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Aviation History
1917
1917 - 1067.PDF
OCTOBER II, 1917. FATAL ACCIDENTS. AT an inquest on 2nd Lieut. F. C. Neser, R.F.C., who was killed in the Lincoln district on October 1st, it was stated that he had been on three weeks' sick leave following a smash. He came back, and after a flight on a dual control machine went for a solo trip. The machine was seen to make a flat turn to the right at a height of 75 ft. and dived to the ground. The petrol tank burst and went on fire, the pilot being so severely burned that he died in hospital. A verdict of " Death from Misadventure " was returned. " Accidental Death " was the verdict at a Westminster inquest on October 4th on 2nd Lieut. W. Featherstone, R.F.C. During a practice flight in Middlesex on October 3rd he " taxied," and then rose too steeply to a height of about 100 ft., the machine then crashing down in a vertical nose- dive. Brother officers expressed the opinion that he lost his head on realising his difficult position. A fatal accident occurred in""the Solent on October 3rd to Flight-Lieut. J. Douglas, R.N.A.S. The seaplane in which he was making a flight was seen to side slip and fall into the sea. It turned over, and the officer was held by it below the surface. Medical assistance was prompt, but on being extricated he was found to be dead, although artificial respiration was tried for some time. At the inquest a verdict of " Accidental Death " was returned. A double flying fatality in Warwickshire was investigatedby a coroner's jury on October 8th. The evidence showed that the accident was due to an error of judgment on thepart of the pilot, 2nd Lieut. Lewis, who attempted a left-hand turn at a height of 100 ft., apparently thinking he was higher.In the fall, 2nd Lieut. Thornton, who was acting as observer, had his neck broken. A verdict of " Accidental Death " wasreturned. 2nd Lieut. Lewis, who had several limbs broken, has also died. Well-Known French Athlete Injured. NEWS was received in Paris from Lyons on October 3rd that Adjutant-Pilot Delaplane, champion sculler of France and ex-champion of Europe, had met with a serious accident at the Bron Aerodrome. A new machine ^which he was testing fell to the ground, and he sustained a broken leg and fracture of the skull. Lieutenant Yoss's Last Fight. " THE circumstances of the death of the famous German airman Voss have been established," writes the Times corre- spondent at the British Headquarters on October 1st. " His body has been found and identified, and our flying men are dropping messages on his home aerodrome telling the Germans of the fact. " One of our patrols was sent out and fell in with a German two-seater. The leader of our patrol attacked it and sent it down with smoke pouring from it. The patrol was resumed, and soon some enemy biplanes, accompanied by one triplane, were seen, and the enemy engaged. The triplane and one other machine fought well, but the other enemies, including a squadron of 11 machines hovering near, took no part, but were kept at a distance from the scene of battle. The fight practically resolved itself into a duel between the triplane and one ot,our machines flown by an airman who has already gained honours by his successes. " The two aeroplanes circled round each other in such close combat that often they missed colliding with each other's wings apparently by inches. In the course of this manoeuvr- ing our man had fired three drums into the enemy, but apparently he was unhurt. At last our flyer succeeded in getting above the other and emptied another drum into him. The German began descending, and our man followed, firing two more bursts into him as he went. The enemy, without replying, went gliding on, then swung suddenly to the right as if out of control, and plunged down to where he was lost sight of in the smoke and mist. " Yesterday the remains of the shattered triplane with the body of the pilot, identified as that of Voss, were found. There seems no doubt that he was shot dead in the fighting. Onlookers in other machines say that in handling his aero- plane during the fight the British airman was magnificent." The Capronis at Work. WRITING to the Daily Mail from the Italian Army Headquarters OH October 7th, Mr. J. M. N. Jeffries says :— " During last week on this front aviation has quite dis- possessed the land operations, which have been limited to skirmishes. In the air, big Caproni squadrons (very large biplanes with two pilots, a bomber, and an observer) have daily patrolled above Austrian territory and have dropped cargoes of explosives on the enemy's lines of communication, especially upon the railway in the Val di Bazza, by which Tolmino is furnished with supplies. " The Austrians seem to be making a rather late efiort to react against Italian air superiority, and what is apparently a new type of machine has appeared—a rather short, squat chasing biplane, which is thought to be of German origin. These do not offer battle on equal terms, but if they see one of the slower bombing machines at all isolated they hasten to attack it. • " Air barrages have been highly developed by the enemy, and a single scouting machine flying near Trieste—this was before the advent of the new Austrian chasers—received the continuous attentions of several batteries for three-quartersof an hour. " The culmination of the Italian week has been the raid over Cattaro (the naval base adjoining Montenegro). A number of Capronis took part in this raid, each before dropping its bombs having to cross nearly 150 miles of open sea, which they did in about 2\ hours, and arrived in a long line 13,000 ft. high over Cattaro between 12.30 and 1 a.m. on a clear night. The Austrians opened" a heavy but not co- ordinated fire from Mount Lovchen and other points, but the Capronis were able to discharge their ' Giacomini ' ('Little Jims,' the Italians' pet name for bombs) with marked accuracy, descending low for the purpose. Some anchored submarines were hit and presumably destroyed, and clouds of smoke poured from a building of the arsenal where other submarines were being repaired. ' The whole bay seemed to be ringed with fires,' said one of the airmen, ' just before we left at 1 o'clock.' D'Annunzio, the poet, was second in command of the expedition." America's Aviation Effort. A STATEMENT which is said to have been given out at Washington by Mr. Baker, the United States War Secretary, sets out that the 20,000 aeroplanes authorised in the vote of £128,000,000 provided by Congress are now tinder con- struction. They comprise all types, from scouts to powerful bombing and battle planes. The response to the call for aviators is said to have been good, and it is expected that pilots and gunners will be ready for service as soon as the machines are constructed. Twenty-four flying schools have been authorised and thousands of pilots are being trained. In order to assist the United States in the production of aircraft, thirty expert officers—ten from each—have been lent by the Flying Services of Great Britain, France and Italy. Reprisals and Rehearsals. . EVIDENTLY the announcement that the British Govern- ment intends to undertake reprisals has provoked uneasiness in South Germany. The Burgomasters of Karlsruhe, Baden, Constance and Friedrichsschafen were hurriedly summoned to a conference to discuss defensive measures. Another report says that last week one or two Zeppelins were supposed to have cruised over several Rhenish towns, in order that the authorities in the various places might have an opportunity of rehearsing their air-raid precautions. As soon as a Zeppelin was reported, lights were put out, and the people rushed off to shelters. German Aviator Attacks Hun Prisoners. THE Times special correspondent writing on the latest victory in France says :— " After capture, as you know, prisoners going back are often employed to escort or carry back their own wounded. I am sorry to say that there is no doubt that on one part of the line some of these men were killed by a German aeroplane, which flew down and used a machine-gun on them. There can be no question that the airman knew precisely whom he was killing and the occupation on which they were engaged. And this airman was one of very few Germans who came over the battlefield at all that stormy day. I have already told how magnificently some of our flying men did, and I have since heard from more than one quarter how our infantry watched our men overhead, battling with wind and rainstorms, making observations and keeping the air clear, while not a German was to be seen. 1067 • t
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