ZEPPELIN RAIDS

Greymouth Evening Star, 3 November 1939, Page 8

ZEPPELIN RAIDS

WHEN GERMANY FAILED Of all the failures experienced by Germany in the war of 1914-18, perhaps the most spectacular was the air-raid campaign carried out by Zeppelin aircraft over England. These huge light-er-than-air ships proved unwieldy and vulnerable, and they were eventually superseded by aeroplanes for raiding work (writes R. C. C. Dunn in the “Argus).

First, the military Zeppelins failed, and then the German naval Airship Service tried its hand.

The destruction of the German military airship SLII by Second-Lieuten-ant. Leefe Robinson, of No. 39 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps, on 3rd September, 1916, was the primary reason for this. The naval airship officers were keen to prove their superiority over the army ones. On 23rd September, 1916, 11 Zeppelins rose from their sheds and left to raid England. Among them were the three latest ships—L3l, L 32, and L 33. The first named was under the command of Kapitanleutnant Mathy, fly-ing-commander of the Airship Service, the second by Capitanleutnant Petersen, and the third by Kapitanleutnant Boecker.

Almost all the previous raids on London had been made by airships coming in over the Norfolk coast, flying southwards over London, then across the Channel back to Germany. On this occasion, however, Mathy decided to bring in L3l, with L 32 from the south, hoping to evade the attention of the heavy anti-aircraft batteries strung across the northern boundary of the city.

Crossing the coast near Dungeness, Mathy dropped four high-explosive bombs on Kenley at 12.30 a.m., damaging some houses. The searchlights endeavoured to pick him up; but, dropping some flares to blanket them, he took his ship rapidly across London, bombing Mitcham, Streatham, Brixton, and Kennington on the way. Over Lea Bridge road several more bombs were dropped, killing 22 people and wounding 75 others. A ground mist assisted his progress, and he was practically unmolested, passing out over Great Yarmouth shortly before 1 a.m. Petersen, in L 32, came in ovexDungeness with Mathy, dropping six bombs on the coast as he did so, but doing little damage. Proceeding inland, he appears to have had engine trouble, so turned away back to sea. Overcoming this trouble fairly quickly, he came in again, passing over Tunbridge Wells at 12.15 a.m., and dropped six bombs on a searchlight- which opened up. The mist on the south side of the Thames sheltered L 32 from the batteries rendering the airship very difficult to see. Dropping occasional bombs, Petersen crossed the Thames near Dartford at about 1 a.m., being engaged on the north side of the river by the anti-aircraft batteries, aided by searchlights which he attempted to bomb. Having discharged all the missiles he carried. Petersen began his return journey, but he had been sighted, well lit up by the searchlights, by Second-Lieutenant F. Sowrey, R.F.C*, of the 39th Squadron.

CRASH IN FLAMES ■ Ranging up from astern, Sowrey sprayed the airship with two drums of tracer and explosive bullets, without any apparent effect. Again opening fire, along the envelope, he saw it catch fire in several places. Swiftly the flames spread, the airship slowly falling until it crashed to earth at Great Borsted, south of Billericay, burning fiercely for over an hour, all the crew perishing. Second-Lieutenant Brandon, also of the 39th Squadron, saw the combat from his machine some distance away, and reported that Sowrey’s machine-gun fire looked as though L 32 was being hosed with a stream of fire.

L 33, under Boecker separated from Mathy and Petersen when over the Goodwin, crossed the Thames Estuary, and made his landfall at Foulness about 10.45 p.m. A few bombs - were dropped when passing over Bilericay and Wanstead, which was reached at midnight. The main load of bombs was preserved until Boecker was over West Ham, when anti-aircraft batteries and searchlights found him. He began dropping bombs, and moved over Bromley and Bow, killing 11 persons and injuring 25 others, damaging severely many factories, business establishments, and houses. Probably at this time L 33 was hit by anti-aircraft shells, for she climbed to about 10,000 ft, and headed in a northeasterly direction. Approaching Chelmsford the airship was attacked by Brandon, who hung on for about 20 minutes, firing when opportunity offered, but, though he could see his bullets burst along her side, she did not catch fire. Finding that his ship was rapidly losing height, Boecker jettisoned everything possible. He passed out to sea over Mersea Island, the motorboat base, at 1.15 a.m., but soon found his plight to be hopeless, and turned back over the land, eventually bringing his ship to earth between Little Wigborough and Peldon. Boeckei’ and his crew of 21 abandoned her, endeavouring to set her on fire with Verey flares, but so little gas remained in her I that very little damage was done. They then surrendered to a village constable. The result of this landing was the construction by Britain of those two famous airships, R 33 and R 34, the latter being the first airship to cross the Atlantic to the United States and return in 1919.

Of the other Zeppelins engaged in the raid, five went north, an attack being made on Nottingham by Ll 7, where she dropped eight high-explosive and eleven incendiary bombs. Some 202 high-explosive and 166 incendiary bombs were dropped that night, 40 people being killed and 130 injured. A considerable number of British aeroplanes went up. naval planes attacking two Zeppelins over Yarmouth, however, without, result.

i Two clays later, Mathy, who was terribly depressed by the loss of his companions, took the air with eight airships. but London was left severely alone. Mathy, in LSI, went along the south coast, crossed the Island of j Wight, then headed over Portsmouth r Naval Dockyard, flying very high. AlJthough picked up by searchlights and 'shelled, Mathy made no attack whatever, but turned our to sea over St. i Leonards. Four airships attacked ’ Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and Lancashire. 36 being killed and 27 injured.

ANOTHER RAID

On the afternoon of Ist October. 191 G. 11 airships loft their sheds, including L 34, which had been delivered only a few days earlier. One ship turned back half-way over, three others before crossing the English coast, while L 34 did very little on this maiden trip. Mathy, still in L3l, crossed over Chelmsford and Harlow, reaching

Buntingford at 10.30 p.m. Turning near Ware, he headed south for London, but, coming under a tremendous fire from anti-aircraft guns at Newmans and Temple House, he gave tip the idea of reaching the metropolis. At Cheshunt he dropped 30 highexplosive and 26 incendiary bombs, damaging over 300 houses, but only injuring one woman. Twisting and turning to get out of the searchlight beams. Mathay began his homeward journey. A number of British aeroplanes were up, one of which, flown by ■ Second-Lieutenant W. J. Tempest, R.F.C., was at a height 14,500 ft at 11.45 p.m. Tempest saw searchlights 15 miles away forming a pyramid in the sky, at the apex of which he could see a Zeppelin. Heading full speed for her and passing through an inferno of bursting shells, he came close to L3l, firing a. burst of machine-gun into her, then another as he passed undei’ her. Turning in under L3l’s tail, he flew along underneath, firing burst aftei- burst into her until he noticed her beginning to go red, when suddenly a flame shot out of the fore part and she flared up. Diving with his engine throttle wide open, Tempest was hard pressed to get his machine from under the flaming mass, which finally shot past him roaring like a tremendous furnace. The airship hit the ground with terrific force near Potters Bai- just at midnight. Mathy and all his crew being burned to death.

Tempest, with pardonable excitement, fired some Verey lights, then returned towards his aerodrome, but had considerable difficulty in finding it owing to ground fog, so that, on landing he crashed his machine, escaping with slight head injuries. The fall of L3l was seen by the officers and crews of several of the other Zeppelins, and they immediateIj- ceased all offensive operations to turn easterly for home. The loss of these three new airships, to say nothing of Mathy, Boecker, and Petersen, all highly skilled commanders, was a blow from which the German airship service never recovered. The military airships’ crews were sent to the captive balloon section, while the naval airships had to give up London entirely as a target. No Zeppelin crossed the city again voluntarily; indeed, the only other time an airship passed over the metropolis was during the abortive “Silent Raid,” so called because the British batteries and searchlights did not open up.

This was on the night of 19th October 1917, when the Zeppelins crossed in at the Wash, and, flying at 20,000 ft.. stopped their engines to drift down on the wind. Instead of a3O m.p.h. breeze, there was a 60 m.p.h. gale from the north. One bomb was dropped at random to ascertain the drift, and it exploded outside Swan and Edgar’s store in Piccadilly. The airships failed to identify the city in the intense darkness, and mistook the beach. Three of the airships were brought down in France, and one drifted out over the Mediterranean, never to he seen again.