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.
[Illustration: THE RELATIVE STRENGTH OF SOME OF THE EUROPEAN NATIONS IN
AEROPLANES AND DIRIGIBLES.
--Aero and Hydro, Chicago]
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.
[Illustration: HOW GERMAN EMPIRE IS FORTIFIED AGAINST AERIAL ATTACKS.
CENTERS FROM WHICH KAISER WILLIAM'S DIRIGIBLE AND AEROPLANE FLEETS
OPERATE. ONLY THOSE CITIES THAT HAVE AERODROMES ARE SHOWN ON THIS MAP.
SEVERAL BELGIAN AND FRENCH AERODROMES ALSO ARE SHOWN.]
"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."