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Aviation History
1914
1914 - 1105.PDF
NOVEMBER 6, 1914. station square at Lichtevelde, where a considerable quantity of war material was heaped, and much damage was done. Three Germans were killed. In the official " wireless " news sent out from Berlin on October 30th were the following items, neither of which have been confirmed up to the time of going to press :— "A Zeppelin is reported to have flown over Paris on Wednesday, dropping bombs, which did great damage. According to the Frankfurter Zeitung, eight persons were killed and many injured. French airmen endeavoured in vain to attack the German aircraft. " The inhabitants of London are leaving the capital for Scotland through fear of German airships." From Flushing it was reported that on Saturday after noon at four o'clock an aeroplane was seen at Breskens dropping bombs, notwithstanding that a Taube was pur suing it. Both disappeared in a south-westerly direction. Shortly afterwards five aeroplanes came Into sight. The following is an extract from an officer in the Royal Field Artillery :— " A German aeroplane was brought down quite near us yester day. It landed easily. The men were captured, the engine removed, and the rest burnt. We've seen a good few German planes, but many more of the Allies' ones. It is a helpless feeling to see a plane a great height up observing you and know he can't be touched except with a lucky shot from a special gun." According to a Daily Mail correspondent, writing from " Belgium " on Saturday, with regard to the opera tions in the Dixmude and Ypres districts :— "The German aeroplanes have been very busy in this district during the past four days. On Thursday they dropped five bombs on Ypres, seriously wounding two women and slightly wounding a French officer. Elsewhere only material damage has been done." Another correspondent in a message from Calais, dated Sunday, said :— " When the history of this war comes to be written the British airman will no doubt receive his just due ; for the moment he is the most handicapped and criticised unit in the field. A mistake by him is so vital. As if dozens of shells bursting around him, and thousands of bullets whizzing by, were not enough to put him off his work, the enemy has now started poisoning him as he sails through space 7,000 and 8,000 feet up. Latterly our airmen have noticed a strange rainbow effect in the bursting shell cloud—green, yellow, and even black, besides the ordinary white. And on coming to earth our flyers have complained of dizziness and sickness. Death sealed the lips of two who fell for no apparent reason." A special correspondent of the Sta?idard, writing under date of October 31st, from "Near the Belgian Coast," said:— " German aeroplanes have been busy this week throughout this district. Many bombs have been dropped, but very little damage has been done. The Allies' airmen are more than a match for the German. "A British aviator said to me yesterday : ' The most trying part of our work is something that would never occur to you. We don't mind the chances of a bullet hitting us. A fight with an enemy's aeroplane is fine sport, and the Germans cannot lick us at that. But when they get their high-angle guns at work on us the dis turbance of the air is so great that it is as much as ever you can do to control your machine. It plunges up and down and rolls side ways so that, do what you will, it nearly turns over. You hardly know whether you are upside-down or not. I've been in plenty of bad weather at sea, and it's worse than anything I ever suffered in a boat. It makes me downright sick, just like a bad attack of sea-sickness.'" The following details regarding an aerial engagement on the east of Amiens were telegraphed from Paris on Sunday by the Central News:— " Captain Moris, returning from a reconnaissance which had lasted five hours, went in pursuit of a Taube. Shortly afterwards a second Taube appeared, and another French aeroplane, piloted by Captain de Verniettes, with Sergeant Gilbert as passenger, entered the fray. There was a sharp exchange of shots, which ended in one of the German machines being damaged by the French fire and falling in its own lines." _ A Daily Mail correspondent thus describes an incident which occurred at Thielt on Sunday :— " The Kaiser unfortunately missed by a quarter of an hour a splendid exhibition of liomb-throwing by a British airman, because fifteen minutes after he had departed a British monoplane appeared above the town. It circled around for about an hour. The airmen dropped six or eight bombs, some of them with terrible result. Most of them fell round the market-place. The town hall and the Palace of Justice were hit and damaged considerably. Three bombs exploded in the market-place, killing two German soldiers. So great was the conclusion that a large number of windows were smashed. The population were not greatly alarmed. My infor mant stated they had a previous experience of bomb-throwing from a Zeppelin a month or two ago." From Mr. Alan Bott, the special correspondent of the Daily Chronicle, the following message from " Lake Constance " was received in London on the and inst. :— " ' Zeppelinmania' has led to a great deal of exaggeration. The statement that the new Zeppelins, said to be destined for a raid on London, have aluminium covers as a protection for the envelope against bombs and shells is incorrect. In regard to the two airships now completing at Friedrichshafen, I learn that several experiments have been made with various substances, but so far these etl'oits to make the Zeppelins bomb-proof have been unsuccessful. If Count Zeppelin persists in his determination to find a suitable cover, his new treasures at Friedrichshafen may not be ready for another three or four weeks." Dealing with a parade of Belgian and French troops before King Albert and President Poincare" at Fumes, on Monday, a Morning Post correspondent said : — " Shortly before nine, as the town square awaited its guests, a more rude reminder came. A Taubc, eluding our air scouts and soaring over the town at a great height, dropped a bomb. It missed the square, and spent its murderous rage harmlessly on a building near the railway station. Not a soldier in the ranks flinched. The parade calmly waited." The following incident was reported by a Daily Mail correspondent on Monday :— " Another air-fight, very characteristic of the fighting qualities of the British, and indeed German, airmen occurred in recent fighting round Ypres. Two British aeroplanes went in pursuit of a Taubc that was both reconnoitring and throwing bombs. Our men were armed with carbines and saloon pistols. After some manuuvring they succeeded in putting a bullet through the petrol tank of the Taube. In spite of this the Germans managed to plane successfully to the ground ; and leaving their machine they ran to a wood some two miles off. The hue-and-cry was raised, and fifty or more British and Belgians hurried to the search. The game of hide-and-seek lasted long, but after an hour or so a Belgian soldier spied the foot of one of the Germans, who had wriggled up a drain. The other man also was captured a few minutes latter. Both men wore the Iron Cross, and the captors were very disappointed at not being allowed to take them as mementoes. ' He burned my house down at Liege ; why shouldn't I have his Iron Cross ?' was the Belgian argument. The two airmen, who were very fine men, had one consolation in captivity : they would be able to grow some hair. When taken their heads were shaved as bald as a razor could make them." The Morning Post correspondent at Cettinje wired on Nov. 2nd:— " A number of Austrian aeroplanes yesterday threw bombs on Antivari, which was also the object of attack by the enemy's Maxims. About a dozen bombs were aimed at a French tramport which had arrived at the port with munitions under the escort of three torpedo boats, but fortunately without effect. Twenty bombs fell near the palace and the Prefecture, and some Italian buildings, the latter being partially damaged. The Royal yacht was also the object of attack, but the l>omb fell at the side of the vessel. In BO case was there any loss of life. French and Montenegrin artillery was directed against the aeroplanes, but the latter had ascended to too great a height for any result to be attained." In a commiinioue issued by the Belgian Government on November 2nd, it was stated that the Russians had captured an aviation park from the retreating Germans in Poland. In a message to the Daily Mail from the north of France on Tuesday, Mr. G. Ward Price said :— " An important aerial reconnaissance was carried out to-day by Belgian airmen. Exact details are wanting, but it appears that they were able to observe in the German lines a distinct movement of retreat in the direction of Brussels." 1105
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