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Aviation History
1915
1915 - 0640.PDF
Iff IGHT AUGUST 27, 1915. AIRCRAFT AND THE, WAR. THE Daily Telegraph's correspondent in Paris, writing on Sunday week, said:— " A German aeroplane parsing over the French lines dropped an oriflamme, with a paper attached, which ran, ' De Losques and the pilot fought bravely. They are buried at Harbouey, near Blamont.' " M. de Losques was one of the young artists who made his name in the Figaro by his sketches of new plays. Always after the ' repetition generate ' appeared his very pergonal vision of actors in their ri'ile. His talent promised great things. His death is felt deeply by his confrere!:. His name is another to add to the long list of writers and artists who have given their lives for ' La Patrie."' In the Austrian communique of the 1.6th there was the following:— " One of our seaplanes yesterday afternoon bombarded four coast forts at Venice. All the bombs wiih the exception of one exploded within the fortifications. Of five hostile airmen who ascended to pursue our men two were forced to land by machine gun fire and two abandoned the pursuit after some time, while the fifth airman followed our machine close to the Istrian coast, where be was obliged to turn back without having been successful. " Our seaplane returned safely, in spite of the heavy fire of hostile war vessels and forts.'' In the Berlin wireless of the 16th it was stated :— " At Bapeaume an English aeroplane fell into our hands. The occupants—two officers—were taken prisoners." According to a Reuter message from Petrograd on the 18th inst.:— "Taube aeroplanes have been dropping bombs on Vilna." Telegrams received in Paris from Moscow on the 18th inst. stated that German aviators had dropped proclama tions in Riga and have also dropped bombs without claiming any victims. The Daily Mail correspondent at Rotterdam, writing on the 19th, said :— " Near Brussels the hangars formerly used for Belgian military balloons have l>een converted into ammunition stores and works. The number of cartridges there is said to be enormous and to be daily increasing. "A delayed message from Sluis says that on August 12th an Allied aeroplane dropped bombs on Zeebrugge. Fishermen report that two submarines and a mine sweeper were seriously damaged. From another source I learn that one submarine was sunk. The submarines at Zeebrugge are now moored under cover when in harbour. Four waterplanes are also in the harbour. "From Ostend to the Dutch frontier new heavy guns are concealed in the dunes under platforms covered with sand and moss. Sixteen heavy guns defend Zeebrugge." The following details of the raid by aeroplanes and a British destroyer a week ago on Sighajik, near Smyrna, was received in Paris from Dedeagatch on the 19th inst.:— " The bombardment of the place resulted in the destruction of a large part of the barracks and the telegraph installations, and the killing or wounding of more than 300 soldiers. The raid is considered by the Turks as merely a prelude to an attack upon Smyrna itself." The Times correspondent at the British Headquarters in a message dated August 19th said :— " A German aeroplane was brought down on the evening of the 17th by our guns near Warneton." Reuter's correspondent at Petrograd on Saturday reported :— "An airship approaching Vilna has been brought down by Russian fire. It had on board an officer, an engineer, eight soldiers, photographic apparatus, a small machine-gun, and ten explosive and a quantity of incendiary bombs. "The airship was damaged in four places. The crew were placed under arrest." According to the Berlin Lokalanzeiger a message from Czernowitz states that during the birthday of the Austrian Emperor a Russian airman dropped bombs on the town. Two Austrian airmen ascended in pursuit of the Russian, who escaped. Subsequently several Austrian airmen dropped flowers on Czernowitz as a consolation. An Exchange message from Copenhagen on the 20th said :— " Several large German cruisers of the newest type are reported to be steaming north in international waters near Saltholm. They are evidently in wireless communication with a Zeppelin, which was seen early this morning." According to a Daily Telegraph correspondent at Petrograd writing on Monday of the fighting at Kowno :— " While the attack was in progress thirty aeroplanes and three dirigibles were continually above the town, into which they threw bombs." Messages from Bukharest received in Paris on Monday stated that the recent fire in Constantinople, which destroyed 1,000 houses, was caused by bombs dropped by Russian aviators. Another Russian aviator the same day bombarded Scutari (Asia Minor), also causing a number of fires. The Daily Telegraph correspondent at Rotterdam, writing on Monday night, said :— " I have just received information of the new German submarine base having been one of the objects of the successful attacks by the bombarding Fleet. The locality of this base was discovered a very short time ago. It lies in the Zeebrugge-Bruges Canal, at a distance of about one and a half mile from the coast, and was established by the enemy in consequence of the continual attacks of the Allies' aviators having made Zeebrugge Harbsur too risky a place for mooring submarines. " According to a later message from the Zeeland-Flanders fron tier, whilst the Zeebrugge batteries were replying to the fire of the Fleet five aeroplanes were engaged in a combat in the air. Three of these were German and two British, the latter acting as fire regulators for the fleet. For a time they were compelled to perform the double task of keeping the fleet informed and at the same time beating off the defending German machines. During the fight one of the aeroplanes is believed to have fallen, but it is not yet known whether it was German or English. " One German machine flew towards the British ships, but kept at a safe distance. Among the weapons with which the enemy replied to the ships were eight 11 in. guns, mounted around Zeebrugge Harbour. These were placed in position about six weeks- ago." Writing to the Daily Mail from Rotterdam on Monday Mr. James Dunn said :— " A German aeroplane ascended and directed the fire of the enemy's batteries during the bombardment (off Zeebrugge), which lasted three hours. " Later in the day a German aeroplane flying over Dutch terri tory near Selzaete was fired on by Dutch guards. The aeroplane was brought down in Belgian territory, but the airman contrived to repair his machine and returned in the direction of Bruges." Mr. A. Beaumont, writing to the Daily Telegraph from Milan on Monday, said :— " Italian flight squadrons have now twice bombarded the aero drome of Aisovizza, east of Gorizia, and hardly anything of the- Austrian establishment is lsft. The first time the aviators flew for fully thirty minutes over the aerodrome, dropping bombs, despite a hail of shrapnel sent up from the forts and batteries. The second time a still larger air fleet visited the enemy's camp, and remained longer over the establishment, dropping some sixty shells and causing very material damage." Messages received in Amsterdam on the 24th from Berlin stated that on the previous evening a hostile aviator dropped bombs on the town of Offenburg, which is out side the zone of operations. The material damage caused was insignificant. Twelve persons were wounded, some of them severely. A Central News message from Northern France on Tuesday said :— " Recently the aviators have also been busy, and have blown up> a convoy of munitions and destroyed the railway line at an impor tant junction near Ghent." 64O
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