FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1915
1915 - 0050.PDF
[/OGHTJ The following account of a foiled attack on Amiens was received from Paris on Tuesday :— " Taking advantage of the fine weather, the Germans sent one of their Taubes to Amiens. A French aeroplane at once ascended and gave chase. The pilot succeeded in rising above the German. Between Cardolette and Querrieu a fight began, but did not last long, the German soon being seen to swerve. By a supreme effort he succeeded in righting his machine, but a few minutes later he crashed to the ground. The pilot on board, a lieutenant, was slightly wounded, and, after having his injuries attended to, was made prisoner. The observer, a captain, was killed, and the body was conveyed to the morgue. The German aeroplane was not bady damaged. "A second Taube also made its appearance yesterday afternoon around Amiens, but it received such a warm greeting that it was speedily compelled to seek safety in flight." The Daily Telegraph correspondent at Rotterdam wrote on Wednesday :— " The Berliner Allgemeine Zcititng asserts, in headlines right across its front page, that London has been visited by the enemy's aircraft. ' German air attack against London ; Zeppelin and squadron of aircraft over the Thames,' are the words which, in great black letters, attract at the first glance the attention of this newspaper's readers. Its introduction to a number of telegrams is as follows:— " 'After England has had to experience, through our cruisers and submarines, that though an island she is not by any means safe from attack, she has now to acquire the dangerous knowledge of how German bombs operate. Our aircraft has paid sea-commanding Britannia a visit, and afforded a new and brilliant proof of the bravery of our aeronauts. What we have heard of the appearance of German aircraft over Calais has been in effect that a squadron flew in the direction of Dover.' " The Copenhagen correspondent of the AUgemeine Ztitung turns the matter the other way round. He says that a great German squadron of aircraft, at least sixteen strong, during the week-end visited the mouth of the Thames, probably with the intention of attacking London. The weather was, however, so unfavourable, because of fog and heavy rain, that the squadron flew along the coast until it reached Dover, where some bombs were thrown. Afterwards it proceeded in the direction of Dunkirk. " We are asked to believe that this squadron consisted of fifteen aeroplanes and a Zeppelin. "The Berliner Tageblatt is more cautious. Its version of the affair is that the squadron reached the Channel, with the intention of proceeding to England, but that, owing to delay caused by bad weather, it had to return in the direction of Dunkirk." Another Daily Telegraph correspondent, writing from Boulogne on Wednesday, said :— " Despite the severe regime imposed by the Germans, the Lillois are not without news. The Abbe Lemire has arranged on several occasions for the throwing by aeroplanes of copies of his paper, the ® ® R.N.A.S. Officers Honoured. IN the official announcement of the Investiture held by H.M. the King at Buckingham Palace on the 13th inst., it was recorded that among those who were invested by the King with the insignia of Companion of the Dis tinguished Service Order were Flight Commander J. T. Babington, R.N.A.S., and Flight Lieut. Sidney Sippe, R.N.A.S. It will be recalled that these officers, together with Squadron Commander Briggs, who is now a prisoner in Germany, took part in the air raid on the Zeppelin works at Friedrichshafen. Locating the " Konigsberg." IN an account in the Daily Telegraph of the nth inst. of the sinking of the German cruiser "Konigsberg " as detailed by Captain Willett of the s.s. "Newbridge" there was the following :— " The German cruiser had so effectively concealed herself not only amongst the palms, but by actually covering the ship with foliage, that it was impossible to locate her exact position. To get over this difficulty a steamer arrived on the scene with an aeroplane, and the position of the hidden cruiser was conveyed to the British by means of smoke bombs, and very quickly the big guns of our ships got the range and battered the Konigsberg until she sank, and Captain Willett is of opinion that her crew shared the same fate." JANUARY 15, 1915. Cri de Flandres, on to Lille, and the parcels were distiibuted by an inhabitant who picked them up. This continued until the Germans stopped it by confiscating the parcels. "The Nord Maritime attempted, a short time after, to have copies thrown from an aeroplane, but the machine was greeted with such a dangerous fire from German machine guns that the idea had to be abandoned. The only paper that is sold in Lille, besides its own Bulletin de Lille, is the Bien Public of Ghent, which is also in German hands." According to the Echo Beige, in view of the danger to the Zeppelin sheds caused by the air raids of the Allies over Brussels, the military governor has promised ^1,000 to anyone capturing a hostile airman, dead or alive. A Daily Express correspondent, writing from Geneva on Tuesday, said :— " I learn from Friedrichshafen, by way of Romanshorn, that Germany has housed four of her latest types of Zeppelins, with a number of Taube aeroplanes, in the new aviation jwk which has been established near Ghent. " It was from this point that the recent raid on Calais was made and from which the projected attack on Dover will originate." According to a message from Cettinje, an Austrian aeroplane appeared over the city on January 9th and threw two bombs, one of which did not explode. The other destroyed a shop. Both bombs fell in the neigh bourhood of the hospital, but no one was injured. An other Austrian aeroplane having flown over Budua, also came towards Cettinje. The Montenegrin batteries, however, forced it to change its course towards Cattaro. While passing over the village of Bieloche the hostile aviator threw three bombs. One of them failed to explode, and the others did no serious damage. Mr. Percival Phillips, writing to the Daily Express from the Belgian frontier on January 12th, said :— " A message reaching me here to-night from a reliable source states that a fleet of the Allies' aeroplanes which was sighted over the coast of North Flanders on Saturday dropped bombs on the new German air base at Ghistelles, near Ostend, the existence of which I announced yesterday. " The damage caused is not known." An officer of the R.H.A., in the course of a letter home, said:— " But the best help of all are the aeroplanes : we had three of ours up to-day. One of our batteries is skilfully hidden in an orchard. We passed near it, but were afraid to approach close unless we might have been spotted from the distance and given away the exact position of guns and men." ® ® Air Raids and London Schools. As a precautionary measure the Education Com mittee of the London County Council has issued a circular to teachers indicating what is to be done in the event of an air raid being attempted while the children are at school. Lessons are to be continued ab far as possible in the normal way. Children are to be taken from the neighbourhood of windows where possible, but are not to be brought from upper floors to crowd class rooms on the ground floor or basement. Should the building be damaged the children are to be marched out into the school yard in the same way as in the case of fire in the building. Fatal Accident to French Pilot. ACCORDING to a correspondent of the Matin at Auzerre, a military biplane which was being flown by- M. Lucien Couffin was caught by the wind and over turned, the pilot sustaining injuries which proved fatal. An Italian Fatality. ACCORDING to a report from Italy, Capt. Guiseppi Martinolo met with a fatal accident at Cameri, on December 27th, while flying a Gabardini monoplane.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
