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Aviation History
1915
1915 - 0442.PDF
AIRCRAFT AND THE, WAR. THE following Exchange message was received from Athens on the 8th inst:— "Two of the Allies' aeroplanes flew over Smyrna yesterday and travelled as far as Bournova and Menemeni. The fighting in the peninsula continues violently, and the warships of the Allies are pursuing their bombardment of the Asiatic coast." From Nish the following Reuter telegram was received on the 8th inst. :— " A German aeroplane flying over Egri Palanka, near the new Bulgarian frontier, was obliged to come down, owing to a motor delect. The occupants, a German officer and a non-commissioned officer, who had certain official papers on them, were arrested, and the aeroplane was seized. An enemy aeroplane flew over Piarevtz and dropped nine bombs. Several persons were injured. Torren tial rain has done great damage in the region of Timok, Bitot), and Tikvesh." An official statement issued in Vienna on the 8th inst. said :— " The naval command states that the hostile airship Citta di Ferrara, while returning from .Hume at tix o'clock this morning, was shot at and destroyed by naval aeroplane L 48 (pilot, Naval Lieutenant Glasing, and observer, Naval Cadet von Fritsch), south west of 1 .ussin. The two officers and five men of the airship crew were captured." Another statement issued in Vienna stated :— " The naval flying machine ' L 47 '—pilot, Lieut. Banfield ; observer, Naval Cadet von Strobel—this morning successfully bom barded the balloon shed at the Murano Camp, near Venice, and also an enemy des:royer, causing several fires. A machine gun was used against the troops under canvas." Writing to the Daily Telegraph from Rome'on the 9th inst., Mr. A. T. Massey said :— " An Italian dirigible yesterday made a successful raid upon the Austrian coast, and the Admiralty has received an official report that bombs were dropped on F'iume and other Austrian towns. But, whilst returning, the dirigible fell into the sea, near the Isle of Lussin, and caught fire. The crew immediately destroyed the motor to prevent its use by the enemy, l'he crew were saved, but are prisoners. The lost dirigible forms part of a considerable Italian aii•••lift t. The navy has paid great attention to the air-service, and possesses what is to be believed the most efficient dirigible in the world, smaller than the Zeppelins, but possessing a high speed, a large radius of action, and the ability to reach great altitudes. There are ample well-trained crews. " The dirigibles have proved their efficiency already by heavily bombarding Pola, Monfalcone, and other Austrian positions, and it is because of the enter prise and daring of the air-service that the Austrian fleet lies hidden behind the islands of the Dalmatian Archipelago." A Reuter message from Venice, dated June 9th, stated:— "The Italian airship which flew on Tuesday over Fiume bom barded the torpedo works and submarine factory originally founded by M r. Robert Whitehead and caused damage to the Danubius navy yard, where the Dreadnought ' Szent Istvan' has been built. The airship threw bombs on a factory near the town, where submarines sent from Germany in pieces by train were being put together, but having remained too long on the way back saw the impossibility of reaching the Italian coast. Being closely pursued by Austrian torpedo-boats the Italian airmen set the airship on fire that it might not fall into enemy hands. They then threw themselves into the sea and were made prisoneis." The Daily Mail correspondent at Rome, writing on June 9th, said :— " The Italian airship attack on F'iume was important, as large stores of oil-fuel and petrol are there. A western portion of the harbour is called ' Petrol Harbour.' It was probably here that the Italian airship discharged its bombs." The following note was officially published in Vienna on the 10th inst.:— " In the Balkans one of our air squadrons early yesterday morning successfully bombarded the arsenal and explosives factory at Kragujevatz, causing two fires. Our airmen returned safely." The Daily Mail correspondent at Vevey on the 10th inst. reported the following :— " From information received from a German source the Bale papers state that during reconnaissances towards Belfort (French south-eastern front) German airmen s^w large movements of French troops." In a Central News message from Amsterdam on the nth inst., it was stated :— " A German aerodrome near Fresnoy was attacked by aircraft, and considerable damage caused by bombs." In a note issued by the Turkish Main Headquarters on Monday, it was stated :— " On May 24th an English cruiser before Moyleb, near Endina, on the Red Sea, sent up a flying machine. The aviator was shot down." An Exchange message from Rome on Monday stated :— "A message from Geneva states that an Austrian dirigible, caught in a storm, was destroyed through the force of the wind dashing the airship against a high mountain at Adanello." The Daily Mail correspondent in Paris sent the following story on Monday :— " A wonderful feat has been performed by a French airman, who not only, by the trick of shamming death, shot his two German air pursuers, but also succeeded in capturing their machine and returning with it intact, as well as his own, to the French lines. "Lieutenant P was reconnoitring with an observer, Adjutant L , in the Woevre region with the object of discovering the exact emplacement of enemy batteries. While so engaged his machine was the object of a vigorous shsllrng by the Germans, who ultimately sent up an Aviatik machine to attack him. The French man by successful manoeuvring flew over the Germans, who promptly took flight. An accident to the French motor obliged the airmen to descend abruptly. The enemy pilot, believing the Frenchman to be hors de combat, landed near them. Lieutenant P , simulating death, allowed the German pilot to approach, and then suddenly shot him through the head and ran to the Aviatik and shot the observer. The Frenchman returned to camp, the lieutenant flying in the captured German machine and his brother officer piloting the French machine." In the German "wireless" news sent out on Tuesday there was the following :— " To-day the optn town of Karlsruhe, which is far from the theatre of operations and is not in any way fortified, was attacked with bombs dropped by an enemy airman. As far as is yet known II citizens were killed and 6 injured. No military damage was caused. " One of the enemy aircraft was brought down by one of our military airmen and the occupant killed. Another enemy aircraft was obliged to land near Scbirmeck." Messages from Karlsruhe, received in Amsterdam via Berlin, stated :—• " This morning five enemy aviators bombarded Karlsruhe for three-quarters of an hour. Several persons were killed or wounded. Material damage, of no military imparlance, was done at numerous places. The hostile aeroplanes remained over the town at a great height from 6.45 till eight o'clock. " The central districts near the castle suffered mostly. The Margravian Castle was also hit by a bomb." In the German " wireless " news sent out on Wednesday there was the following :— " Daring an air attack on Karlsruhe nineteen persons were killed and fourteen seriously injured. Numerous people were slightly wounded. " The population is calm but embittered on account of this sense less procedure." A Central News message from Amsterdam on Tuesday stated : — " Two Zeppelins were yesterday seen over Belgium, near the Dutch frontier. One descended between Antwerp and Herenthals, and did not again asceid. The other disappeared in a westerly direction at high speed.'' The Rome correspondent of the Petit Parisien on Tuesday reported :— " A fourth Austrian waterplane has been captured off the Italian coast. It had started from Pola with the object of dropping bombs on Venice, but had to descend on the return journey, and was captured by an Italian patrol-boat. '" 442
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