A STOLEN ZEPPELIN.

Auckland Star, Issue 123, 24 May 1919, Page 19

A STOLEN ZEPPELIN.

PILOTED TO ENGLAND BY BRITISH OFFICER. £ AN EXTRAORDINARY STORY. Among the records In the office of the German Aerial Service Is on entry that n I notes the mysterious disappearance In Ifllo k ' of the largest Zeppelin existing at thnt j time, says a correspondent of the "New York Ileraal." The huge "Zep.," It Is n recorded loft her 'bnse on a bombing expedtd i tlon over the eastern part of England and 3- except for ootes of her (light over the Gemn I man border, nothing more may be learned 11 from German sources. n t A few weeks after the "Zep.'s" disappearance with her commander and crew, the first of live mysterious Victoria Cross awards was announced by the British War Otliee. h From a responsible authority, it was I- learned that the mysterious award of c one Victoria Cross was to an equally mys- '• terious British army otUccr and. the (1 iiu-ldcnt connected with tho awnrd was the theft of tlie German Zeppelin and her n crew. The British otbYer. assigned to 1 intelligence duty in Germany some months before, had gained the confidence of the otlicers in charge of the raids on England [• and had left Germany as commander of the huso living boat. c " HELPED SOLVE RAID PROBLEMS. r Tlie story of his experience in Germany I and the successful accomplishment of his ■. tasks is even more thrilling than the r recital of the bare facts would indicate. And it was his success in making off n with the most modern of Zeppelins that d went far toward helping the British War ;. Otliee solve the problems presented by night bombing raids over the provincial towns of England. Fur obvious reasons, the officer who , related the account of Hie enterprise with- . i held the name of the man who stole tlie I airship. So incensed were the German ! authorities over the disappearance of the ' I "Zep." that it is possible some of those J I who were held responsible might seek him I out and try to do him harm. ' Seven years before the war began, the '* . officer was assigned to intelligence duty. 1 Between that time -and tlie day the danger of. war became apparent, he had been in Germany much of the time studying aircraft production and particularly tlie development of tlie 7-oppoUn. Nei-llpss to .-ay. no German ever got an opportunity of learning who the student of aircraft design really was. i The day war was declared, the officer ■ enlisted in the German army. His apti--1 i tilde for airplane work anil his seeming ! ! willingness to put his shoulder to the • j Kaiser's wheel soon gained for him the f confidence of his immediate superiors. He worked tirelessly and with efficiency ! officers thought. Occasionally, it is under-J ' stood, ho managed to delay important ' work. All the time he lived under the 1 strain of knowing that German Zeppelins ! were almost nightly raiding England's ■ small towns and that his own wife and children in their home, in Essex, might be killed. But the British War Office had assigned the task to him and lie plugged on. Tho I frightful strain never showed in his face. At any moment, lie knew, some Germun intelligence officer who had been on duty in England might enter the Zeppelin plant and recognise him as a British officer. He would be denounced, tried by military court and shot. One day, soon after he had demonstrated his expert knowledge of Zeppelins, he received an o[vportunity to try for a commission. The German air service was being depleted rapidly and more officers were [ passed it. lie was complimented and got the rank of lieutenant. His commission enabled him to work with oven greater success. I-Ic had access to records and drawings, and he never i lost an opportunity of memorizing Import- ' ant details in Germany's plans for aerial ! development. So thoroughly had his memory been trained that, he was a llvilng encyi clopacdla of German aeronautic*. The 1 most secret of the plans sooner or later i passed before him and were photographed I on his brain. 1 COMMISSIONED A CAPTAIN. Again, for reasons best known to the ' German officers, the British intelligence ' man was the recipient of honours. ' "You are hereby commissioned a captain in the Emperor's air service," said the commanding officer to him one day at 1 headquarters. "Thank you—and the All -Hlgliest:" replied the Briton. That night the German commander sent for him. The two were closeted together [ for several hours in the commanding officer's quarters. When the British officer ! left he carried orders placing him in com- . mand of a Zeppelin. Several practice . flights and cruises were made before the • Germans f°lt that the new cat tain could be j trusted with the command o< , . the finest t Zeppelin. , Officers who had been on murdering expe- , ditions over England gave him tiips on I air currents and anti-aircraft batteries t located along England's coast. , Then came orders for the new captain to ' t undertake his tlrst bombing expedition over England. He was ordered to try for munitions plants. A score of high German officers bad,, him good-bye and saw to it that Germany's largest Zeppelin got away without mishap. The Zeppelin proceeded across the German border and began her flight across tlie 0 North Sea. A thick fog blanketed the sur- ; face of the water and no lights were 3 visible. Navigation was done by compass - alone. At a high altitude the "Zep." - arrived directly over the shore of England. 5 DROPPED NO BOMBS. Restraining his crew of impatient Ger- '. mans, who Wished to leave a trail of smoke and flame beneath them, the British officer ' continued to guide the craft toward the 1 centre of Essex. The fog lifted suddenly 5 and a group of lights in familiar formation told him that he had arrived at his destlna--1 tion. Meanwhile news of the Zeppelin's arrival betrayed by the whirr and roar of her engines, was reported by the listening "post commanders on the ground below. Antiaircraft batteries in the vicinity were manned and preparation was made to receive the raiding visitor with the proper sort of reception. ' Tlie "Zep.'' was manoeuvred and finally started toward the ground. She passed , ' through tlie tire of several guns and lauded I in an open Held near a small town. No ' i troops were in the vicinity and the comi mander, telling his crew that the steering • ! gear was broken, advised them to surren- : ! der. They agreed, and a problem presented ; by the absence of British troops was . ' solved. He marched them in military formation along a road that he knew led to the village. On the way. an aged constable was encountered. He received the surrender of the men and the pseudo German captain. ', The army post near by was notified of j the landing of the great airship. As soon as the disarming process was completed, J the "Zep." commander and his men were

locked up. .P.iit a telegram to the com , mander's wife scut her hurrying to the telephone. She notified the coinranndlng officer of the troops In Essex of tiic Zeppelin commander's Identity. When a thorough Identification hurt been niailc the officer was hurried to London in an automobile. At the War Office he made his report. Congratulations were showered upon him by uotne of the highest officers In the British army. LEARNED GERMAN SKCIU'TS. Meanwhile, the Zeppelin was being cared for. It was dismantled and taken to the British army's aircraft museum, where men of the living service made examinations o» its parts. Its engines wore taken down and Inspected for new devices. !t i< sulliKent to say that from that Zeppelin the Hritlsh flying men thus learned more than they ever knew before of German aircraft development. It was the British Intelligence officer's report of his discoveries in Germany that revolutionised the a i r defence work in Eng- ' land. Theretofore the military authorities had depended solely upon listening posts nnd airplanes for driving off raiding Zeppelins. With the data the British were ahle to devise new methods of coping with the ' menace. HIS "TIPS" OET RESCI.TS. The Intelligence officer related the great fear of German Zeppelin commanders that some thoughtful Briton would realise that | tlie British airplanes could not climb quickly enough and that with fast climbing airplanes was needed an Inflammable bullet. Both the fast climbing airplane and the > Inflammable bullet were perfected. The j next Zeppeliii that tried to bomb over Kng- | lan.l was brought down in flames. The Germans next tried the "silent engine," which was nothing more or less than drifting over England with the enBines silenced. That proved unsuccessful on the tlrst attempt. The Zeppelins, live in number, drifted over England at night, were still there the next day because the engines had "frozen" and the crews were unable to start them. The live continued drifting. Over France they went, to be attacked by French nnd British airmen and brought down in flames. That was the last time the Germans tried to toss bombs down on women and children and It was the nerve and resourcefulness of the British army officer that spoiled their carefully arranged scheme.