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Aviation History
1914
1914 - 1181.PDF
DECEMBER 4, 1914. Zeppelin sheds between noon and two o'clock, when, as thev knew all the workmen would be absent for their midday meal' This proof of humanitarian respect for non-combatants is highly apnre- ciated in Switzerland." ' vv A Central News message from Berne on Tuesday stated:— ' " The British and French Ministers have informed the Federal Council that an inquiry has been ordered concerning the alleged violation of the frontier by aiimen operating with the Allies' forces. In the meanwhile the strictest injunctions have been placed upon airmen to respect Swiss neutrality." The following statement was officially published in Berne on the 2nd inst. :— " In discussing the alleged violation of Swiss neutrality by English avia-ors, a section of the Swiss Press his reproduced statements from the South German papers suggesting that the British Minister at Berne, Sir Evelyn Grant-Duff, hid infringed Swiss neutrality. It is the fact that at the beginning of November the Minister took a motor trip into the Swiss Rhineland and the Lake Constance district and stopp-.d among other places at Romanshorn. With the permission of the priest he climbed the steeple of the church there, but it has been established that on that day the weather was misty, and it was impossible, at all events, with the naked eye, to see Friedrichshafen and the German shore of the lake. " It has also been established that none of the three aviators who afterwards took part in the Friedrichshafen raid were with the Minister on his trip, and it may be mentioned that in making a applica'ion for the necessary permit he gave the General Staff an exact indication of the plan of his tour. The reports that the Federal Council had asked or intended to ask for the recall of the Minister are without any foundation. "The following statements which have found publicity in the Press, especially the German papers, are equally untrue: (I) That the Public Prosecutor had been instructed to make a searching inquiry into the matter; (2) that the Federal Council had issued a fresh order as to the measures to be taken against foreign military aviators; (3) that a strict inquiry had been opened as to the responsibility of the officers commanding the troops on the frontier ; and (4) that the Federal Government had sent the Imperial German Government an explanatory Note." A Vienna despatch printed in the Vossische Zeitung of November 27th said :— " Postal communication with the besieged fortress (Prremysl) is maintained by aeroplanes, which bring letters, &c, to the nearest field post-office for transmission. Postcards from Przemysl received by this means in Vienna bear the following message : ' All goes well with us. Have no anxiety.'" In a message to the Daily Mail from Petrograd on the 27th ult, Mr. H. Hamilton Fyfe said: — " I explained some days ago the difficulties, amounting usually to an impossibility, of u ing aeroplanes in such a country as the Germans had to traverse. It appears now that the German ignorance of what the Russians were doing was mainly due to the inability of the air scouts to provide the staff with information. Their cavalry was of little u;e in reconnaissance. According to general testimony of the Russian officers at the front, their generals were accustomed to rely on aeroplanes in the same way as they are in the habit of basing their strategy upon the use of railways. In this case they had the assistance of neither, and suffered accordingly. In the official French communique issued on Saturday afternoon there was the following :•— " Towards evening our artillery brought down a German biplane occupied by three aviators. One was killed and the others were taken prisoners." The following details regarding an incident which occurred on November 18th were published semi-officially in Paris on Saturday :— " About half-past six o'clock while a sergeant of one of our air squadrons, with an observer, was returning from a reconnais ance he noticed a German aeroplane going in the direction of Amiens. He set out in pursuit, but the speed of his machine being slightly inferior he could not overtake the enemy before the latter reached Amiens. , " The enemy, an Aviatik machine, having made a certain number of evolutions in order to drop bombs on the aerodrome and then on the village of Cailly, was overtaken, and the lieutenant fired about a hundred shots from a machine gun, slightly damaging the machine, but without succeeding in hitting either the pilot or the vital parts of the machine. The Aviatik flew away. " The sergeant then made for an Albatros, which was likewise flying over Cailly, and prepared to attack it, but the Albatros, with I/XICHT a desperate manoeuvre, made a sudden half-turn and went straight for the sergeant's aeroplane. The sergeant, in order to avoid a collision, turned his machine over to such an extent that the machine gun was thrown from its mounting and fell into the body. By the time the Frenchman had lecovertd his balance the AtWros had been able to get away. " At the same time another sergeant, who had just alighted in the aerodrome at Amiens aftt r making a reconnaissance, caught >ight of the enemy aeroplanes which were flying over the city. He returned to his Morane, accompanied by a mechanic, and set off in puisuit. He caught up the Aviatik just as it had left Amiens, prevented it from returning to the German lines and chased it as far as the neighbourhood of Montdidier. " The mechanic fired ten shots with his earbinc without managing to bring the Aviatik down. On the other hand, the French aero plane was struck by three bullets, one of which went thiough its tank and another through the passenger's seat. The chase was given up for want of ammunition. On his return the mechanic, who had set out hastily without even having time to wrap hum. If up, had to go to bed, having part of his left hand frost-bitten." " On the same day at about 10.45 lnc Morar.e aeioplane, with a lieutenant and a corporal on board, tet out 10 reconnoitre the defence works of the enemy round Dompkrre, when they, too, came across the enemy aeroplane. Both pilot and passenger, though only armed with revolveis, attacked resolutely, but a shot from the German's quickfirer cut one of the ttays of the wings of their machine and they had to descend with all speed. It was thanks to the coolness and skill of the pilot that they managed to reach the aerodrome at Amiens without the machine having broken up in the air." An official note published in Paris on Saturday gave the following details of an exploit, on September yth, of a squadron of French Dragoons who got cut off at a farm in the German lines :— "Hearing of a German aviation park between Soissons and Compiegne, the officer in command decided to make an attack at 2.30 a.m. Two troops approached the Germans on foot and, at a distance of 40 metres, opened lire, while a third troop on horseback charged at the gallop. The horsemen were annihilated by a machine gun placed at the head of the convoy of cars, but the two troops on foot dashed to the assault and killed the German machine gun crew. A fierce fusillade ensued, the Germans bravely returning the French fire. Meanwhile, the pioneers of the two troop destroyed the aeroplanes, smashing the motors and oil tanks with pickaxes. Three wagons containing petrol were set on fire and lit up the scene. The central car, which appeared to contain the senior German officer, still remained untouched, however. " The lieutenant and three men crawled towards it, and, rising to their feet they came face to face with two Germans, one of whom was an officer. The latter fired his Browning pistol point blank, killing the three men and wounding the lieutenant in the arm. The French officer fired back and killed his adversary. The other German knocked down the lieutenant with the butt end of his rifle, but the gallant officer succeeded in crawling away and eventually escaped. Only ten Frenchmen came back of the troops engaged. They lay hidden for three days in the village among the German lines. They were finally released on September 13th by the entry of a victorious division of French infantry." In a message to the Daily Mail from Rotterdam on Sunday evening Mr. James Dunn said :— " The Allies' aeroplanes have discovered that the German line has been weakened. " Yesterday five allied warplanes dropped nine Ixjmbs on Ghent, doing much damage to the military stores there. Machine and ami aircraft guns have been placed on the Hallen tower at Bruges as a defence against the British warplanes, the frequent appearance of which drives the soldiers to the shelter of the houses. So far no warplane has been hit." In a despatch dated Friday Mr. Dunn wrote :— " During the last two days the allied warplanes have dominated the air. The Germans fear the aeroplanes even more than they fear the bayonet, for every flight is followed by deadly artillery fire, especially from the big British guns, which easily outrange the German artillery with the exception of the guns of position." Under the heading of "An Unjust Charge" the Frankfurter Zeitung printed the following a day or two ago :— " On November 7th we reproduced from the Berliner Lekal- anzeiger an extract from a war letter, which described how a British flying officer had compelled a captive German soldier, who was naked, to accompany him in order to betray the German positions. The machine, it was added, descended behind the German lines, and the officer was shot. It is gratifying to find, as Il8l
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