THE ZEPPELINS

Evening Post, Volume XCII, Issue 75, 26 September 1916, Page 7

THE ZEPPELINS

STORY OF THE CAPTURED CREW.

DAMAGE IN AN ARTISAN QUARTER.

LONDON, 25th September. Eye-witnesses' stories of the raids in the Eastern Counties and London show that the raid was on the biggest scale to date, and was full of thrilling incidents'. Public excitement was equally divided between the destruction of certain artisan districts in South-Eastern London, the , tragic end of the burning Zeppelin, and the comic surrender of the officers and crew of a first-class Zeppelin to the sleepy inhabitants of a lonely country village. Five Zeppelins were engaged in the raid on Essex. They dropped eighty-four bombs, but thanks to the authorities' precautions, failed to discover a town or a populous village. The chief victims were * sheep^ poultry, and rabbits.

The captured Zeppelin was travelling at a 'terrific speed, and dropped incendiary and high-explosive shells in East Anglia. The raider was greeted by an inferno of shellfire, but seemed to .escape from the searchlights. The inhabitants were congratulating themselves that all was ended, when the Zeppelin returned, flying very high. When the monster fell, by a miracle it narrowly missed two cottagjes, only smashing the, . front windows.

A few moments later the crew hammered at the' door of a cottage. The wily labourer inside pretended to bo asleep He heard the commander swearing The labourer put his wife and children into a back room, escaped through a window, and brought a coustaljle, who met a body of men who replied to his' queries in broken English : "Our Zeppelin . engine exploded ; we are prisoners of war." . The Germans did not offer any resistance. They appeared .to be 'unhappy and dejected, but quite, submissive, and were conveyed to a detention camp. They were most timorous, and seemed to have a -Fear of being lynched The com mander asserted that his descent was due to engine trouble, but 'the chief engineer hotly disputed the statement. There was one sad incident in the raid. A soldier, on special leave from the front to see his dying father,-arrived to find the home in ruins, his father killed and his mother and sister unconscious at the hospital The soldier scrambled amongst the rains, gazed pitifully, and then flung himself upon the debris and sobbed, unrestrainedly.

The artisan districts of London suffered severely, especially the small work-ing-class houses. .A number of people are suffering from gas poisoning, suggesting that asphyxiating bombs wero dropped. An ambulance and fire engine arilved in the stricken districts with splendid promptitude Tho public showed fine courage. Many people rushed out half-dressed—men with ' top-coats over their pyjamas and women in nightgowns. The children were most brave, although terribly frightened, Some were hurt, but showed wonderful patience. The eye-witnesses record as a fine spectacle the .sight of several British, airmen going in pursuit of the assassins. Though the Zeppelins were very high the Britishers were soon in hot pursuit.