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Aviation History
1915
1915 - 0793.PDF
OCTOBER 15, 1915- were watching. Evidently finding it too warm she turned sharply and Cleverly, and made back for safety, but the thrilling part of the drama was yet to come, for with her machine-gun spitting viciously one of our aeroplanes came streaking through a cloud, apparently taking the Boche by surprise, and went for her like a thunderbolt. There were some moments of breathless excitement as the two machines manoeuvred round one another, their machine guns rattling away. Then the Boches turned to make an escape, but too late, for one shot hit the petrol tank, causing a long, white cloud of smoke to film out across the sky. The leaden stream caught the pilot taking off the top of his head. "The machine then dipped suddenly, righted herself for a second or two, dipped again and then turned a somersault, flinging two of the three occupants out, and then the Taube came crashing to earth and smashed to bits. Heartfelt cheers rent the air. Hurrying to the spot we came upon an unpleasant sight. One of the airmen lived for a few minutes, the other two were mangled beyond all recognition or description. One had an Iron Cross of the First Order on his breast. Tney say it was for raiding London ; if so, he will raid no more. The whole affair was over in less time than it takes to tell it, but it was exciting. " Our aircraft are doing splendid work out here, and only since I have been out have I realised that in the future there is no doubt as to who will have supremacy in the air as well as the command of the sea." ® 39 [fUCHf] A French military correspondent, writing in the Morning Post of the 14th, regarding the recent fighting in the Champagne district, said :— *' The preparation for a modern battle consists in a large and varied number of devices. One of the most useful is the recon noitring ot the enemy's positions by means of aircraft. In Champagne the French aviators accomplished their mission in admirable fashion. They provided the General Staff not only with detailed descriptions, but with minute photographs of all the enemy's system of trenches and defensive works. This done, the work of destruction by the artillery began." In a message dealing with the bringing down of the French dirigible " Alsace," the Kolnische Zeitung said :— " Three members of the crew first sprang from the sinking vessel; one of these came to grief, while the other two were taken prisoners. The other five men sprang out later. The abandoned airship drifted on to a wood near Tagnon, between Reims and Rethel, where it became entangled in the trees." The Frankfurter Zeitung expresses relief at the fact that the Champagne Army has been delivered from the persistent attentions of this " ghostly nuisance." ® ® London's Terror of the Zeppelins. l~ •f THERE is a story going the rounds about an early morning visit by the Prime Minister through the London districts damaged by the Zeppelins. He came in a big motor car, and officials permitted him to pass the fire lines everywhere. When he came upon an old woman, proprietress of a public-house which had been pretty well knocked about by bombs, he found a tartar of no mean order. " And how have you fared ? " asked Mr. Asquith. "G'wan with you," retorted the woman. " Look out for your self, and don't ask silly questions." ! ! ! THEY tell a funny story about Jack Johnson, who was appearing in a revue at one of the suburban music halls. Asked by the management to make some quieting announcement to the audience, the once world's champion appeared before the curtain and said : — "There ain't no use trying to lie to you all. Right now thar is one of them Zeppelins over this here theayter, but it won't do no good to get scared, and you might better take a chance and stay here than go outside and ask for trouble." The strange part is that the audience agreed with him—and stayed. ! ! ! SIR GEORGE ALEXANDER, playing in his new play at St. James's Theatre, also addressed a capacity audience and begged them to remain in their seats, although the sound of exploding shrapnel from anti-aircraft guns was plainly audible in the theatre. Here, as elsewhere all over London, there was not the slightest sign of panic, and the actors continued to finish the play through the thundering of artillery.—Mr. W. 0. Tewson in the New York American. ! ! ! A Clever Husband. " So your wife has stopped bothering you for an aerobus?" "Yes: I tipped off a palmist she patronises to warn her against •ever riding in one."—Aerial Age. ! ! J LANDLADY hammering with poker on lodger s bedroom door, 2 a.m.): '"Ere's the Zeppelins, sir ! " LODGER (from deep down in the pillows): " Right-O ! Put 'em •down outside."—Punch. I ! ! In 1950. AN officer was showing an old lady over the monster war-plane. "This," said he, pointing to an inscribed plate on the deck, " is where our gallant captain fell." "No wonder," replied the old lady. "I nearly slipped on it myself."—American Exchange. •'Wii * -J /s^ AFTER THE ZEPPELIN BOMB EXPLOSION.— Optimist: "Hooray! there goes a bit of Aunt Matilda's vase; It has always bothered me to know bow to get rid of the beastly thing without giving offence."—London Opinion. 793
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