Friendly Enemies

Last week interesting facts came to light about the relations between British and German flyers during the War. Captain Thomas J. C. Martyn, British ace, shrewd observer of men and events, former squadron commander at Isle-les-Hameau, and onetime Foreign Editor of TIME, the weekly newsmagazine, was asked to give his opinion on recent despatches from Berlin which stated that Count Manfred von Richthofen, celebrated German flyer, was not shot in the air but killed by caitiff riflemen after he had made a safe landing behind the British lines.

"It is a falsehood," bristled Captain Martyn, "a damnable falsehood!

"I did not see the crash myself but several of the pilots of No. 18 Squadron, on the same aerodrome, saw Richthofen come down and the report was that a Lieutenant Brown had brought him down, though at the same time machine gunners on the ground claimed that they had put his machine out of action. . . . "One thing is certain; his machine crashed with considerable violence on the ground, and it is sure that von Richthofen was dead before he crashed. . . .

"Von Richthofen was very well thought of by the British aviators as a clean fighter and a man who did not know what fear was.

"The only time I ever saw him, was over in Ypres in 1917. He was fighting four British machines at the time in a welter of anti-air- craft fire. ... I never had an encounter with him, but he killed a friend of mine named Captain Robertson in the summer of 1917.

"As an example of Richthofen's fine sportsmanship, Major Patrick told me that he once had a fight with Richthofen and that his ammunition ran out. Richthofen, being in a faster machine, had Patrick at his mercy, but when he knew that Patrick was unable to fire he flew close to him, waved his hand and turned back to his own lines.

"The report from Berlin that Canadian troops killed Richthofen after he had landed in an irresponsible, mischievous, damnable falsehood. . . .

"I recall his funeral only from having done the squadron commander's work while Major Baker was attending the full military funeral we gave von Richthofen. His body was put in a casket on a gun carriage and taken to a cemetery. Most of the air force unit sent wreaths, and he was buried in proper Christian fashion. . . ."

Captain Martyn termed the relations of the German and British airmen throughout the War as one of "friendly hostility."

"In 1915," he said, "Lieutenant Winthorpe was forced to land on a German flying field. He was taken prisoner, but there was delay in sending him to a prison camp. The Germans immediately dropped a note on Winthorpe's squadron saying he was safe. The German officers supplied him with clothing, played tennis with him, went hunting with him, and he had a wonderful time for a fortnight. Finally, when the time came for him to go, all the officers petitioned the squadron commander to permit him to remain. The commander referred it to the higher command, which refused the request. So Winthorpe was removed to a prison camp, from which he later escaped.

"Another instance occurred in 1917, near Ypres, where a British aviator shot down a kite balloon and then tried to machine-gun the crew as they escaped in parachutes. This was against the code, and the German commander had a note dropped in a British aerodrome. Finally, owing to the efforts of the British airmen, the individual who had shot at men in parachutes was located through his report on downing the balloon. The General in command interrogated him, and on corroborating the German charge of unsportsmanlike conduct sent the man home in disgrace and informed the Germans of his action."