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German parachutists dropped right on top of the fortresses, where they were out of range of the big guns, and went on foot over the forts dropping grenades into the gun openings, Stamina of Pilots Severely Tested What little air fighting there has been has generally taken place out of sight, because combats occur at 30,000 feet in the air, Pilots consider anything below 20,000 feet a dangerously low fighting height, In such air battles, the stamina of the pilots is severely tested and, in Swit manceuvering, it is not unusual when they dive 5,000 or 10,000 feet, In pulling out of such dives there is a tremendous strain on men and machines, "When a plane is damaged or catches on fire and the fliers have to bail out, they often encounter great difficulties in getting free of the plane, The fighter cockpits are so small that the average flier is pried in and out of the cockpit like a shoehorn used on a tight shoe, To get out of their planes easily they simply turn the plane on its back, push back the glass cover which they call the "green. house" and, by pushing with their hands the sides of the cockpit the fliers squeeze themselves out, They try to drop about 5,000 feet to get clear of the battle before they pull the ripcord and float the rest of the way by parachute, French Pilot's Experience ^I talked to one French pilot who had bailed out at 30,000 feet and lost consciousness until he was cooled by passing through a rain cloud," the correspondent reports. "The cold water acted like a shower-bath, reviving him"in time to pull the ripcord. Another flier told me he lighted and smoked a cigarette on the way down after dropping 5,000 feet like a plummet.
"The worst sensation I experienced during the entire time at the front was the inability to escape the dive bombers. - They are poison at 500 feet. The dive bombers cruise around so low that they cannot be hit by anti-aircraft guns on the ground. They are twin-motored planes with a high-pitched tone in their motors that is impossible to mistake."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.