Aleck A. MacKinley April 12, 1916 RFC-29, St. Omer Confirmed Kills: ONE!
One of the replacement pilots arrived yesterday; 2nd Lt. Cutting. My God, the lad has only an hour of flight time in a DH2 and seems scared out of his wits. He went along with A-Flight this morning to get some flight time in. A rough start for him as it was horrible flying weather (rain and windy).
We had our first balloon busting mission this morning. James and I were lead in by Pat Jameson and the foul weather might have helped us as the enemy gunners protecting the balloon were none to accurate. Pat and James made one pass each and buggered off. I decided to stick it out and after firing about 200 rounds, the balloon exploded on my third attack. The fireball was huge and I flew through a part of it but no damage done. No remorse in taking down the balloon as the occupant had parachuted away on our first attack. Phone calls to forward units of 2nd Army near Lens confirmed the kill ... my first!