WAR IN THE AIR

Grey River Argus, Volume 04, 4 July 1917, Page 3

WAR IN THE AIR

THE. RAID ON LONDON.

ACCOUNT BY HUN COMMANDER

1 • . . ■ ■ - ... Australian aoad N.Z: Cable Association. NEW YORK, July 2.: : The "New York Times" publishes a special cable from Berlin, in which :the commander of the recent air raid on London "gives a thrilling 'description of air fights with the British-' aviators. ~" " . - He that the German aeroI planes flew in bursts of flames and I explosions all around. " . While the commander claims that the raid was a success. . he' admits the g.reat dash and gallanrty of the British airmen. The commander says:— We left home at ten in- the morning and approached the English, coast through a bank of cloud. ' Leaving Sheerness we flew straight tovyards. Lpndon. Now the British shells reach our altitudes, and we climb higher, following the windings of, the Thames As the cloud bank rolls away we see our goal, namely. London's sea of houses, and then far below the first of England's pursuing machines. Litr fie 'of cotton seemingly by ma g ie appear in our path. These exploding ' shells multiply' with astound- ■ ing. rapidity. We fly through them Jtij^ we see the Thames bridges, the iTbwer of London, and the Bank of England. - jr j It" is now time to attack. ' I push the levers anxiously and follow the flight of the bombs. - As they strike it is a magnificently, terrific spectacle I from mid-air. The earth seems to rock and the houses seem to disappear in the craters. * ' :

Meanwhile the projectiles "from the defence guns are exploding and spluttering all round and our escape seems miraculous.

English fleets suddenly appear ahead, blocking return and aeroplanes appear on each side above and below. As all start firing the noise is terrific. The machine-guns opened fire at 200 metres.

One Englishman was particularly brave and tenacious, and gave us no* rest and kept up an incessant running fire for ten minutes, his bulle':'! sbo\v+ ering all round our- heads, cutting through planes till at last a wohle sheaf of shots entered his body and his machine fell. .

The . narrative ' is a remarkable admission of the.' terrific nature c.f the British- defence fire, showing that the range was accurate and* the British aviators in large numbers quickly mount and repel attacks. . • ' . The narratives does not claim, military works as -objectives.