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Aviation History
1917
1917 - 1181.PDF
NOVEMBER 8, 1917. AIRCRAFT WORK AT THE OFFICIAL INFORMATION. FRONT, British. General Headquarters, October 30th. " On the 29th inst. there were a few fine intervals, during which our aeroplanesobserved for our artillery, and fired several thousand rounds from their machine guns at the enemy's troops in trenches and on roads. Over 100 bombs weredropped on hostile billets at Roulers and elsewhere during the day, and again at night. In air fighting four hostile machines were brought down, and onedriven down out of control. Two of our aeroplanes are missing. On the night of 29th-3oth inst. our machines again attacked the railway station andlines around Saarbriicken in Germany, and bombs were seen to burst with good effect. All our machines returned, though the weather conditions wereexceptionally bad. This morning, at 11 a.m., 12 of our machines went further afield, and attacked the munition works and gasworks at Pirmasens, 20 milesbeyond Saarbriicken. Bombs were seen to burst on the factories and on the gasworks with excellent results. Many photographs were taken. The weatherwas good, and all our machines returned." 1( . General Headquarters, October 31st.On the 30th inst. a strong gale, with driving rain, prevented much flying being done, though our aeroplanes co-perated with the attacking troops on thebattle front throughout the greater part of the day, and accomplished much successful artillery work. " After midnight, when the weather suddenly cleared, our bombing squadronsdropped over 2 tons of explosives on Roulers and Ingelmunster stations, as well as on moving trains and hostile billets. One German machine was brought downin combat, and one of our machines is missing. " Following on those of the night of the 2c>th-3oth inst. and of yesterdaymorning, another raid into Germany was carried out by our machines last night. On this occasion the steel works and station of Volklingen [north-west of Saar-briicken] were attacked with excellent results. Direct hits were observed on the furnace and power house, and on a train. " The weather, which was brilliantly fine during the early part of the raid,turned later to rain and snow. In spite of this, all our raiding machines returned except one." Admiralty, October 31st.On the night of the 29th, the Royal Naval Air Service carried out raids on Sparappelhoek and Varssenaere aerodromes. Visibility was excellent, andaccurate shooting was made. " All machines returned safely." Admiralty, November 1st.During October 31st a bombing raid was carried out by naval aircraft on Sparappelhoek aerodrome. Targets were partially obscured by clouds, makingresults difficult to observe. Many offensive patrols have been carried out, during which one hostile machine was shot down out of control. All our machinesreturned safely." General Headquarters, November 1st." On the 31st ult. advantage was taken of the change in the weather, and both our own and the enemy's aeroplanes were in the air all day. Visibility was notvery good and hindered artillery work, but a great deal of" bombing was carried out by our machines and many photographs were taken. Our aeroplanesalso co-operated successfully with the raid carried out by our infantry yesterday afternoon north-east of Loos (reported in last night's communique), firing severalthousand rounds from their machine-guns, and dropping bombs on hostile troops in communication trenches. During the day 5 tons of bombs weredr»pped by us on Roulers, causing fires and explosions, and on many hostile billets. At night a further i\ tons were dropped on aerodromes in the neigh-bourhood at Courtrai, the aerodrome at Gontrode, and railway stations at Koulers, Thourout, and Courtrai. Two trains were attacked from a low height;one of them was derailed, and the other completely destroyed. Enemy aircraft were more active and aggressive than they have been for some days, attackingour artillery bombing machines. In air fighting seven hostile machines were brought down. Nine of our machines are missing. To-day another successfulraid was carried out into Germany. The munition factories at Kaiserslautern were attacked by two groups of six machines each. Cloudy weather impededaccurate bomb dropping. One of the groups encountered the enemy's defend- ing scouts and brought one of the latter down. All our machines returned safely." War Office, November 1st." Mesopotamia.—On the morning of October 31st our aeroplanes dropped bombs on the enemy's aerodrome at Kifri, with good results." General Headquarters, November 2nd.' On the 1st inst. very little flying was possible owing to the low clouds and rain. One of our pilots flew through the clouds, which were at a height of 200ft., to Gontrode aerodrome and dropped two heavy bombs. The drizzle and heavy anti-aircraft fire prevented observation of the results. On October 31stour anti-aircraft guns shot down one of the enemy's bombing machines. This is in addition to the seven hostile machines already reported as brought downon that day." General Headquarters, Novtmber 3rd." On the 2nd inst. unfavourable weather conditions greatly interfered with flying, and there is nothing to report." War Office, November 3rd.Salonica.—" During the past week our aeroplanes have bombed hostile camps and dumps on the Belashitza Mountain, at Cestovo (north-west of Lake Doiran)and at Ciftlidzik (south of the Rupel Pass)." Admiralty, November 4th&" During November 4th numerous patrols were carried out by the Royal Naval Air Service. One two-seater enemy machine was brought down in the sea,another two-seater driven down damaged, and a scout probably destroyed. A bombing raid was also carried out this afternoon on Engel aerodrome. Bombswere seen to fall among hangars and sheds in the aerodrome. The formation was attacked by enemy machines, two of which were driven down out of control.All our machines returned safely." French. Paris, October 30th." Hostile aircraft dropped bombs during the night on Nancy and the region to tUt north. One person was wounded. The damage was insignificant. " During the night of the 29th German aeroplanes bombarded Dunkirk andCalais without causing loss of life among the population. During the same night several bombs were dropped on Belfort, three person, including a woman and achild, being wounded. This afternoon Saint Die was also bombed, one person being injured. "Four German aeroplanes were brought down by our pilots, and 12 wereobliged to land in a damaged condition during the 27th, 28th, and 29th inst. " Last night our bombing aeroplanes dropped 2,000 kilogrammes (2 tons)of explosives on the railway stations and dep6ts at Lichtervelde and Git, in Bel- gium. Besides, the railway stations of Maizieres-les-Metz, Longeville-les-Metz,Ttaionville, &c, received 7,000 kilogrammes (7 tons) of projectiles. A big fire broke out in the station of Maizieres." Paris, October 31 si. " Enemy aeroplanes last night dropped about 30 bombs on Dunkirk. Upto the present no casualties or damage are reported. " On October 30th six enemy aeroplanes were brought down by our pilots.Four others fell in a damaged condition in their own lines. " During the night of October 30 th pur bombarding squadrons dropped 7,700kilogrammes (about 7 tons) of projectiles and explosives on the railway station of Thionville, Bettemburg (south of Luxemburg), Maizieres-les-Metz, Longeville-les-Metz, Woippy, and Confians, as well as on the railway station of Luxemburg. All the objectives were hit." Paris, November 1st.11 Some enemy aeroplanes bombarded Calais during the night of October 29thand Dunkirk on the night of the 3ist. Only slight damage was done. There were no casualties among the civilian population." Paris, November 2nd. " Yesterday (November :st) two aeroplanes were brought down by our pilotsand a third by our special guns. In addition seven enemy machines were forced to land in a damaged condition. Our bombing squadrons copiously sprinkledwith bombs the railway station at Mulheim, the Schlettstadt aerodrome, the ammunition depots at Rufach, and Wepereimphal, and the railway station atTbionville. As a reprisal for the bombing of Dunkirk 17 of our aeroplanes dropped 2,500 kilograms of bombs on the town of Offenburg, Grand Duchy ofBaden." Paris, November 3rd. " In the course of the Malmaison battle our aviators, with great daring,attacked with machine guns the enemy's troops, bombarded Railway stations and places of assembling, and took part in 611 aerial fights. " Sixteen German machines were brought down and three captive balloonsset on fire. In addition 50 German aeroplanes fell in the enemy's lines, the majority of them being completely destroyed. " In the period between October 21st and October 31st 23 German aeroplaneswere brought down. " Twenty-one were brought down by our pilots and two by the fire of out anti-aircraft guns. " In addition 28 enemy machines were seriously damaged and brought down intheir own lines." Paris, November 4th. "During the evening of the 3rd inst. the region of Dunkirk received severalbombs from aeroplanes. There were no casualties." . Italian. Rome, October 13rd. " On October 19th a group of light enemy units was sighted in the lower Adriatic. Italian aeroplanes and light warships were immediately sent to attack them, and the aeroplanes came into action, but it was not possible to come nto contact with the enemy's warships, because they hastily returned to their base at Cattaro. At the same time Italian airmen attacked and put to flight an enemy submarine west oi Alvona." Rome, October 26th. " Ten enemy aeroplanes were brought down or forced to land by our aviators during yesterday." < Rome, October 28th, " On October 23rd Italian seaplanes carried out an important reconnaissance over Trieste, returning safely. Two seaplanes reconnoitred over Pola, beating off enemy aeroplanes and successfully attacking an enemy destroyer between Parenzo and Rovigno." Rome, November 4th. " During the night of November 2nd-3rd our aviators flew over the left bank of the Tagliamento and destroyed various ammunition depots which had not been evacuated during the withdrawal. Yesterday two German aeroplanes were Drought down by our aviators at Oderzo and Codroipo." Russian. Petrograd, October 24th. " On October 23rd in the sector of Sereth village, two enemy battleplanes attacked by surprise one of our captive balloons, bombarding it with incendiary bullets. The balloon fell rapidly to earth and was entirely burnt. The observer, 2nd Lieut. Polzoff, sprang out with a parachute and landed safely." Petrograd, October 2qth. " On the Roumanian front, yesterday, at 12.35 P-m- ,tae en«ny, after an aerial engagement, brought down one of our machines, which fell in the village of Opritcheni (seven miles north of the village of Sereth). The aviators, Lieut. Potukhoff and Lieut. Kasatkin, were killed. On October 27th, in the Dobrudja region, our hydroplanes dropped 40 bombs on enemy detachments in the villages south-east of Tultchea." • Petrograd, October 31st. " On October 28th our aviators dropped eight poods of bombs on enemy stores in the Worki-Welke-Tarnopol region. Enemy aviators, without causing damage, dropped 20 bombs on the station of Malinovka (16 miles north-east of Dvinsk)." Petrograd, November 3rd. " In the Stechnikowce sector, six miles north of Tarnopol, one of our machines was damaged by the enemy's artillery fire and was forced to descend in the enemy zone. Our infantry, however, saved the machine and its airmen." Petrograd, November 4th. " On the South-VVestern front, in the direction of Kamen-Kashirsk, on October 31st our airmen dropped eight poods (2 cwt.) of bombs on Polizy Farm, causing a fire to break out. In the region of the village of Solomno (12 miles south-east of Volochisk) an enemy aeroplane, having lost its way, alighted in the rear of our position. The airman, a commissioned officer, was taken prisoner." German. Berlin, October 22nd. " Twelve enemy aeroplanes and one captive balloon were brought down yesterday." Berlin, October 21th. " Several enemy air squadrons on the night of October 24th attacked industrial districts of Lorraine, Luxemburg and the Saar. Five persons were killed and four wounded at Esch in Luxemburg, and one killed and six wounded at Saarbriicken. No military damage was done and the material damage was insignificant. Four aeroplanes were shot down by anti-aircraft fire or forced to descend. "Italian Front.—Twenty-six aeroplanes have been brought down in the last two days." Berlin, October 2gth. " Since October 22nd the enemy has lost 48 aeroplanes in aerial engagements and by our anti-aircraft fire. Three of these were brought down in home territory. Lieut. Miiller shot down his thirtieth and thirty-first, and Lieut, von Bfllow his twenty-second and twenty-third opponents." Berlin, November 4th. "During the last few days our battle airmen have increased the number of their aerial victories. Lieut. Miiller put out of action his 32nd opponent, Vice- Sergeant-Major Buckler his 23rd, Lieut. Bohme his 21st, and Lieut. Bongartz his 20th." Turkish. Constantinople, October 28M;. " An enemy aeroplane was brought down by our artillery fire behind the enemy's front line." Bulgarian. Sofia, October 2gth. " On the west bank of the Strnma, near Kopriva, Lieut. Eschwege brought down a captive balloon which fell in flames behind the enemy lines. This is his 17th aerial victory."
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