24 February , 1916 8:16 Senard, Verdun Sector Escadrille N37 Sergent Gaston A. Voscadeaux
It is the 4th day of the German offensive and it doesn't look good for the French side. The Poilus are being pushed back to the third line and the German troops advancing on the city are only 8 km away. A new general had been appointed for the Verdun sector to stem German advance, Henri Philippe Petain. His order of the battle was that there will be no more withdrawals and arranged for every spare French soldier to be deployed to the sector. Forts Vaux and Douaumont are still holding out. Today was a very quick hop to the front lines NW of Senard for a bit of arty spotting. Someone heard of an outfit getting across the lines and bringing back useful information. Yet another army commander requested N37 to do the ranging for them. As they were approaching their first waypoint, Gaston saw a flash and a column of smoke rise in the distance near the Brocourt-en-Argonne aerodrome. The smoke was visible in the mist. He didn't want to think about it right now and set his mind to the task at hand. There will be plenty of time to mourn fallen comrades if he survives himself.
S.Ltn. Medeville was the single escort in the ‘A’ Flight. Gaston watched as the much faster N10 raced ahead toward the front lines. It was then that he noticed 2 small dots floating over the NML, just below the dark clouds. Voscadeaux watched as S.Ltn. Medeville drop down like a hawk on two spots below and all disappeared into the clouds. And that was it. That was the last they saw them. Gaston kept on sweeping the skies, expecting the Boche come out of the clouds and pounce on them. The attack never came and they were able to complete their mission and return home without any incidents. Medeville had already landed when they approached the aerodrome. In the mess everyone was listening to S.Ltn. Medeville telling of his kill. The Fokkers were in disarray when he pounced on them and he immediately shot down one of them. The other one went to hide in the dense cloud cover. He will probably get a medal for this. Gaston was listening intently with everyone else and thought that one day he will be the one to report of his victories over the dreaded Fokker.
"Take the cylinder out of my kidneys, The connecting rod out of my brain, my brain, From out of my arse take the camshaft, And assemble the engine again."