Well done everyone. Kills and medals and all that; gives a young Scotsman something to aspire to ...
Aleck A. MacKinlay March 11, 1916
Loos Junction yet again. Gerber dropped out over the lines with engine trouble and cracked up his plane with a rough landing. White and I carried on and damaged the railyard. No doubt the Hun will have it all repaired by nightfall so we can do it all again tomorrow.
We got terrible news on our return. Captain Brown, the best pilot in the squadron with five kills and no less a fine fellow in person was killed today. Buckminster saw it all; his Bristol caught on fire and burned. No wonder we never saw them arrive over the target with us. Probably an engine problem of some kind. Ghastly; what a horrible way to die. The mechanics that worked on his plane are in a positive funk of despair. We pilots are no better; the danger of simply flying one of these flammable death traps is brought home to all of us today in a very real way.
Aleck A. MacKinlay March 12, 1916
Artillery spotting SW of Armentieres; Uneventful trip to the target and we ranged the guns in short order. We saw two monoplanes crossing our path on the way home and got quite worried, but they turned out to be a pair of Parasols. I commented to Chis when we landed that I wouldn't want to be one of those poor blighters flying a spindly contraption like that - likely to break in half at the first quick maneuver. Chris seemed to think it was alright, saying that he could do his job much better if he wasn't cooped up under the wing and hemmed in by struts as he is in our BE2. He has a point.