…... at Rugger on the 3rd and beat them 11 points to nil, and then in the evening we held our Concert in the transport hangar. General Longcroft and about 400 Officers and men saw the show, and we had a topping evening ending up with a cheery supper party in “A & B” Flight Mess. Those who were there will remember the punch brewed by Franks and how the Brigade Major - that best of fellows, Captain Walker - brought about his downfall by mixing beer with it.
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I don’t think anybody enjoyed January very much. The cold was intense and from the 8th to the 22nd we had bad weather with a lot of snow, and only on two occasions was any flying possible, and then only test and practice flights. This period of idleness was very trying for all concerned. The pilots needed a rest, it is true, but they had been rather shaken recently by a series of casualties, and the last thing they really wanted was cold and depressing weather with nothing to do but to sit over the fire, talk war, and get mouldy. It is to their everlasting credit that they got through this bad patch without loss of keenness or morale, and it was more apparent than ever to me that I had the support of the finest crowd of fellows ever. Flying was resumed on January 23rd in intensely cold weather with snow lying thick on the ground, and work went on over the lines every day until the end of the month. A biting east wind with from 15 to 20 degrees of frost during the day, and much colder at night, made everybody sit up, and on top of this the days were not being lucky ones for the Squadron. There were not a lot of Huns about, but the ones that did come over were showing more boldness and they were making a practice of crossing our lines to take photographs, and to do artillery work, Try as we might, we hadn’t been able to bring any down, and we had annoyed Generals and other people, and had ourselves been very much ann
oyed, thereby. On the 24th of January Mackenzie failed to return from an offensive patrol and we learnt eventually from the German Air Service that he had been brought down in combat and buried at Achiet-le-Grand, near Bapaume. I find it quite impossible to express adequately my admiration for this splendid Officer and great gentleman. In the air, a fine pilot and a brainy and courageous leader who inspired immediate and lasting confidence, and whom the Flight would follow anywhere. On the ground, a keen student of air tactics and fighting methods, a first-class organiser, a loyal and able Officer and the life and soul of any Mess. Small wonder that he was a universal favourite and that we looked upon his loss as irreparable.
