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[[?]]

The jargon of the field is naturally towards the French, even though this is an American camp. When  starting the "moteur" the Sammy (!) says, "Coupé, Essence" instead of "switch off, suck in", and ^[[French]] "[[double underline]] Contact[[strikethrough]]e[[/strikethrough]] [[/double underline]] instead of ^[[English]] cont[[underline]]act [[/underline]]".  A French monitor is supervisor with an American officer in charge, at this writing.

While waiting for a mechanic to tune up one of the plugs on my bus yesterday I idly turned the pages of the log book which I found in a pocket inside the fuselage. I felt nearer the lines than ever when I found my curiosity satisfied by the  facts that the bus had been used as a double seater on reconnaissance and patrol work in the vicinity of Ostend and Zeebrugge, by Belgians and Frenchmen. I imagine all the machines used here are full of stories of flights over the fighting country.

(More than one U.S. "Doughboy" gets into the habit of 'yelling for "cognac" instead of "contact".)

Transcription Notes:
re. contact, in case it's unclear the writer's underlining suggests that on this air base in French the emphasis seems more on the first part of the word, whereas in his English example the emphasis is on the second syllable.