CAPTURED RAIDERS.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XLII, Issue 11474, 1 March 1918, Page 2

CAPTURED RAIDERS.

GOTHA CREW TAKEN BY CLERGYMAN.' Twenty-five enemy raided the London district in the early part of December, and two of the raiders came down and their crews were captured,. In one case a Gotha came down just before 6 o’clock in East Kent, and the crew was taken in charge by a clergyman. There were apparently few spectators of the landing. An errand boy was crossing a field when he heard the noise of an aeroplane overhead' and next saw a Gotha flying very low. • The engines seemed to be working badly, and the machine was flying unsteadily, as if it had been hit. Almost immediately afterwards it reached the ground, and he saw flames rising from it, and heard the noise as of machine guns discharging. A farmer living near the spot also heard the noise of the engines being shut off. He could not say whether the Gotha was in flames before it actually reached the ground, but it seems probable thafthere was no fire until the plane was on the ground “I heard a shout from the meadow,” said the farmer, ‘‘and went there with my son and two men. When we approached the Gotha I saw three men taking off their coats. My sou had previously seen, them drinking from a flask and eating something. When we got up to them one man said, in broken English, ‘Two Germans officers and one man, where is the police officer?’ The clergyman of the p.rish, who is a special constable’ came up and took charge of the German One lieutenant a very big man, was rather badly cut about the face, and the sergeant-major was also injured. The clergyman temporarily treated their injuries and afterwards commandeered a Y. A.D. van and took the'men to the police station, about a mile and a quarter away, where their injuries were attended. The wounds were only "superficial, but they bled a great deal.” One German officer stated that a bomb exploded in the carrier and damaged the machine, which brought them down. But there is considerable increlulity about this explanation, because the other officer stated to the police that the cause was engine "trouble. Meanwhile, it is sthted that the Gotha was hit by one of our batteries, and also that two English airmen attacked it in the air, so that its final descent was really due to our defence focres. The Gemaus on the Gotha were heavily decorated with Iron Grosses of the" First and Second Glass. They were very much relieved by their treatment by the local clegymun. It was noted that they wore particularly anxious to get into the hands -of the police, evidently having uncomfortable visions that they might be lynched by an angry crowd if they did not secure the protection of the constabulary. The other captured raider was seen shortly after 6 o’clock flying at a low altitude. It was evidently in difficultes, and was throwing out green lights. It gradually got lower, and fell. It sustained little damage, and the commander, was able to step from the machine and afterwards release the two 1 other mechanics, who were taken prisoners by men of the Flying Squadron. One man was found to be suffering from a slight injury, which was attended to in the town. Later the machine was seen to catch fire, and soon became a total wreck, except just a part of one plane. An examination of the wreck seemed to point to its being a German Gotha of the largest type.