RAIDS OF THE AIRMEN

The war in the air developed into a reign of terror during the second half of the first year of the world catastrophe. While the armies on the land were locked in terrific conflict, and the navies were sweeping the seas, the huge ships of the air were hovering over cities with a desperate resolve to win on all sides. By degrees the pilots of the various nations learned to work in squadrons. The tactics of the air began to be developed and opposing aerial fleets maneuvered much as did the warships. Long raids by fifty or more machines were reported, tons of bombs being released upon cities hundreds of miles from the battle line.

The German ambition to shell London was realized, and the east coast of England grew accustomed to raids. The spirit of the British never faltered. Perhaps it was best typified in the admonition of a Yarmouth minister following a disastrous Zeppelin visit, who said: "It is our privilege, we who live on the east coast, to be on the firing line, and we should steel ourselves to face the position with brave hearts."

Casualties grew in all quarters. French cities were the greatest sufferers, although French airmen performed prodigies of valor in defending the capital and in attacks upon German defensive positions. But the stealthy Zeppelin took heavy toll on many occasions. It was shown that there was no really adequate defense against sudden attack from the air. Constant watchfulness and patrolling machines might be eluded at night and death rained upon the sleeping city beneath. The spring of 1915 found the air service of every army primed for a dash. The cold months were spent in repairing, reorganizing and extending aerial squadrons. Everything awaited the advent of good weather conditions.

During February, 1915, the hand of tragedy fell upon the German air service. Two Zeppelins and another large aircraft were wrecked within a couple of days.

In a storm over the North Sea on February 16, 1915, a Zeppelin fought heroically. Contrary air currents compelled the Zeppelin commander to maneuver over a wide zone in an effort to reach land. Caught in the gale the big dirigible was at the mercy of the elements. Snow, sleet, and fog enveloped it and added to its peril. The craft caught in the February storm, fought a losing battle for twenty-four hours and finally made a landing on Fanoe Island, in Danish territory. The officers and men were interned, several of whom were suffering from exposure in an acute form and nearly all of them with frostbitten hands and feet.

Another Zeppelin was lost in this same February storm. It is presumed that the two started on a raiding trip against England and were caught in the storm before reaching their destination. Details of the second Zeppelin's fate never have been told. It fell into the sea, where parts of the wreckage were found by Dutch fishermen. All on board lost their lives. The third airship wrecked that month was of another type than the Zeppelin. It foundered off the west coast of Jutland and four of its crew were killed. The others escaped, but the airship was a total loss.

This trio of accidents shocked the German official world to its depths and had a chilling effect upon the aerial branch of its military organization for some weeks. The Zeppelins remained at home until the return of better weather. England, for a time, was practically freed from the new menace.

It was not accident alone, nor an adverse fortune, which caused the loss of the three airships. The position of the British Isles, on the edge of the Atlantic, enabled British weather forecasters to tell with almost unfailing exactness when a storm was to be expected. The French also had an excellent service in this direction. Realizing that bad weather was the worst foe of the Zeppelin, aside from its own inherent clumsiness, the two governments agreed to suppress publication of weather reports, thereby keeping from the Germans information of a vital character. The German Government maintained a skilled weather department, but the geographical location of the country is such that its forecasters could not foretell with the same accuracy the conditions on the Atlantic. The shrewd step of the French and British therefore resulted in the destruction of three dirigibles in a single month, a much higher average than all the efforts of land guns and aviators had been able to achieve.

February, 1915, was a bleak, drear month. Aviators of all the armies made daily scouting trips, but wasted little time in attacking each other. Few raids of importance took place on any of the fronts. But British airmen descended upon German positions in Belgium on several occasions. Zeebrugge, Ostend, and Blankenberghe received their attention in a half dozen visits between February 5 and 20.

On February 16, 1915, a large fleet of aeroplanes, mostly British, swept along the Flanders coast, attacking defensive positions wherever sighted. At the same time, French airmen shelled the aeroplane center at Ghistelles, preventing the Germans from sending a squadron against the other flotilla.

Paris, Dunkirk, and Calais glimpsed an occasional enemy aeroplane, but they were bent on watching troop movements and only a few stray bombs were dropped. The inactivity of the armies, burrowed in their winter quarters, was reflected in the air.

It was announced by the French Foreign Office that from the beginning of hostilities up to February 1, 1915, French aircraft had made 10,000 reconnaissances, covering a total of more than 1,250,000 miles. This represented 18,000 hours spent in the air.

Antwerp, which had surrendered to the Germans, was visited by British flyers on March 7, 1915. They bombarded the submarine plant at Hoboken, a suburb. The plant at this point had been quickly developed by the conquerors and the harbor served as a refuge for many undersea boats. Numerous attacks on ships off the Dutch mainland persuaded the British authorities that a blow at Hoboken would be a telling stroke against German submarines, and so the event proved. Several craft were sunk or badly damaged. Bombs set fire to the submarine works and much havoc was wrought among the material stored there. A number of employees were injured. The Antwerp populace cheered the airmen on their trip across the city and back to the British lines, for which a fine was imposed upon the city.

During March, 1915, there was some activity in the East, where Zeppelins shelled Warsaw in Poland, killing fifty persons and causing many fires. One of the raiders was brought down on March 18, and her crew captured. The Russian service suffered losses, Berlin announcing the capture of six aeroplanes in a single week. One of these was of the Sikorsky type, a giant battle plane carrying a half dozen men.

Shortly after one o'clock on the morning of March 21, 1915, two Zeppelins appeared above Paris. Four of the raiders started from the German lines originally, but two were forced to turn back. They were first seen above CompiÈgne, north of which the German lines came nearest to Paris. The news was flashed ahead. The French airmen rose to meet them. Two of the Zeppelins eluded the patrol. Their coming was expected and when they approached the city searchlights picked them up and kept the raiders in view as they maneuvered above the French capital. The French defenders and the Zeppelin commanders met in a bold battle in the air. The Zeppelins kept up a running fight with pursuing aeroplanes while dropping bombs. They sailed across Mt. ValÉrien, one of the most powerful Paris forts, dropping missiles which did little harm. A searchlight from the Eiffel Tower kept them in full view. They were forced to move rapidly. Finally they swung in a big arc toward Versailles, and then turned suddenly and sailed for the heart of the city. Twenty-five bombs were dropped. Eight persons were struck and a number of fires started.

The Parisians flocked to the streets and watched the strange combat with rapt interest. Although the raiders had come before, the spectacle had not lost its fascination. Even though the authorities issued strict orders and troops tried to drive the throngs indoors, Parisians persisted in risking life and limb to see the Zeppelins battle in the night skies. Upon this occasion the battle aloft lasted until after four o'clock in the morning, or more than three hours.

On the same night, March 21, 1915, three bombs were thrown upon Villers-Cotterets, fifteen miles southwest of Soissons. There was small damage and no casualties. But the two raids emphasized that a few weeks more would see intensive resumption of war in the air.

French aviators shelled Bazincourt, Briey, Brimont, and Vailly on March 22, 1915. At Briey, the station was damaged and the railway line cut, two of the birdmen descending to within a few hundred yards of the track. Enemy batteries at Brimont suffered damage. The next day a German machine was shot down near Colmar, in Alsace, and its two occupants captured.

With the return of spring, 1915, came renewed activity among airmen on all fronts. The first day of April was marked by the loss of two German machines, one near Soissons and the other near Rheims. The first fell a victim to gunfire, both occupants being killed. The second, an Albatross model, was discovered prowling above Rheims. French pilots immediately gave chase and after a circuitous flight back and forth across the city, compelled the enemy machine to land. The pilot and observer were overpowered before they had time to set it afire, the usual procedure when captured.

A typical day of this season with the birdmen of France was April 2, 1915. A War Office report of that day tells of forty-three reconnoitering flights and twenty others for the purpose of attacking enemy positions or ascertaining the direction of gunfire. Bombs were dropped upon the hangars and aviation camp at Habsheim. The munition factories at Dietweiler, and the railway station in Walheim. The station at Bensdorf and the barracks at the same place were shelled from the air. Much damage was done.

Seven French aeroplanes flew over the Woevre region on this day, penetrating as far as Vigneulles, where the aerial observers discovered barracks covered with heavy corrugated iron. The machines descended in long spirals and dropped a number of bombs, setting the barracks afire. Troops were seen rushing in all directions from the burning structures.

The aviation camp at Coucu-le-ChÂteau, north of Soissons, and the station at Comines, Belgium, were under fire from the air. In Champagne a quantity of shells were unloosed upon the station at Somme-Py and Dontrein, near Eacille and St. Etienne-sur-Suippe enemy bivouacs were bombarded. Other bivouacs at Basancourt and Pont Faverger were struck by arrows dropped from the skies.

These numerous raids and reconnaissances were repeated every day at many points. German airmen were not less active than those of the Allies. Neither side allowed a fine day to pass without watching the enemy from the air and striking him at such places and times as they could.

Early on the morning of April 13, 1915, a Zeppelin was discovered surveying allied gun positions near Ypres, in Belgium. The batteries immediately opened fire and several shells found their target, judging from the heavy list which the airship developed. It was seen to be in serious trouble as it made its escape. Amsterdam reported the following day that the craft fell near Thielt, a complete wreck. What became of the crew never was learned.

The raids on England were now resumed. On April 13, 1915, a Zeppelin visited Newcastle-on-Tyne and several near-by towns. Newcastle, a great naval station and manufacturing city, had been the objective of previous air attacks that brought forth little result. The Zeppelin commander, who directed the bombardment of the thirteenth, was well informed and proceeded straight to the arsenal and naval workshops. More than a dozen bombs fell. Strangely enough none of these caused material loss, and there were no casualties. Dwellings were set afire in other quarters of the city. The stir that followed brought England to the realization that better weather was dawning and with it an imminent peril. Efforts were redoubled to ward off aerial raiders.

A flotilla of Zeppelins shelled Blyth, Wallsend, and South Shields, on the northeastern coast of England on the night of April 14, 1915. This attack was directed primarily at the industrial and shipping centers of Tyneside. Berlin claimed a distinct success, but the British denied that extensive harm had been done.

French airmen drove home an attack on April 15, 1915, that had important results. The station at Saint-Quentin was shelled from the air and upward of 150 freight cars and extensive freight sheds destroyed. Some of the cars contained benzol, the explosion of which spread burning liquid in every direction. Adjacent buildings were consumed by the spreading fire and it seemed that Saint-Quentin itself might go. Twenty-four German soldiers were killed and the fire burned from four o'clock in the afternoon until six the next morning, the explosion of shells being frequently heard. These facts were communicated to the French by spies and prisoners and thus written into the war's record.

Lowestoft and Maldon, only thirty miles from London, were the mark of bombs on the morning of April 16, 1915. The raiders arrived at Lowestoft about midnight and released three bombs, one of which killed two horses. A half hour later they appeared over Maldon, where six bombs were dropped. Several fires broke out. There was a panic when searchlights revealed one of the raiders still hovering above the city. But he apparently was merely bent on learning the extent of his success, as he passed on to Hebridge, two miles away, where a building was fired by a bursting shell.

Another German squadron of six craft was sighted at Ipswich, approaching from the direction of the channel. A few fires in Ipswich and two persons hurt at Southwold were the only evidences of the visit. This raid was made significant by the fact that the squadron paid small attention to towns in its route, proceeding to Henham Hall, residence of the Countess Stradbroke, near Southwold. It then was used as a hospital for wounded soldiers. A half dozen bombs fell in close proximity to the main building, but fortunately none of them struck their mark.

The evening of that day, April 26, 1915, the third raid on England in less than twenty-four hours took place. Canterbury, Sittingbourne, and Faversham were shelled, all three towns being within thirty miles of London. British machines drove the invaders off. About half past one of the next morning a Zeppelin dropped seven bombs in the neighborhood of Colchester. It was evident from these frequent visitations that the German authorities were bent on reaching London itself. Nearly every raid brought the enemy craft nearer. The gain of almost a mile was made on each raid. The Germans were wary and evidently suspected that London's air defenses were adequate. The small towns which they shelled were of no importance whatever from a military standpoint, and such casualties as resulted were insignificant as compared to the death roll that London might be expected to yield.

A French squadron engaged in a raid of some consequence on April 16, 1915. Leopoldshoehe, east of Rurigue, fell a victim. Workshops, where shells were made, came in for a heavy aerial bombardment. Fire started which swept away several buildings. Equipment and supplies were smashed. Other bombs dropped on a powder magazine at Rothwell caused a second fire. The electric plant at Maixienes-les-Metz, ten miles north of Metz, which supplied the city with light and power, was rendered useless. Munition plants and the station in Metz itself suffered, and three German aeroplanes guarding the city were compelled to land under the guns of the fortress when the French squadron turned about. This dash was a profitable one for the French and showed a new organization that promised well for the future. Just how many machines took part was not learned, but there probably were forty or fifty. North of Ypres French gunners brought down a German aeroplane which fell behind the enemy's trenches, ablaze from end to end.

The Germans took similar toll. Several of their flyers shelled Amiens on April 17, 1915, dropping bombs which killed or wounded ten persons in the vicinity of the cathedral. The invaders sailed up in the night and descended to a point just above the city before dropping the first bomb. They were off in a couple of minutes, before pursuing machines could engage them.

All of these raids were more or less effective. At the time they attracted wide attention, but as the war wore on the world became accustomed to aerial attacks. The total of lives lost and the destruction caused never will be accurately known. On April 21, 1915, came news of another trip to Warsaw by Zeppelins, a dozen persons being killed. Bombs fell in the center of the city and the post-office building was struck. A resumption of activity in that quarter was productive of raids, clashes in the air and Zeppelin alarms, such as were common in the western theatre, but on a lesser scale, as the Russians and Austrians possessed only a limited air equipment and the Germans were compelled to concentrate the bulk of their machines elsewhere.

In the southern war zone the aerial operations recommenced with April, 1915. The Austrians made several more or less futile attacks on Venice. Italian cities, especially Venice, Verona, and others near the border removed many of their art works to safe places, including stained-glass windows from cathedrals, canvases, and statuary. The base of the Campanile, Venice, and other historic edifices were protected with thousands of sandbags. The famous horses brought from Constantinople were taken down. This denuding process robbed the ancient seat of Venetian power of its many splendors, but assured their preservation and future restoration.

The Austrian bombs started numerous fires, tore up a few streets, and caused some casualties. In turn, the Italians dashed across the Austrian lines and attacked supply bases, railway stations, and other vantage points in the same way that the Allies were harrowing the Germans on the western front. In this work the Italians made use to some extent of their dirigibles, a type smaller than the Zeppelin but highly efficient.

Thirty persons were killed or wounded in Calais on April 26, 1915, when a Zeppelin succeeded in reaching a point above one of the thickly populated sections of the city. The raid took place before midnight. The visitor was quickly driven away by a French machine, but not until the damage had been done. An orphanage was among the buildings struck, many of the victims being children. A fleet of aeroplanes visited Amiens at about the same hour, their efforts being directed to the bombardment of ammunition depots near that city. The invaders were driven off with small results to show for their work. In a raid on April 28, 1915, upon Friedrichshafen, so often the mark of airmen, several airship sheds and a Zeppelin were damaged. A nearly simultaneous bombardment of Leopoldshoehe, LÖrrach, and the station at Haltinge resulted in the destruction of train sheds and two locomotives. Forty-two members of the Landsturm were killed or wounded at LÖrrach and two aeroplanes put out of commission, service being cut on the railway line. This was the official French version. Geneva gave a different and more vivid account. According to the Swiss, the French airmen visited Friedrichshafen twice within thirty-six hours, destroying five airships, setting fire to several buildings, and causing at least $1,000,000 damage. The report said that they returned by way of Metz, dropping arrows and bombs, and wrecking the station at LÖrrach.

The east coast of England was the victim of an air raid on April 30, 1915. Hostile aircraft were sighted over Ipswich, about sixty-five miles from London, shortly after midnight. The alarm was spread westward, whence the craft were bound. Five bombs fell upon Ipswich, but no one was killed. A few dwellings and commercial buildings were struck, fires starting which the local department soon controlled. Only a few minutes after the machines shelled Ipswich, they were seen to approach Bury St. Edmunds, fourteen miles to the northwest of Ipswich. Three bombs failed to produce casualties, but fires were started. Little damage resulted.

On the first day of May, 1915, announcement was made in Paris that experiments conducted at Issy les Molineaux over several months had brought about successful tests in firing a three-inch gun from an aeroplane. This had never been accomplished before, and had seemed a well-nigh impossible task. An entirely new piece was developed, firing a shell of about the same size as the regular 75-millimeter field gun. It was made lighter by half, with an effective range of 2,500 meters, considerably less than the standard gun.

French skill in designing weapons, always a trait of the race, was evidenced here. The heavy steel breechblock of the seventy-five was replaced by a wooden block. When fired the explosion of the powder charge automatically blew the wooden breechblock backward, thus neutralizing the shock. But owing to the open breech much of the powder's driving force was lost. Nothing to equal the new arm had there been up to that time. The wooden breechblock completely did away with the heavy hydraulic recoil cylinders which were one of the distinguishing features of the seventy-five. These cylinders were esteemed by many authorities to be the finest in the world, absorbing maximum shock with a minimum of effort.

The coming of this new gun marked a big step forward in aerial war and gave the French machines so equipped a decided advantage. Its effect was to make the German flyers more wary, avoiding combat except when impossible to avoid the issue. But its use was confined to the larger machines as a rule, particularly the Voisin biplane, the machine gun being favored by many airmen because of its lightness and the ease with which it could be handled.

The beginning of May, 1915, found aerial warfare in full progress again. The British defense squadrons showed somewhat better generalship and it was not until the tenth of the month that Zeppelins obtained any appreciable advantage in that quarter. But two of the raiders evaded the patrols on the night of May 10, 1915, and dropped bombs upon Westcliff-on-Sea, near Southend, at the mouth of the Thames, a bare twenty-five miles from London. There were no fatalities, but a man and his wife were badly burned when their home caught fire from a bursting bomb. At Leigh, near Southend, several shops were burned. It was reported that four Zeppelins had been seen at Leigh, whereas Westcliff-on-Sea saw but two. If the larger number were correct it would indicate that the Germans were becoming more determined to reach London. One feature of the raid at Westcliff-on-Sea was that of sixty bombs dropped only a few struck in the town. Most of them fell on the beach and the sand neutralized any effects that the missiles might have had.

The Bull and George Hotel at Ramsgate was completely wrecked by bombs which struck it on the night of May 17, 1915. An instance of the vagaries of explosives was furnished by this raid. One of the bombs which struck the hotel penetrated the roof and fell upon a bed on which a woman was sleeping. It wrecked the room and tore a great hole in the floor through which the bed and occupant fell to the cellar. The sleeper was badly hurt and the bed practically uninjured. Fires started by other bombs in Ramsgate soon were extinguished.

Advices from Rotterdam stated that during this raid a Zeppelin fell into the Gierlesche Woods, Belgium, two men being hurt. The cause of the airship's plight was unknown, but the damage made it necessary that the frame be taken apart and sent to Germany for repairs.

One of the oddest combats of the war was staged on this day—May 17, 1915. A Zeppelin, flying from the direction of the English coast, was sighted in the channel by a French torpedo boat. The craft was at a comparatively low altitude and furnished an excellent mark. Only a few shots had been fired when it was seen to be in distress. The Zeppelin made several frantic efforts to rise, then fell into the sea within four miles of Gravelines. It sank before aid could be given the crew.

May 17, 1915, was a bad day for Zeppelins. One of the dirigibles supposed to have attacked Ramsgate early that morning was discovered off Nieuport, Belgium, by a squadron of eight British naval machines which had made a sortie from Dunkirk. They surrounded the enemy craft and three of the pilots succeeded in approaching close to the Zeppelin. Four bombs were dropped upon the airship from a height of 200 feet. A column of smoke arose. The Zeppelin looked as though it would fall for a moment, but righted itself and mounted to an altitude of some 11,000 feet, finally eluding its pursuers.

Two Zeppelins and two Taubes were caught by daylight after a frustrated raid upon Calais on May 18, 1915. They were fired upon from many points. A battery at Gris Nez succeeded in hitting one of the dirigibles. The other craft of the flotilla stood by their injured fellow as long as they dared, but made off after a few minutes, as French machines were closing in from all sides. The injured Zeppelin dropped on the beach near Fort Mardick, about two miles from Dunkirk. Forty men aboard were taken prisoners, including several officers.

Two women in Southend, England, met death on May 27, 1915, when Zeppelins visited that city. A child was badly injured. The lighting plant and several industrial establishments suffered damage. Repeated attacks on Southend had resulted in the installation of searchlights and the detailing of more aviators to guard its citizens. Neither availed to prevent the loss of life, but they did succeed in driving away the raiders after their first appearance.

Of all the raids carried out during the spring and summer of 1915, one of the most important was that upon Ludwigshafen, in Bavaria. Here the laboratories of the Badische Anilin und Soda Fabrik were located. This plant was said to produce two-thirds of the nitrates used in the production of ammunition for the German armies. Since the start of the war it had been the object of several attacks, none of which had noteworthy results.

But on the morning of May 26, 1915, eighteen French aeroplanes started at daybreak from a border stronghold and headed straight for Ludwigshafen. They had a supply of gasoline to last seven hours and rose to a height of 6,500 feet in order to escape detection. In this they did not succeed, but ran into several lively cannonades before reaching their destination. Once there, they circled above the big chemical works, dropping bomb after bomb. More than a ton of explosives were hurled upon the buildings in a quarter of an hour. Columns of smoke rose from the burning structures. Loud explosions issued from the smokestacks, sounding like the report of heavy guns. Workmen fled in all directions and the whole plant soon was wrapped in flames. The airmen lingered about for a short time, watching the results of their work. It became evident that the plant would be a total loss, and the flames spread to near-by buildings, for a time threatening a good part of the city.

Swiss reports of a few days later said that upward of a hundred workmen lost their lives, that scores were hurt and the property loss ran well into the millions. The blow was severe, the heaviest up to that time which German industries, far from the battle front, had sustained. It revealed a new chapter of war in the air to communities which would be snugly secure under any other condition. On the return trip, ill fortune overtook the French flotilla. The machine of its commander found it necessary to make a landing. Chief of Squadron, De Goys, and Adjutant Bunau-Varilla were captured. They burned their aeroplane before being taken prisoners.[Back to Contents]