WAR IN THE AIR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20988, 26 September 1931, Page 2 (Supplement)

WAR IN THE AIR.

GREAT GERMAN COMMANDER,

MATHY'S DRAMATIC DOWNFALL.

SEVERE BLOW TO THE ENEMY.

The dramatic downfall of Heinrich Mathy, the greatest airship commander of the war, marked the beginning- of the end of the Zeppelin t raids on Britain. The story is told from the official " History of the War in the Air," by Mr. H. A. Jones. -

It was on October 1, 1916, a calm autumn evening, that .Mathy set out in the L.31 with several other raiding Zeppelins. The story of the destruction is best told in the words of SecondLieutenant W. J. Tempest, who brought down the L.31.

" About 11.45 p.m.," the British airman says in his official report made at the time, " I found myself over South-west London at an altitude of 14.500 ft. There was a heavy ground fog. I was gazing over toward the North-east of London when I noticed all the searchlights in that quarter concentrated in an enormous 'pyramid.' Following them up. to the apex, I saw a small cigar-shaped object which I at once recognised as a Zeppelin about 15 miles away, and heading straight for London.

" To get to the Zeppelin I had to pass through a very inferno of bursting shells from the anti-aircraft guns below. Straight Dive at Zeppelin.

" All at once, it appeared to me that the Zeppelin must have sighted me., for she dropped all her botabs in ODe volley swung round, tilted up her nose and proceeded to race away northward climbing rapidly as .she went. I made after her at all speed at about 15.000 ft. altitude gradually overhauling her. " As I drew up with the Zeppelin, to my relief I found that I was free from antiaircraft fire, for the nearest shells were bursting quite three miles away. fli e Zeppelin was now nearly 15.000 ft. high and mounting rapidly. I therefore decided to dive at her, for though I held a slight advantage in speed, she ' was climbing like a rocket and leaving me standing.

" I accordingly dived straight at the Zeppelin, firing a burst straight into her as I came. I let her have another burst as I passed under her and then, banking my machine over, sat under her tail, and flying along underneath her pumped lead into her for all I was worth. 'jsl could see tracer bullets flying from her in all directions, but I was too close under her for her to concentrate on me. As I was firing, I noticed her begin to go red inside like an enormous Chinese lantern and then a flame shot out of the front part of her and I realised she was on fire. How Mathy came to Grief. " The Zeppelin then shot up about 200 ft. paused, and came roaring down straight on to me before I had time to get out of the way. I nose-dived for all I was worth, -with the Zeppelin tearing alter me, and expected every minute to be engulfed in the flames. I put my machine into a spin and just managed to corkscrew out- of the way as .she shot past me, roaring like a furnace. I righted ®r machine and watched her hit the grouni wiUi a shower of sparks." The wreckage of the L.31 fell at Potter's Bar. Such was the end of Heinrich "Mathy. The loss of Mathy in the L.31 was- a severe blow to the German Airship Service. Germany, however, was loth to admit defeat and, eight weeks later, she made her final attack of the year. On the afternoon of November 27, 10 airships left, their sheds for the north of England. One turned back, with enginetrouble, half-way across the North Sea. The remainder made their approach in two groups. The first group, of five ships, came in between Scarborough and the Huinber, and the se<.o"ud group of four, diverged toward the Tyne area. Zeppelin Falls into the Sea.

The first of the second group to cross was the L.-34, which came irit over Black Halls Rocks at. 11.30 p.m. She was seen by Second-Lieutenant I. V. Pyott, who was in the air on his second patrol from the aerodrome of Tvo. 36 Squadron at Seaton Carew. " I had been in the air for approximately an hour," says this officer in his report, " when I sighted a Zeppelin between Sunderland and Hartlepool in the beam of a searchlight (Castle Eden) coming south and toward me. At this moment T. was at 9800 ft. and the Zeppelin seemed a few hundred feet below me. I flew toward 1 her and flew at right angles to and under her amidships, firing as I went under. " I was aiming at the Zeppelin's port quarter and noticed first a small patch become incandescent where I had seen tracers entering her envelope. I first took it for a machine-gun firing at me from the Zeppelin, but this ptitch rapidly spread and the next thing was that tha whole Zeppelin was in flames. I landed at 12 midnight, engine and machine. O.K. The Zeppelin, which fell into the sea at the mouth of the Tees, was still burning when I landed." Just before the Zeppelin caught fir* »he began dropping bombs on West Hartlepool. Sixteen high-explosives fell and did considerable damage to houses. Four people were killed and 11 injured. " A Fiery Furnace." Another airship taking part in thai raid was destined not to return. Shr was the L.21, which, after dropping bombs on Sharlston, near Wakefield, I)odsworth, near Barnsley, and various places in the Potteries, appeared at 6.45 a.m. over Yarmouth, drifting slowly. Dawn was now breaking and military and naval aeroplanes were on her track. Three naval pilots came up with her. After two had attacked without apparent success, Flight Sub-Lieutenant Fulling came up within 50ft. of the airship and fired two rounds. He was hiinself under fire from her machine-guns. At the second round his gun jammed and he turned away to clear the obstruction. Almost at once the L.21 caught »r« and within a few seconds was, in • pilot's word, "a fiery furnace." . The L.21 fell into the sea about eigh miles East of Lowestoft and disappeared, leaving only an oil patch to mark her passing.