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Aviation History
1915
1915 - 0479.PDF
JULY 2, 1915. I/OGHT] AIRCRAFT AND THE. WAR. IN the Austrian official news of the 23rd it was stated:— " Italian airmen dropped bombs on Gorizia." In the German communique of the 23rd it was stated :— " South of Luneville one of our aeroplanes brought down an enemy aviator.'' A Central News correspondent in Northern France, writing on the 23rd inst., said :— " French aeroplanes have thrice recently spread destruction among the German reserves by dropping bombs in their midst." The Daily Mail correspondent at Rotterdam, writing on the 24 th, said :— " Regularly the Allied aeroplanes scout over the harbour, and at night the Germans send up numerous illuminated parachutes attached to rockets, which light the sky over a large area." In Le Journal of the 24th there was the following account of a daring piece of work by a French pilot and his mechanic :— " The aeroplane arrived behind the German trenches in Northern France and three bombs were thrown on a railway line and upon an armoured train. A hail of shell was at once directed from the train upon the aeroplane, and one shell exploded a few yards from the captain's head. He became insensible. " The aeroplane was then 3,000 metres above the earth. The mechanic immediately seized the steering gear of the machine, which, however, began to fall into the German lines. The mechanic threw more bombs as he fell, and was able at the same time to direct the aeroplane so that it came lightly to the ground. He started it immediately, with the result that the aeroplane and its occupants ultimately came safely to earth well within the French lines." A Reuter correspondent at Erescia on the 24th inst. reported :— " Airships have been obliged to return from scouting expeditions owing to a dense fog and bad weather." An Exchange message from Paris on the 25th said :— " A Taube about four o'clock yesterday morning attempted to fly over llazebrouck. It was fired at by the Allies' artillery and compelled to return. In passing Borre the Taube dropped a bomb, killing a cow. "At the same time several bombs were dropped by another machine in the neighbourhood of Cassel, causing but little damage. A gasometer belonging to the old gas company, which is no longer a going concern, was demolished. " The guns of the Allies fired at the German aviator, and he was put to flight." In the communique issued from the German General Headquarters on Saturday :— " Since the commencement of the great struggle at Arras our air men have [been contesting wiih enemy aviators the dominance ol the air. This struggle has entailed losses for both sides, and ours have not been in vain. For some days it has been obvious that we prevail." The Central News correspondent in Northern France, writing on Saturday, said :— " British aviators have recently dropped bombs at various points in Flanders, notably at Roulers, where two ammunition trains and a store house for shells were blown up, 40 soldiers and a number of officers being killed." Writing on the previous day he said :— " With reference to the recent air raid on the airshed at Evere (Brussels), it can now be stated that the airship destroyed was a Parseval, and not a Zeppelin. Fourteen soldiers were killed and eight wounded." Writing from Porrentruy (Switzerland) on Saturday a Daily Mail correspondent said :— " Allied airmen have destroyed the railway viaduct at Tagolsheim, about a mile south of Illfurt, Alsace. Altkirch in consequence is cut off from Mulhouse." The Turin correspondent of the Petit Journal last week reported:— " At midnight on Thursday an Italian aeroplane dropped bombs on the Ferriera metallurgical works at Trieste, inflicting consider able damage. The aviators were cheered by the inhabitants." The Daily Mail correspondent at Rotterdam on Sunday reported :— " A report has reached me from the frontier that a Zeppelin was seen in difficulties just over the Dutch border at 5 p.m. yesterday. So far I have not been able to confirm the statement.'' In a message from Milan to the Daily Telegraph on Sunday, Mr. A. Beaumont said:— " In revenge, Austrian aeroplanes have made frequent appearances within the last few days, and attempted to drop bombs, with very mediocre results." The Daily Mail correspondent at Athens, writing on Sunday, said :— "Great aeroplane and other activities indicate the probable renewal on an unprecedented scale of the Allies' attempts to pierce the Turkish defences in Gallipoli in the very near future." Writing from Amsterdam under date June 28th, the Morning Post correspondent said :— "This morning two Zeppelin airships were sighted north of the islands of Ameland and Schiermonnikoog, going westward. "Eight Allied aviators appeared last Thursday over Courtrai, and others were also seen in various places in Flanders, including Emelgem and Ingelmunster. The aviators were everywhere heavily fired at, but none were hit. Last night two British aeroplanes were seen above Ghent. Both returned safely, notwithstanding a violent lire from anti-aircraft guns." In the " wireless" news sent out from Berlin on Monday there was the following :— " We were especially successful in the southernmost parts of our battle front against the enemy airmen. In an aerial battle two enemy flying machines were shot down north of the Schlucht Pass and at Gerardmer (Alsace), while two further aeroplanes were forced by our artillery at Largitzen and Rheinfelden to descend at Schwerle, in Swiss territory." Contradicting the official German reports, the Bruges correspondent of the Telegraaf supplied the following details on Monday :— " No attack took place against Iseghem. " During the past week Flanders was visited by Allied airmen, who escaped, and were not shot down as reported in the German official communique. " Two days later another aeroplane appeared in the same district, but its bombs caused no damage. " On Thursday aeroplanes were hovering above Courtrai, but did not drop bombs. All returned safely, though heavily bombarded by the Germans." In a communique issued from the Austrian Army Headquarters on Monday it was stated :— " Yesterday a naval aviator bombarded near Villa Vicentina a hostile captive balloon, and obliged it to descend. The same aviator to-day dropped successfully heavy bombs on the hostile artillery park at San Canciano, and badly damaged a steamer at Sdobba." The ScuUri correspondent of the Corriere d' Italia, on Monday reported :— " Italian aeroplanes flew over Cattaro yesterday. They dropped a number of bombs, which did very serious damage to the fortified works and harbour." The Times Paris correspondent on Tuesday reported :— " A squadron of German aeroplanes made an abortive attempt to bombard llazebrouck yesterday." Mr. H. Devitte, writing to the Daily Express from Geneva on Tuesday, said :— " A German aeroplane which crossed the frontier at Largin yesterday was bombarded by Swiss troops. It then threw bombs near Delle Station, one of which fell only 400 yards from a party of Swiss soldiers. Happily there were no casualties." The Daily Mail correspondent at Porrentruy (Switzer land) wrote as follows on Tuesday:— " The French airman who bombed the Zeppelin sheds at Friedrichshafen was M. Gilbert, one of France's finest pilots and the man who flew from Paris to Madrid in 1913. " M. Gilbert had afterwards to land on Swiss territory through engine trouble, and has been interned. A French contributor to 479
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