Letters of James Stuart Leslie Ross, 1918-1919 - Part 4

4
our sleeve - will be a pretty
bad look out if we haven't.
We are superior in the air although
the Hun in some places is getting
a bit gamer. Still they'll never
beat us there (I'm sure now that the S E is
the best bn in France) 
Was very pleased to hear that
Harry Duncan is getting the M M.
Some time ago when I saw Greg
Basclain in London he was  ill & 
spoke of giving up flying. But
he's recovered & came out to our
Camel Sqdn a couple of day ago. I've
seen quite a bit of him in the
last few weeks
Please Keep addressing mail to Whitburn
they send them on.
Best love to all the family
Yr loving Son Les.
 

Hospital
France.
9^th May, 1918
Dear Mum,
Have been at the
above address a  couple of weeks
but there's nothing seriously the
matter. Influenza & I'm having

trouble with my Gums - its very
prevalent in France just now. I
have mouth washes & gt  paint them
with stuff. They're practically
OK again & I will be out
shortly. I prefer being at the
war but really we're well
off here. Good food & beds etc.
Im haven't to stay in bed, so I'm
lucky. We get concerts pretty often
 

2
& one of the boys in hospital is a
beautiful pianist - he is supposed
to be the best in Wales.
I got a couple of Austln
letters yesty - one from Jean &
a double-barrelled one from Dad
& yourself dated March 7^th. Needless
to say , I was "welly plea".
We are getting some glorious
weather now  - long, warm days.

I'm itching to get back to
the Squadron for some flying. There's
a lull on the front just at
present, but, I expect the Hun
will make another attempt in
a few days
Poor Jean has been having

a Summer at Bourke alright
 

3
but it should be better now.
Glad to hear Bob likes Young
I didn't know he'd moved. He's
a great lad altho' he doesn't
write -  we can make up for
that when we get back in tack
I suppose
It's about bed time now
so must be off.
Will be able for write more
interesting letters when I get
back to work.
Much love to all
Les.
 

No 2Sqdn. a.F.C,
France,
20^th July, 1918
Dear Mum,
I came down here again
the day before yesterday from the Depot
at which I was stationed whilst delivering
machines. I had a very decent 3
weeks there taking machines to different
Squadrons & Depots. One day we
went to England as there was a shortage
there of Ferry Pilots. We went across in
a huge machine - 18 of us in all - that's
a pretty good load for one aeroplane
isn't it? As it was late when we
arrived we stayed the night at Folkestone
& each flew a machine back in the
morning.  I brought one of a comparatively
new type known as a Dolphin & came
across the Channel at about 500 feet.
We are pretty comfortable here although
 

2
we are in tents. The weather is quite
warm. We will be erecting huts shortly
&  I think will stay here for some time
unless there's a big push up this
way. The French troops are doing very
well just is present, & everyone is very
optimistic. Lots of Yanks about & they're
splendid chaps. They're going to do very
well indeed. There's very little of
the German Flying Corps to be seen
seen recently. Probably they are
saving up machines & personnel for
some big stunt. At present, the
British superiority is very marked. They
continually bomb the Hun towns &
aerodromes etc all day long. The Huns
never come across by day but do a
lot at night. of course at night its
very difficult to prevent as the 'archie'
is never very efficient & it's too dark
for fighting in the air.
I haven't had much mail for a
long while. I think it went
astray but will turn up sooner
 

3
sooner or later. Someone readdressed
them to 2 Sqdn R.FC. instead of a.F.C.
I think.
Hoping that you are all quite well
will now close with much
love from
Les.

 

Hospital, 
France, Monday 9. 9. 18
Dear Mum, 
Its nearly a
fortnight since I last wrote
but things have been 
fairly quiet until a few
days ago. The old Hun
has been coming out of his

shell for the past week &
has accounted for quite
a number of British machines.
The other Austln Scout
Sqdn sent out a patrol of
5 a week ago & only 1 got 
back. However we get the
best of the deal. A great
deal of our losses were caused
by people becoming over-
confident owing to the previous
inactivity of the Bosch. By
playing a shrewd game, we

can easily beat him.
Well, I daresay ere this
you have been advised from

Melbourne that your son

 

2
is suffering from a bullet 
wound in the right thigh. It's

nothing much & I'll be O.K.
again shortly. The bullet
went across the back of 
my thigh leaving a cut about
3 inches long & not very deep.
I'll now tell you how I
received same.
Our Flight was over the 
Hun lines on Friday evening
(6^th) tootling along at about
17000 ft.  At About 7 pm we 
observed 7 or 8 "Fokker Biplanes
a couple of thousand feet
below us. (I might say that
these Fokkers are about the best
machine the Huns possess just 
now & equal to if not better
that than anything we've got.
He's bringing out a lot of
new types now) I picked out
a Hun & dived vertically at a
great speed on him firing
both my machine guns. When 
about a hundred yds from 
him I noticed another Hun
on my left climbing for all
he was worth.