Death
On the morning of March 26, 1918, during the opening phase of the offensive, Bolling and his driver, Private Paul L. Holder of the 22nd Aero Squadron, left their hotel in Amiens, headed for the British aerodrome at Harbonnières. They found it deserted and continued driving east toward the front lines, where they encountered three British Army officers in Estrées-Deniécourt, including a major with whom Bolling had an acquaintance. The officers indicated that to the best of their knowledge the oncoming German forces were still five kilometers distant. With this assurance, they headed towards a hill about 2.5 km away from which they might be able to observe the battlefield. Only Bolling was armed, and that an officer's service revolver.
After driving only 300 meters, their car was ambushed by hidden German machine guns on both sides of the Amiens-Saint-Quentin Road (49°52′30″N 2°46′48″E / 49.875°N 2.780°E / 49.875; 2.780 (Amiens-Saint Quentin Road)). Before Holder could turn the car around, German fire disabled its motor. Holder and Bolling took cover in separate shell holes, which were connected by a ditch that enabled Bolling to see Holder. The fire of the machine guns lasted fifteen minutes, after which two German soldiers approached Holder's position. When one of them fired twice at the unarmed Holder crouching in his hole, Bolling shot and killed the German with his revolver. The other soldier killed Bolling with two shots, one to the chest and the other to the head.
The German troops continued west, and while Holder pretended to be dead in hope of escaping through the lines after dark, he was captured a half hour later by follow-on troops and made a prisoner of war. Bolling was the first high-ranking air service officer killed on the battlefield in World War I.
Read more about this topic: Raynal Bolling
Famous quotes containing the word death:
“We like the chase better than the quarry.... And those who philosophize on the matter, and who think men unreasonable for spending a whole day in chasing a hare which they would not have bought, scarce know our nature. The hare in itself would not screen us from the sight of death and calamities; but the chase, which turns away our attention from these, does screen us.”
—Blaise Pascal (1623–1662)
“For the wretched one night is like a thousand; for someone faring well death is just one more night.”
—Sophocles (497–406/5 B.C.)