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Aviation History
1914
1914 - 0920.PDF
(7JJGHT) SEPTEMBER 4, 1914. AIRCRAFT AND THE WAR. ACTUAL details as to the work which is being accom plished by aircraft in connection with the war are still very scanty, but some of the wounded soldiers who have returned from the firing line tell of the part taken by the German machines in directing artillery fire. Here, for instance, is one characteristic story as related by one of those wounded near Mons to Mr. Hamilton Fyfe, of the Daily Mail:— " In the daytime they had aeroplanes to tell them where to drop their shells. They were flying about all the time. One came a bit too near. Our gunners, a long way behind us, you know, waited and let him come on. He thought he was all right. Two thousand feet he was up, I dare say. We could hear his engine. " He may have made a lot of notes, but they weren't any use to him or anybody, for all of a sudden our gunners let fly at him. We could see the thing stagger, and then it dropped like a stone, all crumpled up. Good bye, Mr. Flying Man ! That was the end of him." Another wounded soldier said : "One of the aeroplanes which had been hovering overhead for some time had apparently managed to give the German artillery our range. We thought the German airmen had been sending back the range by wireless, until a little disc with the distance scrawled on it fell near one of our trenches and gave the show away." According to another account the German machines signalled the range by dropping or raising a disc sus pended beneath the machine. A report from Ostend on the 27th stated that aero planes were utilised to send messages recalling some thousands of German troops stationed in the little villages of Courtrai to reinforce those at Charleroi. On the same day4 in a message from Petrograd—to use the new official name of the Russian capital—it was mentioned that the Kaiser, having taken a note out of the Frenchman's book, had been utilising aeroplanes to distribute proclamations, promising Poles protection and undisturbed enjoyment of their own customs and religion. The following was included in the official wireless message sent out from Berlin on the 28th ult. :— "The German airship •Schiitte-Lanz' when near Krasnik was vigorously assailed by the enemy without suffering any damage. The vessel remained in the air for 13 hours at Lublin. It was attacked not only by the infantry but by the artillery, and its rear gas cells were struck 25 times by rifle shots. Repairs to the cover of the balloon were carried out during the journey, in the course of which the commander succeeded in making numerous observations. On returning to headquarters the crew, none of whom were injured, were accorded an enthusi astic welcome." On the 28th ult., Zeppelins were reported to have been seen at Loenstrup and Skaw in Jutland and at Turnhout. In the last mentioned case the dirigible was said to be going in the direction of Antwerp. The dastardly work of the Zeppelin during its raid in the early hours of the 25th ult. has raised a chorus of disapproval the world over, and especially in America. It is a curious and, possibly some people may think, a significant coincidence and omen that among the things which suffered from the bombs were large busts of the Kaiser and of Bismarck, both of which were considerably damaged. A message from Petrograd on the 29th- ult. gave the information that a Zeppelin had bombarded the railway station at Mlava (just over the border of Russian Poland). Being pursued and shot at, it was brought down about five miles from the railway station. There were eight soldiers in the car, with two quickfirers and explosives. A Belgian officer from Malines reported that he saw a German aviator shot while flying, and he concluded from the manner in which the body was subsequently buried by the Prussians that he must have been a man of unusual distinction. Writing from Paris on the 29th ult., The Times corres pondent says:— " The present war has been remarkable for the services rendered by airmen. They have displayed remarkable courage, coolness and resource. General Pau, the hero of the recapture of Miilhausen, has just bestowed the military medal, a coveted decoration for feats of war, upon the airman Gilbert. The latter was flying close to Miilhausen when the stoppage of his engine forced him to descend within rifle range. Happily at that moment his motor restarted, and Gilbert was able to reach the French lines. He had previously thrown all his projectiles, and his machine was riddled with bullets. Wounded in the arm, Gilbert has gone into the hospital of Limoges, but hopes presently to rejoin his duty. Corporal Finck, of the French Air Battalion, who destroyed a Zeppelin and two Taube apparatus by dropping a bomb on their hangar, has been promoted to be sergeant. " A pilot airman of the Reserve stationed at the avia tion centre of St, Cyr, has just accomplished a particularly bold flight of over 400 miles. He flew to the frontier on a new biplane, and has just returned to his base at St. Cyr with the machine riddled with bullets. It had taken part in an adventurous raid in which Zeppelin sheds and their contents had been destroyed." A message from Amsterdam gives some details of a trip to Brussels by a French airman :— " On Saturday afternoon, the biplane was at once fired upon by the Germans, but the French pilot twice circled the town, dropping hundreds of pamphlets with the inscription : ' Prenez courage ! Delivrance bientot!' and then disappeared after giving an exhibition of upside-down flying." On Sunday afternoon five bombs were dropped over Paris from an aeroplane, resulting in the death of one woman, while two persons were injured. The fatality occured in the Rue des Vinaigriers. Two other bombs exploded on the Quai Valfhy near St. Martin's Hospital, while the other two which fell in the Rue Marcin and the Rue Recollect failed to explode. According to Le Temps a message reading " The German Army is at your gates —you can do nothing but surrender, Lieut, von Heidssen " (? Hiddessen) was also dropped. Two bombs were also dropped on Tuesday, one falling near the Gare St. Lazare and the other in the Rue Hanovre near the opera house. An attempt was made by two British soldiers to bring the machine down by rifle fire, but owing to the great height at which the German machine was flying their efforts we/e not successful. The following despatch from the Daily Telegraph's correspondent written from Paris on Sunday throws some interesting side-lights on the work of the French aviators:— " The aviators with the forces appear to be doing excellent work and to be in great spirits. At one place four aerial reconnaissances had to be carried out daily 920
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