HOW I BOMBED LONDON

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2612, 6 November 1915, Page 3

HOW I BOMBED LONDON

ZEPPELIN CAPTAIN'S STORY

RAIDER'S DESCRIPTION OF ATTEMPT TO DESTROY BANK OF ENGLAND

GREAT RESPECT FOR OUR GUNS

HOME OFFICE, WHITEHALL, Sept, 23, 1915,

, The following Is passed for publication with the comment that it oontains numerous statements which are quite untrue, and one (to the effect that an anti-aircraft gun has been placed under cover of St. Paul's) which can only be characterised as a. falsehood apparently invented to excuse what Cerman aircraft are attempting to ,do.. • '

"THE GUIDEPOST OF THE THAMES -J

'AIRSHIP OATTAIN DESCRIBES THE RAID. ' Commander Mathy, ono of the Zeppelin raiders, describes in "The following interview with Karl von Wicgand, special eorrespoiident o{ th©" "New York World" in Germany, the last attack on London as seen from bis airship.

"London, is a vast .military centre and military-defended city_ in every sense of tlio laws of war, written or unwritten, as applicable to aerial warfare. Property, from tlio view of aerial attack, so. far concerns everything , lisable for military purposes, such as big railway' stations, banks, docks, shipyards, and industrial estftbjisiments. If anyone London is not 'defended;" and pretty well de-, fended at that, he should have stood by my side in the front gondola of my Zeppelin in my last attack on London a few nights ago and seen the red, angry flashes of scores of cannon belching shrapnel at my craft." So .spoke Lieutenant-Commander Mathy, of the Zeppelin aerial oruiser squadron of the German Navy. •Mathy is commander of thfe 1/ , i one of Count Zeppelin's latest, biggest,' and 'fastest cruisers, the value of which as scouting craft for the navy has been mifeli under-estimated' abroad, and as fighting craft have, as Count Zeppelin told me in February, by no means reached their final development. That, despite their size, they are not 60 easily hit and brought down as has been the general imoression is evident from the fact that the Germans lost no Zeppelins in any of the numerous attacks on England. Attacking under the cover of night,. coining and_ goinjr with great sneed,- and disappearing within a few minutes, they are like a vision in the r.irrht. The aeroplanes of England's flying.corns 'havo so far 'proved"no defence against the Zeppelin raids. Mathy's Luck. Mathy is a slender man of perhaps 34 years, with closely-cropped" hair, which gives him tho appearance of .an entirely bald, smooth-faced person. Ho was formerly commander of a destroyer in the torpedo flotilla. Like officers of Gorman submarines I have met, lie made the impression of being all nerves, and those nerves of steel. Mathy and his Zeppelin have participated in every attack made on England from the air. His last, which was <>u the downtown City of London, I Was his "century Zeppelin run," or hundredth voyage in the nir,' counting his training and trial trips, he told me. ■'What I call luck has played a big part with me," he declared. And •Mathv has indeed been lucky, despite something which I cannot mention, but which every superstitious believer in omens and signs would regard as a very magnet of disaster and ill-luck. The day before its destruction he was on a Zeppelin \yhidh I saw burned and destroyed in the air above Tolianm'stal two years ago, and only missed that fatal trip by some magic. He was on. a Naval Zeppelin the day before the craft was wrecked in i storm on the North Sea off Denmark two years ago, and in some way missed the voyage on the day of disaster. ,

I asked Matliv to tell me about his last, -attnek on London.

"I will so far as I can without disclosing what might touch upon military secrets," lie replied, "and, that is pretty much everything about a ZeppeKu."

I promised Mathy. I wouldn't: ask him any ouestions Uhat would get him into trouble with the Admiralty.

"It 1 was my hundredth Zeppelin cruise, counting'my training trips, and I was much interested in it because of that; and wondered whether I would safely round out niy rentury," said the commander of tho L . "I had taken my Zorcpelin in safety to England and hack several times, and each trio learned something of value ajmlicahlo to the next venture. ' Tho first time it was something akin to discovering. a new country, and my impressions were much more vivid than now. That and some of the following visits were morn or less mental. We had much to learn, despite all our practice and trainius;. It was a new sort of warfare in which we had more or less to feel our war arid study aerial; strategy, aerial tactics, and tp learn to locate in darkness the military points and nbiocts we desired to attack.

"We had to study the aerial currents 'jvKovo the Kortih Sea. nnd England. What we have done to England so far is by no moans all that wo can do now that we have learned many things wo did not know and that it is necessary to know. The Zenpelins had to ho their own econts and information gatherers. To Spare St. Paul's. "Oil this occasion for tho first time my instructions were to attack certain points in. the down-town City of London, such as railway stations, bridges, industrial establishments. I had strict orders to do everything possiblo to avoid hitting St. Paul's and other churches, museums, tho Palace, Westminster Abboy, the Parliament House®, end, of course, residential districts. "I winfc to say there's not an officer or man in the aerial fleet who doesn't feel it as deeply when ho learns that women and children and other noncombatants aro killed as does a gunner or ooramander of big guns when he hear? his shell didn't strike exactly whero he wanted it to, and resulted in the death and injury of non-combat-ants. In fact, I would much rather stand on the bridge of a torpedo-boat fighting ship against ship than attack a city from tho air.

"Let me say that a Zeppelin voyageto England and back depends largely on tho ■weather and wind conditions. Well, the weather stations and meteorological balloons attached to tho aerial service reported favourable conditions. Tho colder tho weather the more wo can carry. Tlio tomporatnro was quite cool when wo started, with our magazine full of bombs.

the air at a lively speed with a favourable wind. Back of us wore tho receding shores of Germany, below us the white-cappcd billows of 1 the North Sea like a watery desert in motion, stretching out as far as we can see, without a sign of lifo except a singlo fishing craft." "Sunday School Crews." "Of course, we get very cold. Our new Zeppelins are very much faster than a ship, and I always think of the great difference in wind pressure as compared with when I stood on the bridge of my ship. Formerly when the commander's gondola on the older Zeppelins was entiroly open this difference was even more marked. Our now- craft have something of a protection in the form of a windbreak. But despite that wo get very cold. Especially so on tho last trip. We ate before we started, then occasionally took a pull at a thermos bottle of hot coffee or tea."

"Nothing stronger, Commander " 1 broke in.

"No, absolutely nothing stronger. Zeppelins have neither a bar, a kitchen, nor a dining room. Their crews are teetotallers. Wo havo got to have clear heads up there, and cool, 6teady nerves, the nerves which spirits don't necessarily furnish. And we can't while away our time between firing—for we call it 'firing,' too—and dodging shrapnel by smoking. A'Zeppelin is tho strictest Sunday-school institution. There is no' drink; no smoke. Each man's pockets are his pantry, for he carries a snack. I take a bottle of cognac, along with some first-aid material, in case someone gets hit." . , ' "No doctor?" "No, we carry no doctor. If a shrapnel ball hits any one of us we bandage the wour.dod man as best we can, and give him a drink of cognac, and he has to-wait till we get back. If we wore brought down I guess there would be doctors there if we needed any—which would bo unlikely. But to return to my narrative.". Approaching England. In short, torse, staccato sentences Mathy then told the story of the attack. "As . the sun sank in the west we were still a considerable distance out over the North Sea. Below us it was rapidly getting dark, but it was still light up where we were. One side of another Zeppelin in grey war paint,- like that of my own craft, was visible in the waning light against the clcar sky as it glided majestically through the air. A low mist-like fog hung over the spot in the distance wliere England was. Tho stars came put. It grew colder. We took another pull at our thermos bottles and ate something. As -wo neared the coast I set the elevating planes to go still higher, in order that our motors should not disclose our presence too soon. ~

"I cannot tell you exactly the time or place at -wliich we crossed the coastline, as that might be of advantage to the enemy.. The men went to the guns by which we fight off aeroplanes shonkl we be attacked, and others took up each his post. My lieutenant took' his place I at the 'firing apparatus' which releases the_ bombs and controls the speed or rapidity with which they are dropped according to my orders from the bridge or front gondola. It is one of those nights when the distances of objects in looking toward the sky are illusive, and it is "difficult to get the rang© of a rapidly moving object. Our instruments I tell us exactly how high wo are. The Thames Guide-Post. "The mist disappears off the distance, and we can see the Thames River, which points tho way to London. The Thames is an indestructiblo guide-post, and a sure road to the great city. The. English can darken London as much as they want, but- they can never remove or covor up the Thames, from which we can always get our bearings and.pick \ip any point in London we desire. "That doesn't mean that wo always come up along the Thames by any means. "London is darkened, hut sufficiently lighted on this night to enable me to see its reflected glow in the sky, sixty kilometres 'away, Shortly before ten o'clock. "Wo head straight for the glow in the sky, and then point on the Thames to get our bearings for the objects of my attack. Soon the oitv is outlined, still and silent below in the distance. There are dark spots which stand out from the blur of 'lights in the well-lit portions. The residential sections are not much darkened.. It is tho dark spots I am after, and I bear down them as they mark the down-town city.

"A large c-ity seen at night from a great height is a fairylike picture. Wo are too high to see human beings on the streets below. There's no sign of life, except in tho distance a moving light, probably from railroad trains. All seems Btill. No noise ascends from below that can penetrate tho spluttering motors and the whirring propellers. The City's Feelers. "As if in. the twinkling of an eye all this changes. A sudden flash and a narrow band of brilliant light reaches out from below. and begins to feel around tho sky. A second, third, fourth, and firth come out, and_ soon there are more than a score of criss-crossing ribbons. It looks as if the city has suddenly come to life, and is waving its arms around tho sky, sending out feelers for tho danger that threatens. But our impression is rather that they are tentacles seeking to drag us to destruction. "London keeps a good watch on the sky. Our motors and propellers soon reveal our presence. First one and then another of those ribbons shooting out from the glaring searchlights pick us up. Now from below comes an ominous sound that penetrates tho noise of tho- engines. ' There aro littlo red flashes and 6hort burst? of fire, which stand out prominently against tho black background. From north, from south, from right, and from left they apnear, and following tho flashes there rolls up from below the so'ind of tho guns. _ It is a beautiful, impressive, but fleeting picturo as seen from above, and probably 110 loss interesting from below — tho greyish dim outline of the Zeppelins gliding through tho waving ribbons of light and the shrapnel cloudlets which hang thick about us. But we have no .time to adtgire. jDur, cjea^

"Scon we were out over the North Sea and moving upon England through

and mind must be concentrated on our work, for any moment wo may bo plunged beloiv, a shapeless mass of wreckage and unrecognisable human bodies. You saw it at Johannistal two years ago. "I had so little time to register impressions that 1 have to think back now to give you a descriptive word picture of the seeno. When the first searchlight picks you up mid you seo the first Hash of guns from below your nerves get a little shock, but then you steady down and put your mind on •what you aro there for.

as Copenhagen scouting for enoiny ships. My impression is that they have been of very valuable scrvicc to tho German navy as scouts. This is confirmed by somo things Mathy said. "What could a lleet of 25 or moro Zeppelins do in attack on London!" remarked Mathy. As a parting quostion I asked tho commander: "If you mean an attack without consideration for anything or anyone, would not that be terriblo:'" "Zeppelins," lie said, "could 6tay much liighor than now when we have to pick out certain points. Such a fleet could probably causa mora than a thousand fires, and mean the destruction of tho greater part of London; but I don't think thero if any danger of

"I picked up St. Paul's, and with that point of orientation laid a course for tlio Bank of England. There was a big searchlight in tho immediate vicinity of St. Paul's and the English had placed a battery of guns under cover of that church, as I could plainly see from tho Hashes as tliey belchod shrapnel at us. "Perhaps from a military standpoint I would, under tlio circumstances, have been justified in dropping bombs on the battery, which is very near St. Paul's, but I had neither the desiro nor the intention to do so, for fear of possibly damaging tho church. However, I don't think the English should uso their churches, museums, and similar buildings as cover or protection for their guns. "Above the Bank." "Although we had been fired upon ou all sides we had not yot dropped a bomb. Above tho Bank of England I sltouted through tho speaking tube connecting mo with my lieutenant at tho firing apparatus: 'Fire slowly!' "Now, mingling with the dim thunder from tlio guns below came the explosions and bursting flames of our bombs. With mind solely concentrated on picking out places on the programme for attack as being factors of militarybearing on the preparation, concentration, or transportation of troops, _or other military use, and on directing the firing, tho comparatively 6hort time spent abovfs London appeared .much longer than it' actually was. We toon observed flames bursting forth from several places. "Over Holborn Viaduct, m tho vicinity of Holborn Station, we dropped several bombs. From the Bank oi England to the Tower —a short distance—l tried to hit tho bridge, and believe I was successful, but to what extent damage was done I could not determine. "Flashes from tho Tower showed that tlie guns placed there,- .which I had already observed on a previous attack, were keeping up a lively fire. Rain of Bombs. "Manoeuvring and arriving directly over Liverpool Street Station, I shouted 'rapid fire' through the tube, and i bombs rained down. There was a succession of detonations and bursts of fire, and I could see that I had hit well, and apparently done great damage. This has been confirmed by reliable reports we have since received. Flames burst forth in several places in that vicinity. "Having dropped all my bombs, I turned my 'L' for home. My orders had been carried out, and carried out quickly. Despite the bombardment of tha sky we had not been hit. Several times I leaned out, and looked up and back at the dark outlines of my Zeppelin, but slio had no bole in her grey sides. Judged bj; the damage dono and the objects hit it was my most successful trip to London or its vicinity. Ascending or descending until we found a favourable wind current we mado a quick return." "How long were you over London?" I asked the lieutenant-commander, or captain-lieutenant, as is that title in German, and upon whose left breast was tho Iron Cross of tho First Cla^s. "Tho main attack was from 10.50 to II p.m.—just ten' minutes. ''Then Zeppelin tactics of attack aro to make a dash to points to be bombarded, and quickly get away?" "Yes, tho attacks must bo short and quick." Plan of Attack. The carefulness with which the plan of attack is studied beforehand developed during our talk. Mathy mentioned figures, and seemed to know to a yard liow far it was from St. Paul's to the Bank of England, and then to the Tower, and to the different railway stations, and how long it would take a Zeppelin, at a given velocity of wind and given revolutions of the' propellers, to take him over those distances. He often referred to new instruments and apparatus in use in Zeppelins for navigation, locating, and measuring objects below, and the control and dropping of bombs, which gave mo the impression that there lias been much research and experimenting, and considerable progress along those lines in recent months..

There are a number of interesting faicts in connection with Zeppelins which, for obvious reasons, I cannot include in this story. Among others is tho number of hours it now takes to make'a dash to London and return. There is good reason-for assuming that tho latest Zeppelins have many improvements, that they are much faster, and can jarry moro and go higher than formerly. Count Zeppelin told me in February that those were three things he was working on. Asked from what height he attacked London on his last raid, the Zeppelin commander replied:— Respect for Our Duns, "I am sorry, but I don't want you to give tho English their range. They aro doing well enough as it is, and learning fast." "Mr. Balfour said London was not 'a fortified city, and its defences against aerial attack are poor," I ventured. "We know there, are several forts and batteries around tho city outside, and' had lie stood by my side a few nights ago and looked into those flashing guns all over he wouldn't say London 'was not a militarily defended city, and perhaps not think so poorly of its aerial defence." When I asked how many bombs he carried and their size, Mathy remarked that, much, as he would like to oblige 1110, that was a military question. "We carry two kinds of explosive bombs, shells and firebombs for destruction by fire. I cannot tell you the size, but they are of tremendous destructive force, as you probably could convinco yourself if you could see the neighbourhood of Liverpool Street Station. The number we can carry depends largely on the distance we intend covering, and the quantity of benzine necessary for the motors." Mathy intimated that the new Zeppelins have a considerably greater radius of action than London and back. No Fight with Aeroplane, I asked the Zeppelin commander if I*3 had over been attacked by aeroplanes oil any of his raids to England. "I have never experienced a fight with an aeroplane," he replied. "In fact, I liavo never been bothered by them._ The men are always at tho guns watching for them, but so far none have attempted to attack. We are pretty well prepared for them." He remarked, significantly, "I am not afraid of thorn, and think I could make it interesting for thorn, unless perhaps tboro was a regular swarm." "As to an noroplano corps for the defence of London, it must be remembered," he said, "that it takes somo time for an aeroplano to screw itself up as high as a Zeppelin, and by the time it gets thero the airship would bo gone; thou, too, it is most difficult for an aeroplane to land at night, while a Zeppelin can stav up all night, and longer, if need he." North Sea Scouting. In my trips to mid from Doiinnu'k . J -had ,pbfleCTßd_ as' far_Qut

that. Wo have no wish to destroy indiscriminately, or to injure or kill women and children or other non-com-batants."