LATEST ZEPPELIN RAID

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2886, 26 September 1916, Page 5

LATEST ZEPPELIN RAID

TWO BROUGHT DOWN TWENTY-EIGHT PEOPLE KILLED Auslraiian-Now Zealand Cable Association. London, September 24. Official. —"There were fourteen or fifteen airships in the raid, three of which attacked London. They were large and a new pattern. The others principally visited the South-Eastorn, Eastern, East-Midland Counties, and Lincolnshire. Two airships attacked London from tho south-east, between one and two o'clock in the morning, and another from the east, between midnight and ono o'clock. Aeroplanes were sent up. and anti-aircraft guns, opened fire and drove off the raiders.' Bombs were dropped in tho southern and south-eastern districts. It is regretted twenty-eight people were killed and ninety-nine injured. "One raider fell in flames, and was destroyed with its crew. The second also fell in Essex. The crew of twentytwo officers and men were captured. Detailed reports of .the casualties and damage have, not yet been received." Later. The latest official report states that probably more' than twelve airships participated in tho raid. The damage in the provinces was slight. In one town in tho East Midlands a number of bombs fell. Two people were .killed and eleven injured. A dozen bouses and shops were wrecked. There were no other casualties outside the metropolitan area, and although numerous bombs were dropped, the- damage was insignificant. In the .metropolitan area seventeen men, efcht women, and three children were killed: and eighty-nine persons were injured, including fifty-four children and women. Muoli small property was damaged. Fires were caused in two factories; the railway was damI aged in two places, but no military damage was done. AFEARFUTSPECTACLE • BURNING ZEPPELIN'S HEADLONG /CRASH TO' EARTH. London, September 24. A special correspondent telegraphs: "An airship, passed over here at midnight. About ton minutes later I saw it going southward. The guns were busy, and shells were bursting all round the airship. It then proceeded northwards, and the guns suddenly ceased. The airship disappeared, but its engines were clearly heard again within twenty minutes, apparently seeking to escape homewards. "There wa9 another ten minutes of heavy gun firing, and then shells burst all round the airship. A red spot glowed, seemingly the size of a small football, then, flames swept its back, and almost immediately, there were flames from end to end, the vessel looking like a fiery serpent, tho flames stabbing- tho sides. The airship's tail went straight up, her nose down, and her back seemed to break. Then she took a headlong dive, a burning wreck." DESPERATE EFFORT TO REACH THE GROUND. <Tt«uter'B Telesrattil (Rec. September 25, 3.30 p.m.) London, September 24. The report that the destroyed Zeppelin was one of a recent type- is confirmed. It descended slo'wly, zigzagging, the commander trying to reach the ground. The screams of tho crew and the sounds of jumping were heard. LATEST ACCOUNtTof'tHE RAID THRILLING STORIES BY 'EYE-WITNESSES (Rec,- September 25, 11.10 p.m.) London, September 20._ Eye-witnesses' stories of the raids in tho Eastern Counties and London show that the raid was on the biggest scale to date, and was full of thrilling incidents. Public excitement was egually divided between the destruction of certain artisan districts in South-Bastern London, and tho tragio end of the burning Zeppelin, and the comic surrender of tho officers and crew of a first-class Zeppelin to the sleepy inhabitants of a lonely country village. Five Zeppelins were engaged in tho raid on Essex. They dropped eightyfour bombs, but thanks to the authorities' precautions, failed to discover a town or a populous, village. The chief victims were sheep, poultry, and rabbits. A Ccmic Arrest. The captured Zeppelin was travelling at a terrific speed, and dropped incendiary high explosivo shells in East Anglia. The raider was greeted bv an inferno -of shell-fire, but seemed to escape from the searchlights. The inhabitants were congratulating themselves that all was ended, when the Zeppelin returned, flying very high. When the monster fell, by a miracle it narrowly missed two cottages, only smashing the front windows. A few moments later the crew hammered at the door of a cottage. The wily labourer inside pretended to be asleep. He /'heard the commander swearing. The labourer put his wife and children into a back room, escaped through a window, and brought a constable, who met a _ body of men who replied to his queries in broken English: "Our Zeppelin engine exploded; we are prisoners of war." The Gormans did not offer any resistance. They appeared to bo unhappy and dejected, but quite submissive, and were conveyed to a, detention camp. They were most timorous, and seemed to have a fear of being lynched. The commander asserted that his descent was due to' engino trouble, but tho chief engineer hotly disputed the statement. A Sad Incident, Thoro was one sad incident: A soldier, on special leavo from the front to see liis dying father, arrived to find tho homo in ruins', his father killed and his mother and sister unconscious at the hospital. Tho soldier scrambled amongst the ruins, gazed pitifully, and then flung himself upon the debris and sobbed unrestrainedly. The artisan districts of London suffered_ severely.- especially the small working-class houses. A number of people are suffering from gas poisonin.ee, .suggesting that asphyxiating bombs were dropped. An ambulance and fire engine arrived in the stricken districts with splendid promptitude. The public showed fine courage. Many peoplo rushed out bajf-dressed—men with top-coats.over their pyjamas, and women in nightgowns. The children were bravest, although terribly frightened. Somo were hurt, but showed wonderful .patience. The eye-witnesses record as a fine .spectacle the sight of several airmen goinn'iu pursuit of tho assassins. Though the Zeppelins wore very high the Britishers were soon in hot pursuit.