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Aviation History
1916
1916 - 0976.PDF
German. Berlin, October 21 si. " Our battle air squadrons supported our observation airmen in numerous air attacks. Twelve enemy aeroplanes were shot down, four of them descending behind our lines. A night air raid on railway stations and ammunition depots behind the enemy's front had good success. Conflagrations mi\ explosions were observed. " Balkans.—German aerial squadrons successful! ' par ticipated in the fighting (in the Dobrudja) from, the air." Berlin, October 23rd. " Twenty-two enemy aviators were shot down by aerial attacks and anti-aircraft fire. Eleven aeroplanes are lying behind our lines. Capt. Boelcke conquered his thirty-seventh and thirty-eighth foes, and Lieut. Frankl his fourteenth enemy. " Enemy aviators dropped bombs on Metz and villages in Lorraine. No military damage has been caused, but five civilians died and seven were taken ill through inhaling the poisonous gases emitted by the bombs. BRITISH THE following incidents, extracted from recent reports of the Royal Flying Corps in France, were issued by the Air Board on Octol>er 27th :— "September 15th.—Artillery co-operation. On one Army front 70 hostile batteries were engaged and 159 active batteries were located, 29 of which were silenced ; 13 direct hits were observed. "In a successful bombing raid carried out on Bapaume Station 38 bombs were dropped from heights varying from 200 to 800 ft. One train, several trucks and the station buildings were repeatedly hit, and the railway line was badly damaged. At Velu Station three trains were hit, several coaches derailed and a large store by the side of the line set on fire. Six bombs were also dropped on a neighbouring aerodrome. During the raid on Bapaume Station the escort 'protecting the bombers accounted for four German machines, which were seem to fall to earth. " On the same day another bombing party attacked trains in the vicinity of Cambrai ; one bomb, dropping from a height of 500 ft., exploded and blew up an ammunition train, a previous bomb having hit the engine. Another bomb was dropped in the midst of a mass of troops, who got out of the train. A truck of another train was also hit. In the course of this raid some of bur pilots attacked transport which was alongside the train with machine-gun fire. Damage was also done to trains at several other stations, and troops and transport on the road leading to Le Transloy were attacked with success. " Two of our pilots, while on an offensive patrol, encoun tered 17 hostile aeroplanes at varying heights. They dived into the middle of the hostile formation and attacked. One pilot got to very close quarters with a hostile machine, which burst into flames and was seen to plunge to earth. He then attacked a second machine, which was driven down and fell in a field. A third machine went down vertically, and was seen to crash. " Second Lieut. ' A,' whilst on patrol, observing infantry on a road, dived down to 200 ft., attacked with his machine gun, firing about 100 rounds and causing great panic and many casualties. He was subjected to very heavy rifle fire. On many other occasions German infantry were engaged with machine gun fire from aeroplanes, and one battery was temporarily silenced. " September 21st.—Lieut. ' B,' having dispersed a forma tion of six Rolands, got underneath the nearest machine and emptied a drum of ammunition into it. The enemy went down and landed apparently under control. Lieut. ' B ' then attacked a second machine from underneath and fired two drums into the pilot's seat. The hostile machine was seen to plunge to earth. Later in the evening Lieut. ' B ' destroyed another machine. " Second Lieut. ' C ' attacked and brought down a hostile kite balloon. At 3,000 ft., when over Comines, he dived on the balloon which was then rapidly descending. He opened fire at 400 yards and finished his drum as he passed about 20 ft. over the balloon, which had by that time caught fire. " September 22nd.—A bombing raid was carried out on Somain Station. An ammunition train was blown up, and the rolling-stock, permanent way, station and sheds were considerably damaged. " Yesterday enemy seaplanes attacked our East Frisian Islands. The attack was without result, and no damage was caused. * " Balkans-—A naval aeroplane landed far behind the re treating enemy, destroyed two aeroplanes on the ground and safely returned." Berlin, October 26M " Balkans.—During the night of October 25th our airships dropped bombs on the railway near Fetesti (west of Czermi- voda), with satisfactory results." Bulgarian. Sofia, October 18th " Enemy aeroplanes unsuccessfully dropped bombs on Prilep." Sofia, October '24th. " A German seaplane descended behind the enemy's front on the aerodrome near the village of Karaksum, and de stroyed two enemy aeroplanes, after having killed the soldiers on guard. The seaplane returned safely." AIR WORK. " September 23rd.—Artillery co-operation. Artillery, in co-operation with aircraft, obtained four direct hits on gun- pits and two on an anti-aircraft battery, both of which caused explosions. Two hits were obtained by siege artillery on a hostile battery. Trenches were damaged and some lorries west of Vimy were hit. Second Lieut. ' D ' and Corpl. ' E ' attacked a hostile machine near Sailly Saillisel. The German was driven down, and appeared to be out of control. Later, when near Morval, they attacked two hostile machines, one of which succeeded in getting in position in rear of our machine. Lieut. ' D ' stalled the machines, and the observer stood up to use the rear gun, but he had . barely pulled the gun into position when he was hit in the head and killed. The gun fell down, as the stand had not been clipped into position, and struck the pilot on the.head. The pilot remembers nothing distinctly until he recovered consciousness on the way to a French Army Headquarters. " Captain ' F ' engaged two hostile machines over Warlen- court. He emptied a drum into one of them at a range of 5 yards. The German machine fell to earth. " In a bombing raid 132 bombs were dropped on Fresnoy, Lens and Lille Stations, and considerable damage was done. Douai Railway Station was also attacked. A fire and explosion were caused at Roisel Station. Bapaume Station was also attacked and considerably damaged. " Three further bombing raids were carried out by night. " At about 6 p.m. Lieut. ' G ' engaged four two-seater Rolands. Approaching from behind he scattered his oppo nents by firing one drum at them. He then got underneath the nearest machine, into which he fired 90 rounds. The machine caught fire, and was seen to plunge to earth. " Lieut. ' H ' while on an offensive patrol attacked a Fokker. The German machine was destroyed. " Fifty-two bombs were dropped on Seclin Railway Station, setting fire to the main station building and hitting the railway bridge. " September 25th.—The following scheme, which was planned to intercept traffic on the Douai-Lille main line, was carried out on September 25th. The railway station at Libercourt, sidings and rolling-stock were to be bombed and an attempt made to attack trains going south in the; hope that they might be carrying troops or ammunition towards the Somme battlefield. Patrols, each of three aeroplanes, were first sent to attack neighbouring enemy aerodromes to prevent German aeroplanes from going up to interfere; smoke bombs were dropped at intervals to keep the aero dromes enveloped in smoke, and from time to time a high- explosive bomb to show that our machines were still there. During this period two of our machines were to descend and attack the trains. The first train to appear was seen leaving Libercourt at about 1.40 p.m., and our machines dived down to attack it. While descending a second train was seen coming up on a branch line towards Ostricourt, where it joins the main line, and one of our machines diverted on to it. The first train was attacked from a height of about 800 ft. near Ostricourt; six bombs were dropped. The engine was hit, became derailed and two or three of the front coaches partly telescoped. German soldiers immediately began to alight, were fired on and ran towards Ostricourt village an^: woods. There were so many men that the pilots said it
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