lot lost his nerve, and the machine
side-slipped away and down, landing behind our lines, close to
Neuve-Eglise. There were twenty bullet-holes in the German machine, but
the pilot and observer were both uninjured. The British officers landed
close by, to claim their prisoners. The German observer, a commissioned
officer, took little notice of them; as soon as his machine landed he
jumped out of it, and dragging the partner of his dangers and triumphs
out of the pilot's seat, knocked him down, and began to kick him heavily
about the body. If ever a collection of incidents shall be made, under
the title 'How the War was Lost and Won', to illustrate the causes of
things, this little drama will deserve a place in it.

CHAPTER VII

THE ROYAL NAVAL AIR SERVICE IN 1914

When the war broke out the Naval Wing of the Royal Flying Corps had
already been separated from the Military Wing, and had become the Royal
Naval Air Service. Captain Murray Sueter was Director of the Air
Department, and Captain G. M. Paine was Commandant of the Central Flying
School. Six officers, all pioneers of the air, held the rank of wing
commander, and nineteen held the rank of squadron commander. There were
twelve flight commanders, and, with the addition of some few who joined
on the 5th and 6th of August, there were ninety-one flight lieutenants,
flight sub-lieutenants, and warrant officers. The number of petty
officers and men was approximately seven hundred. Some of the officers
and men had been appointed for special duties in connexion with gunnery,
torpedo work, navigation, wireless telegraphy, and engineering. The
duties which fell to the Royal Naval Air Service were naturally more
various and more complicated than those which fell to the Royal Flying
Corps. The Naval Air Service had to fly seaplanes and airships, as well
as aeroplanes. They had made more progress than the Military Wing in
fitting wireless telegraphy and in arming aircraft. They had in their
possession, when war broke out, thirty-nine aeroplanes and fifty-two
seaplanes, of which about half were ready for immediate use. They had
also seven airships, of which one, the little Willows airship, may be
left out of the reckoning, but of the others, the _Parseval_,
_Astra-Torres_, and _Beta_ did good work in the war. Some of the
aeroplanes and most of the seaplanes were fitted with more powerful
engines than any that were used by the Royal Flying Corps. Engines of
two hundred