19
Path: IW8PGT<IZ3LSV<IW0QNL<JH4XSY<JM1YTR<JE7YGF<N9PMO<NS2B<N0KFQ
Sent: 151119/1518Z 74770@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.65
1915
British pilot makes heroic rescue
In one of the most exciting episodes of the air war during World
War I, the British airman Richard Bell Davies performs a daring
rescue on November 19, 1915, swooping down in his plane to whisk
a downed fellow pilot from behind the Turkish lines at Ferrijik
Junction.
A squadron commander in the Royal Naval Air Service, Davies was
flying alongside Flight Sub-Lieutenant Gilbert F. Smylie on a
bombing mission. Their target was the railway junction at
Ferrijik, located near the Aegean Sea and the border between
Bulgaria and Ottoman-controlled Europe. When the Turks hit
Smylie's plane with anti-aircraft fire, he was forced to land. As
he made his way to the ground, Smylie was able to release all his
bombs but one before making a safe landing behind enemy lines.
Smylie was then unable to restart his plane and immediately set
fire to the aircraft in order to disable it.
Meanwhile, Davies saw his comrade's distress from the air and
quickly moved to land his own plane nearby. Seeing Davies coming
to his rescue and fearing the remaining bomb on his plane would
explode, injuring or killing them both, Smylie quickly took aim
at his machine with his revolver and fired, exploding the bomb
safely just before Davies came within its reach. Davies then
rushed to grab hold of Smylie, hauling him on board his aircraft
just as a group of Turkish soldiers approached. Before the Turks
could reach them, Davies took off, flying himself and Smylie to
safety behind British lines.
Calling Davies' act a "feat of airmanship that can seldom have
been equaled for skill and gallantry," the British government
awarded him the Victoria Cross on January 1, 1916. The
quick-thinking Smylie was rewarded as well; he received the
Distinguished Service Cross.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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