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Aviation History
1917
1917 - 0744.PDF
(/QGHT JULY xg, 1917. AIR RAID CASUALTIES. AT an inquest held at Daftford on July 10th on 2nd Lieut. W. G. Salmon, R.F.C., who met his death on Saturday in the air raid, Lieut. D. G. Nairn, Adjutant, R.F.C., said deceased, who was a qualified pilot, went up on Saturday at 9.40. Witness saw him coming down. He appeared to lose control of the machine, which was in perfect order when he went up. On examination of the machine after the fall it was found that 55 rounds of ammunition were gone from the magazine. Major G. Knight, R.A.M.C., who made a post-mortem examination, said deceased had two lacerated wounds in the forehead, and the skull was fractured from ear to ear Probably that on the head was a gunshot wound, and the" fracture was caused by the fall. Replying to Capt. H. Sison, R.F.C., Major Knight said it was possible for a man being hit by a bullet to lose and regain consciousness, and then lose it again. Capt. Sison said he saw the machine about 2,000 ft. upcom- ing down spinning sideways. Thinking it was someone coming down safely he momentarily looked away, and a few seconds later it was down. The machine was found to have the petrol tank punctured from side to side by a bullet, and all the petrol gone. A wire control was also hit by a bullet. He thought if deceased could have retained consciousness he could have landed safely. The jury returned a verdict of " Death from fracture of the skull received by the fall to the ground, and from lacerated wounds received in combat with German aeroplanes." In addition to the above, the death of another R.F.C. officer during the fight with the German raiders on July 7th, was disclosed by letters published in the Streatham News last Thursday. The officer was 2nd Lieut. J. E. R. Young, whose gallantry in attacking the raiders is described by his Major in a letter to his father, Mr. W. S. Young, of Mitcham Lane, Streatham. Almost alone he flew into the middle of the 22 enemy machines. Overwhelmed by the concentrated fire of his foes, he and his observer* perished. The Major's letter is as follows :— " It is with the deepest regret and sympathy that I have * Aerial-Gunner Taylor. £200,000 for Overseas Club Aircraft. AT a meeting of the New York branch (which had 160,000 members) of the Overseas Club on July 10th, Lord Northcliffe, who is president of the Club, said that the organisation had raised more than £400,000 for patriotic purposes, nearly half of which had been expended in pro- viding an aircraft flotilla. 128 Million Pounds Sterling for Aircraft. THE United States House of Representatives on July • 15th, after four hours' debate without a division, appro- priated a sum of ^128,000,000 to give effect to the Adminis- tration's plan to send a great fleet of aeroplanes and airmen to the Western front. The House voted the money without asking for any details of the plans of the War Department, and without any knowledge of the number of aeroplanes and airmen to be sent to Europe. This is rightly interpreted, says The Times correspondent, as showing supreme con- fidence in the Administration. The short discussion in the House was perfunctory and entirely sympathetic to the proposal. President Wilson unreservedly favours the plan, and the action of the House leads to the hope that the Senate will act speedily. Meanwhile, preparations for the con- struction of aeroplanes and the training of airmen are going forward as if the Bill had been finally'enacted. An Army Balloon Blocks Holborn. AN exciting episode occurred on July nth, when an Army balloon descended in High Holborn, nearly opposite the Chancery Lane Tube Station. The balloon, which had come from South-West London, had been observed at a low altitude for some time. A trailing rope was dropped from the balloon, and became entangled in some telephone wires, but the rope became released, and as the aeronauts were unable to ascend in spite of unshipping their ballast, a descent was decided upon. The rope was caught by a number of soldiers, who hauled the balloon down. Once the basket caught against a chimney-stack, but by careful manoeuvring the carrier got clear, and as the basket eventually reached the street the occupants stepped out. The balloon, which filled the street from side to side and reached almost the housetops, was deflated and packed up ready for removal. During this operation onlookers were asked to refrain from smoking. to write and inform you of your son's death, which took place on Saturday during the enemy aircraft attack on this country. Your son, as you know, had only been in my squadron for a short time, but quite long enough for me to realise what a very efficient and gallant officer he was, and what a tremendous loss he is to me. He had absolutely the heart of a lion and was a very good pilot. Your son has been up on every raid of late, and has always managed to get in contact with the enemy machines. The last raid, which unfortunately resulted in his death, shows what a very gallant officer we have lost. " Almost single-handed he flew straight into the middle of the 22 machines, and both himself and his observer at cnce opened fire. All the enemy machines opened fire also, so he was horribly outnumbered. The volume of fire to which he was subjected was too awful for words. To give you a rough idea—there were 22 machines, each machine had four guns, and each gun was firing about 400 rounds per minute. Your son never hesitated in the slightest. He flew straight on until, as I should imagine, he must have been riddled with bullets. " The machine then put its nose right up in the air and fell over, and went spinning down into the sea from 14,000 ft. I unfortunately had to witness the whole ghastly affair. The machine sank so quickly that it was, I regret, impossible to save your son's body; he was so badly en- tangled in the wires, &c. H.M.S. rushed to the spot as soon as possible, but only arrived in time to pick up your son's observer, who, I regret to state, is also dead. He was wounded six times, and had a double fracture in the skull." In forwarding the letter for publication Mr. W. S. Young states that it " will serve to assure us all that our splendid boys who, from their point of view, had the privilege and also the will and the pluck to put up noble efforts for our protec- tion and for the defeat of the vilest enemy in all history." Many other brave boys have bene taken from his district, he adds, and his son was " just one of many willing to face certain death in order to help to stamp out the enemies of civilisation." <$><?> _ ... - Octave Lapize Killed. OCTAVE LAPIZE, the French airman, has been killed in an aerial battle of four French aeroplanes against 19 German machines on the Western front. Before the war he had won the principal cycling events in France. French Seaplane Activity. PARTICULARS are to hand of the French seaplane patrol service at various centres carriea out during the month of May, and in all weathers, by" which it appears 2,627 flights, averaging i| hours per flight, were carried out. On 14 occasions French seaplanes attacked German submarines, whilst in three cases they were successful in locating enemy minefields. An enemy cruiser was also attacked. Eight night bombardments on enemy bases in Belgium and the Adriatic were also successfully carried out, whilst as the result of three air battles two enemy machines were destroyed. Dropping in for Tea. IN Reading, on the evening of July 11 th, considerable excitement it is reported was aroused when an aeroplane was seen to descend suddenly near Caversham Bridge. The pilot was in imminent danger of falling into the Thames, but by a smart movement he headed his plane towards the promenade and managed to steer his way into the Old Tea Gardens. Just before landing the lieutenant jumped from the machine and got away with nothing worse than a bad shaking. From Japan. GREAT progress is being made at the Nippon Flying School at Haneda (near Tokyo), which now builds its own machines. One of these, a Grahame-White type biplane, was put through its test flights last May by Mr. Seitaro Tamai, one of the school instructors. A flight on this same machine was also made over the suburbs of Tokyo, where the pilot dropped packages of advertisements. Eleven Japanese pupils were ready for their certificates by June, and a further ten or so were to start work with the arrival of the new machine. In addition to school work, passenger flights (at about 30s. a time), and exhibition flights are undertaken by the school. The instructors also give series of lectures on aviation, with the object of educating the general Japanese public in this important branch of science. 744
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