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American Fighter Aces
Series 1

Intermittent dense clouds and strong winds had curtailed most flying between the Meuse and Moselle on 31 May, 1918. Nevertheless, Lt. Douglas Campbell and Lt. Eastman, of the 94th Aero Squadron, managed to get airborne in their Nieuport 28s. Near Lironville, shortly after 8:00 AM, they encountered two German Rumpler observation planes at 2,500 meters.

The two Nieuports separated, Campbell taking one Rumpler and Eastman the other. Then began a twisting, turning game of cat-and-mouse; the Rumpler turning to evade Campbell's Nieuport, with the Nieuport maneuvering to close in and yet avoid the deadly fire of the German observer's ring-mounted gun. Within five minutes, the desperate German had exhausted his ammunition and Campbell moved in for the kill. As he turned in toward the Rumpler, Campbell watched as the observer stood up in his seat and tore his maps apart, obviously to avoid their falling into enemy hands. Campbell wrote later: "The gunner was a true sport. He tore up his map and stood up to take his medicine." As the bits of paper fluttered downward, Campbell attacked with his single Vickers gun.The Rumpler rolled over and dived straight into the ground."