AERO-MILITARY OPERATIONS

Aerial Attacks on Cities—Some of the Achievements of the Airmen in the Great War—Deeds of Heroism and Daring—Zeppelins in Action—Their Construction and Operation.

During the first ten weeks of the war German airmen flew over Paris several times and dropped bombs that did some damage. Aeroplanes, not Zeppelins, were used in these attempts to terrorize the capital and other cities of France.

The early visits of Zeppelin airships to Antwerp have been described in a previous chapter. These were continued up to the time of the fall of Antwerp. While comparatively few lives were lost through the explosion of the bombs dropped, the recurring attacks served to keep the inhabitants, if not the Belgian troops, in a state of constant excitement and fear. When the city fell into German hands, a similar condition arose in England, where it was feared that Antwerp might be made the base for German airship attacks on London and other cities of Great Britain; and all possible precautions were taken against such attacks. The members of the Royal Flying Corps were kept constantly on the alert; powerful searchlights swept the sky over London and the English coast every night and artillery was kept in readiness to repel an aerial invasion. Such was the condition in the third week of October.

BRITISH ATTACK ON DUSSELDORF

A new type of British aeroplane was developed during the war, capable of rising from the ground at a very sharp angle and of developing a speed of 150 miles an hour. And in their operations in France and Belgium the British army aviators proved themselves highly efficient and earned unstinted praise from Field Marshal Sir John French, in command of the British forces on the continent. One of their notable exploits was an attack, October 8, on the Zeppelin sheds at Dusseldorf and Cologne, in German territory. The attack was made by Lieut R.S.G. Marix, of the Naval Flying Corps, in a monoplane, and Squadron Commander Spencer Grey, with Lieut S.V. Lippe, in a biplane. Flying from Antwerp at a height of 5,000 feet, to escape the almost continuous German fire, Lieut. Marix succeeded in locating the Zeppelin hangars at Dusseldorf. Then descending to a height of only 1,000 feet he released two bombs when directly over them, damaging both hangars and aircraft. A German bullet passed through Lieut. Marix's cap and the wings of his aeroplane were pierced in a dozen places, but he succeeded in returning to the burning city of Antwerp, which he was ordered to leave the same evening.

During the same raid Commander Spencer Grey flew to Cologne. He was unable to locate the Zeppelin hangars but dropped two bombs into the railway station, which was badly damaged.

A night or two later a German Zeppelin flew over Ghent and dropped a bomb near the South station. On October 11 two German aviators dropped a score of bombs on different quarters of Paris, killing three civilians and injuring fourteen others. The property damage, however, was slight and the effectiveness of bomb-dropping as a means of destroying a city or fortifications remained to be proved to the military mind. It was noted that a large proportion of the bombs dropped by German aviators failed to explode.

HEROIC ACTS BY AIRMEN

Stories of heroism displayed by aviators on both sides of the great conflict have abounded. One story of the devotion of German airmen, told to a correspondent by several German officers, he succeeded in verifying, but was unable to learn the name of the particular hero of the occurrence. This story was as follows:

"In one of the battles around Rheims it became necessary to blow up a bridge which was about to be crossed by advancing French troops coming to relieve a beleaguered fort. The only way to destroy the bridge was for an airman to swoop down and drop an exceptionally powerful bomb upon it.

"There were twenty-four flyers with that division of the German army. A volunteer was asked for, it being first announced that the required task meant sure death to the man undertaking it.

"Every one of the twenty-four stepped forward without hesitation. Lots were quickly drawn. The chosen man departed without saying farewell to any one. Within five minutes the bridge was in ruins and the aeroplane and its heroic pilot had been blown to pieces. This incident was not published in the press of Germany, because of the fear that it would cause terrible anxiety to the wives of all married German flyers."

A DUEL HIGH IN THE AIR

An aerial victory for a French aviator, fought thousands of feet in the air in the presence of troops of both armies, was reported by Lieutenant de Laine of the French aerial corps on October 10. The air duel was one of the most thrilling since the war began. Lieutenant de Laine's account of the combat was as follows:

"I had been ordered to fly over the German lines with an observer who was to drop pamphlets. These pamphlets contained the following inscription:

"'German soldiers, attention! German officers say that the French maltreat prisoners. This is a lie. German prisoners are as well treated as unfortunate adversaries should be.'

"We had no sooner taken wing than the aeroplane was sighted by German observers in captive balloons anchored about six miles distant. Immediately two Albatross machines rose from the German camp and came forward.

"We continued to advance, meanwhile sending the aeroplane higher and higher until the barograph showed we were 6,000 feet above the ground. Our machine was speedier than the German Aeroplane, which was constructed of steel and was so heavy it could not work up the speed of the French army monoplane.

"We were able to get over the German lines and my companion began hurling thousands of the pamphlets in every direction. It was like a snowstorm.

"In the meantime, the German artillery got their long range air guns in action and were hurling volley after volley against us. The shells were of special type, designed to create violent air waves when they burst. We were too high to be reached, but we had to turn our attention to the two aeroplanes which were rushing toward us.

"As they approached the German artillery fire stopped. We were too high to distinguish what was going on beneath us, but I could imagine the thousands of soldiers staring skyward in wonder at the strange spectacle above them.

"We kept swinging in wide circles over the German lines and I kept getting higher and higher in order to outmaneuver the German plane and to prevent it from getting above us so that bombs could be thrown at us.

"The machines were all equipped with rapid-fire guns, and when we got within 100 yards of each other, both sides opened fire. The bullets went wide. Finally we began to swing backward, getting lower and lower. One of the German machines was thus lured over the French lines and our land artillery opened against it. One of its wings was shattered and it dropped, but the other aeroplane escaped."

HOW A GERMAN AVIATOR ESCAPED

How a German aviator in Belgium secured control of a falling aeroplane after his companion had been killed is described in a thrilling letter received by his father in Berlin September 30. It reads:

"Dear Father: I am lying here in a beautiful Belgian castle slowly recovering from wounds I thought would kill me. On August 22 I made a flight with Lieutenant J., a splendid aviator; established the fact that the enemy was advancing toward us. In the region of Bertrix we came into heavy rainclouds and had to descend to 3,000 feet. As we came through the clouds we were seen and an entire French division began shooting at us.

"Lieutenant J. was hit in the abdomen. Our motor was put out of commission. We were trying to volplane across a forest in the distance when suddenly I felt the machine give a jump. I turned around—as I was sitting in front—and found that a second bullet had hit Lieutenant J. in the head and killed him.

"I leaned over the back of the seat and managed to reach the steering apparatus and headed down. A hail of shots whistled about me. I felt something hit me in the forehead. Blood ran into my eyes. I was faint. But will prevailed and I retained consciousness. Just as we were near the ground a gust of wind hit the plane and turned my machine over. I fell in the midst of the enemy with my dead companion. The 'red trousers' were coming from all directions and I drew my pistol and shot three of them. I felt a bayonet at my breast and gave myself up for dead when an officer shouted: "'Let him live! He is a brave soldier.'

"I was taken to the commanding general of the Seventeenth French army corps, who questioned me, but, of course, got no information. He said I would later be sent to Paris, but as I was weak from loss of blood and seriously wounded I was taken into their field hospital and cared for. The officers were very nice to me and when the French fell back I took advantage of the confusion to crawl under a bush, where I remained until our troops came."

Many occurrences of a similarly thrilling character have been related in the camps of the contending armies. The above suffice to show the patriotic devotion and heroism of the military forces of the air, which for the first time in history have been a prominent feature of warfare in 1914.

ZEPPELINS IN ACTION

The real story of the performances of air-craft in the has not been told, but there has been enough to give the world a terrifying glimpse of these modern weapons.

The three attacks on Antwerp by a Zeppelin airship brought into action the long predicted onslaught by forces of the air against the ground. After one of the great German dirigibles had been brought down by gunfire because it was accidentally guided too near the earth, another returned over the city, and the havoc wrought by this single craft realizes the horrors that would follow any concerted attack by a fleet of the aerial destroyers if they were launched against a city.

The Zeppelin is an impressive thing because of its size, cigar-shaped and ranging from 300 to over 500 feet in length, driven at a rate of miles an hour by four propellers and carrying a huge car. It is most valuable for use at night, of course, but has proved it is capable of doing its deadly work out of range of ordinary gunfire at day. Artillery has been invented which can reach airships flying at 5,000 feet, but there is not much of it. The half dozen German Zeppelins which have been destroyed by French and Russian fire met their fate chiefly because they got too near the ground.

Refugees from Belgium describe the method used by Zeppelins in dropping bombs. The dirigible is kept as much as possible out of range of the enemy's guns while it lowers a steel cage, attached to a steel rope, 200 or 300 feet long. The cage carries a man who throws down the bombs. Because of the small size of the cage and the fact that it is kept constantly in motion it is difficult for heavy guns to hit it. The great airship remains perfectly stable while the missiles, of which there are a variety for different missions, are being hurled. All the military Zeppelins of Germany are armed and there are a large number of unarmed dirigibles in reserve.

It is estimated that there are 100 aeroplanes with the British forces on the continent. The French army has hundreds of aeroplanes of various kinds. Germany's fleet of flying machines has been in action continuously and the aviators have proved a big aid in scouting as well as in dropping bombs and grenades on the enemy.

The newest French aeroplanes are said to be equipped with boxes filled with thousands of "steel arrows."

These "arrows" are really steel bolts four inches long. When the aviator sails over the enemy he opens trapdoors of the "arrow" boxes with a simple device and lets showers of bolts fall on the men below. One of the "arrows" dropped 2,000 feet will go through a German helmet and a soldier's head. A shower of them would prove effective against a massed enemy.

On August 10 the correspondent of the London Times in Brussels, describing the fighting at Liege, said aerial fleets were used by both Belgians and Germans. The fighting in midair was desultory but deadly. A huge Zeppelin sailed over Liege during the early fighting. The fighting in midair was desultory but deadly. A huge Zeppelin sailed over Liege during the early fighting, but was pursued by a Belgian aeroplanist, who risked and lost his life in destroying it.

After the destruction of this Zeppelin the Germans confined their aerial activity to the use of scouting aeroplanes, several of which were destroyed by shots from the forts. Attempts to reach the aeroplanes with shells were often unsuccessful, however, owing to the inability to shoot high enough.

AVIATION CAMPS IN EUROPE

In the early days of the great war only an occasional flash of news was received about the French and Russian aero-military operations or those of the German corps along the Russian and French frontiers. It was difficult to imagine that they were idle, for the German-Russian and the French-German frontiers had been the locations of many military aeronautical camps or fortresses. These were described at the outbreak of hostilities as follows:

"Along the German frontier facing Russia are the important aero centers of Thorn and Graudenz, while the nearest aero base in Russia is at Riga, farther north.

"Against German invasion there are French centers at Verdun, Nancy, Luneville and Belfort. The most important is at Belfort. Sixty miles from the Belgian frontier and 170 miles from Liege is the great center at Rheims, with the even more important base at Chalons-sur-Marne only twenty-five miles distant.

"Seventy-five to 100 miles is the scouting range of the military aeroplanes, while the dirigibles will scout 500 to 1,000 miles from the base, according to the duration efficiency. The Zeppelins might, taking some risk, travel even farther. With this taken into consideration, the fact that there are only two German aero centers on the French frontier—Aix-la-Chapelle and Metz—is not very significant. The range of the Vosges occupies the territory where there is no aero center.

"Back of the mountains, along the Rhone from Dusseldorf to Strasbourg, there are a dozen aero stations, some of them devoted to aeroplanes and dirigibles, others to dirigibles alone.

"The latest data show that Germany has sixty stations, including private dirigible hangars, while France has thirty, in most cases of greater extent than those in Germany, Russia, eight months ago, had ten, but it is believed that this number has been increased twofold since that time.

"The two principal Belgian centers are at Brasschaet, near Antwerp, and Etterbeck, near Brussels. The aviators operating in the early engagements have undoubtedly flown down from Brussels and are in temporary camp at Liege. There are probably not more than four Belgian escadrilles, or little fleets of four machines each, on the scene, while Germany's force is supposedly greater."