‘A Short Life in the Sky’: the story of a WWI pilot
Kut al Amara, April to May 1916 
(NRS reference: GD486/105)

Transcript:

I.E.F.[Indian Expeditionary Force] ‘D’
Mesopotamia
9th May 1916 

Dear Mother

By this time you will know about the failure to relieve Kut 
and our efforts to delay this by dropping food. I know that photographs of machines
carrying food have been faked up by the special correspondent of the
Central News Agency. So I think it is no longer unwise to say that I
by reason of a good machine, put in at least a quarter of the total amount 
dropped by R.N.A.S. [Royal Naval Air Service] and R.F.C. [Royal Flying Corps] together – which is something accomplished in 
this unsatisfactory campaign. In my last letter, I wrote that flying was 
getting horribly stale & unexciting, but neglecting to touch wood, my next 
trip was as exciting as anyone could wish. It was a food trip, and 
at that time I had beaten everybody else by doing the trip to Kut and 
back in 42 min[ute]s. I was trying to beat my own record & made a straight 
line for Kut passing over the lines at just 6000ft when – bang – and a shrapnel 
burst 10ft right of my tail. Within half a minute there was another in the same 
place. As this was the best shooting before or since that the Turks have done, 
I put on full speed and vacated that unhealthy region. I had hardly recovered 
from the cardiac stricture resulting from this excitement, when having 
dropped my food, I passed over another machine on the same errand and 
about 20ft lower. I waved to him & he to me, then chancing to look up 
there was Fritz on a brand new Fokker, pointing straight at me; scarcely 
50 yds away on my right. With a wild jerk I turned & dived underneath 
him, so escaping the two rounds he loosed off at me. By the time I had 
turned round, extracted my revolver from it's case and loaded it, he 
was 3 miles away having about 50 Knots more than I. Since then he 
has brought down one seaplane & put 45 shots each into two other 
land machines, but now that the pressure of work is over he goes his way 
& we go ours. Besides I have fitted my machine for 3 guns – so shall 
give him a warm welcome next time we meet. The Turks seem to 
be getting Cholera pretty badly & one or two cases have appeared among 
our men so I have had my first dose of innoculation today. 
Out of ten R.F.C. pilots there are only two left, the rest having gone 
down river with fever or dysentery. So Dunn & I on land machines 
are remaining here to give the R.F.C. a hand while the rest of the squadron 
goes down river to refit. 

By the time you get this I will perhaps be visiting Uncle Jimmie
as the Colonel - Colonel Gordon who used to fly at Leven - is trying
to get us each a month’s leave to India.

The heat here is getting strong – 105 in the shade today – but I don’t mind 
it so far & large doses of quinine keep off the hayfever quite a lot.

I am in quite a sticky state & as the sun is nearly set, I shall
go for a bathe in the muddy Tigris.

Much love to all
Douglas

P.S. I enclose 3 photos. Two are of the result of a Shimal, one of
the sudden fierce Dust storms prevalent here, and the other
a bad one taken on the Huntscastle of myself, Turner & Murray.