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Aviation History
1916
1916 - 0165.PDF
FEBRUARY 24, 1916- Writing two days later on the subject of the fighting round Seppois, Mr. Beaumont said :— " Whilst it lasted French aeroplanes, despite clouds of shrapnel, circled constantly over the German lines, and one was seen boldly descending to within three hundred metres of the German trenches, and then flying away unscathed. It was a big biplane, which sailed calmly through' the smoke of hundreds of exploding anti-aircraft shells, and seemed perfectly immune to their attack. The Swiss spectators were thrilled by this bold performance, and cheered and waved their hats with enthusiasm." A Reuter message from Salonika on February 17th says :— "The enemy yesterday developed a certain amount of aeroplane activity over the French and British lines, without success, how ever, being driven off by our artillery." Writing to the Daily Telegraph from Salonika, on February 17th, Mr. G. Ward Price says:— " One of the most modern types of German Aviatik biplanes was brought down by a French aeroplane at Karasuli this morning. The latter, manned by two very young airmen, sighted their adversary while on patrol. They chased him, and opened fire with such effect that the machine came down with a hole in the petrol tank and the observer lying back in his seat with five bullets in his thigh. The other German sprang from the driving seat while the Frenchmen were still circling to land, and, throwing away his cap and kicking off his heavy, fur-lined boots, ran off across country and was lost to sight. " The captured aeroplane is quite undamaged, and will be ex hibited in the street to the public of Salonika, like the last. A cavalry patrol is scouring the country for the German. General Sarrail has given the Legion of Honour to the officer piloting the French machine, and the Military Medal to his observer." According to the Petit Parisien's correspondent, the occupants of the French machine were Lieut. Mintguyaya and Sergt. Fet-in. This correspondent, writing on February 18th, gives the following details of the recent raid on Strumnitza:— " At eleven o'clock yesterday morning 16 French aeroplanes bombarded Strumnitza railway station, where German reinforce ments had just arrived. They dropped 165 bombs of heavy calibre, several of them incendiary. "According to the official report, borne out by photographs which the General Staff received this evening, the results of the bombardment were considerable. Some German Albatros machines tried to cut the French squadron off on its way back, but our aviators, rising to an altitude of 10,000 feet, gave the enemy the slip. One of our airmen, Bombardier Baud, was slightly wounded in the left hand. The whole squadron got back unharmed." A message from the Standard correspondent at Athens, dated February 18th, says:— "A German aeroplane was captured by the French near Karsouli, Macedonia, yesterday. It was equipped with a machine- ® ® The Air Raids on the Kent Coast. IN the House of Commons on Monday Capt. Bennett-Goldney •complained of the misleading statements which had been made by Ministers in the past as to our preparedness for dealing with aerial raids. In the daylight raid on the previous day the enemy aircraft as on previous occasions left our shores unscathed. Regarding the daylight raid on Dover on January 23rd, the Under-Secretary for War had by answer in the House—partly based on a memo randum received from the Admiralty—given an impression which was far from being in agreement with the facts. The machines were not ready and the officers were not present. The Government had chosen, he presumed for reasons of economy, to give them a mess some two miles from their work, and it was lunch time. Were the machines armed, and if so, how was it that in the scramble at least one airman had to go up with only a Winchester rifle and some five rounds of ammunition ? The ascent was made after the enemy aeroplane was out of sight. What happened was a battle between one of our aeroplanes and one of our seaplanes, each of which mistook the other for the enemy. Having witnessed the fray, our anti-aircraft gunners turned their nte on both and in the vain attempt to bring them down managed to damage the tower of Walmer Church and injure some of the men in barracks. They were now given to under stand tint things were going to be better, and that might be so because they could not possibly be worse. He asked whether after 18 months of war we had a sufficient number of fully-trained air pilots and air gunners to man the machines which the Munitions department had now provided. He wished to know whether our teaching school had fully-trained pilots to take up young gunners 'or instruction and whether there was a sufficient "supply of aero-p 'a"es for the purpose. Were there properly equipped repairing sheds and were there healthy quarters for the men? He believed [/QCHT] ere were none of these things. The Government had said that gun, bombs, and photographic apparatus. The German observer, a captain, died from his wounds at Salonika last night. The pilot, who was wounded, discarded his uniform and took to flight, but was captured three hours later by a French patrol." Mr. G. J. Stevens, writing to the Daily Telegraph under date February 15th, says:— " Of Turkish troops in Bulgarian Thrace there are none. As to German troops, they consist of fifty infantrymen quartered at Xanthi, four aeroplanes and an aerodrome (on an empty site before the building of the Ottoman Tobacco Regie) and officer aviators. The Udine correspondent of the Corritrt delta Sera reports that observers in the Chiese valley saw one of the Austrian aeroplanes on its return from Milan come down precipitately in the valley of the Bocche di Cadria, having been hit by an anti-aircraft battery. It fell in a deserted spot, where it remained for two days abandoned. Later a small number of Austrians were seen carrying debris of the aeroplane, but it could not be discovered if there were any human bodies. Writing to the Daily Telegraph from Milan on Monday Mr. A. Beaumont says :— " This morning a signal was fired giving inhabitants of Milan a hint that an Austrian aeroplane raid on their town was imminent. Looking out of my window at the sky, which was a beautiful blue in the morning sunshine with only a few white clouds here and there, I already saw about a dozen Italian aeroplanes describing majestic circles at various heights and rising rapidly, prepared to meet the Austrian war-hawks. "The trams stopped, and 1 could see that by this time the few people who remained in the streets were obeying the injunctions of the authorities to seek shelter at the first signal. Meanwhile a military funeral, with band playing the funeral march, was slowly proceeding through the street, unconcerned, and people quietly waited for events in their houses. Gradually the Italian aeroplanes rose higher and higher. They seemed to number more than twenty. Finally- they headed in a north-easterly direction, and evidently started in chase. " The news had been received that enemy aeroplanes had been sighted at Brescia. It was unknown, of course, what direction they would eventually take. Nearly an hour passed and nothing happened, when finally, in the distance over the direction of Monza, a number of shells exploding dotted the sky with their little puffs of white smoke. By means of a field-glass they could be seen distinctly. Some people believe they could have counted more than fifty shells exploding. Many seemed to be fired from the Italian aeroplanes in active pursuit, and an aerial battle appeared in progress. The result of the chase is not yet known, but we have this satisfaction—that Milan was saved. The town this time was well protected, and the authorities deserve the highest praise for the efficient way in which the population was warned. Still higher credit is due to the courageous Italian air defence squadron, which so gallantly chased the enemy from Milan." ® © ; tney were preparing suitable landing places in the neighbourhood of London, but were there any night landing places being made ready on the East Coast and in Kent, elsewhere than in the London district ? Only yesterday when walking near some open ground which had been chosen as a landing place in a certain part of Kent he found that the land had only recently been ploughed up. Then could the Government tell the House how it was that our anti-aircraft guns at Dover only fared percussion shells recently, shells whose efficiency depended on direct hits ? He believed that the danger of hostile aircraft raids would be largely decreased if our airmen were given a fair chance to live. The enemy came over at a great height in the daytime in the sunlight and were, it might be said, unseen until they began to fire their bombs, and so our men had no time to ascend. Hour airmen could receive earlier news of the approach of the enemy they would be in a better position to meet him. Flying was only possible on certain days, and he thought there should be air patrols on the other side of the Channel on suitable flying days. If we had also such patrolling on our own coast there would be proper warning, and then London and the Midlands might consider that the heroism of our airmen would protect them against Zeppelins and other aircraft. No Inquest on Warmer Victim. HOLDING that where death is due to an act of war, an inquest is not necessary, the coroner for the Deal district has decided not to hold an inquiry relative to the death of the youth who was killed in the raid on Sunday. Fatality with Zeppelin Souvenir. THAT great care should be taken in handling any souvenirs left by German [aiders in emphasised by the recent fatality in Lincoln shire. It appears that after the last raid a young man picked up a detonator from a Zeppelin bomb, and when subsequently twirling the propeller the charge ignited, blowing him to pieces and seriously injuring his sister. 165
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