ROMANCE OF THE AWR

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 150, 21 March 1921, Page 2

ROMANCE OF THE AWR

THE POAIEROY ZEPPELIN BULLET.

One of the most valuable achievements of the war was Air. John Pomeroys 'contribution to the defeat of he Zeppelins by the invention of an explosive bullet known as the “Pomeroy/ and of the famous “tracer” ’bullet. The story of the evolution of the bullet, which is on# of the romances of the war, was told. to a* representative of-the “Argus oy Mr. Pomeroy, who arrived in Afelbourne from London by the s.s.- Osterley. .. , Air. Pomeroy explained that the bullet was invented with the idea of igniting the gas in the Zepelin It was> used for the first time in warfare on September 3, 1916, when, after the Germans had made 37 airship raids on Great finlain, Captain AV. L. Robinson, V destrayed, over Cuffley, the first airship brought down on English soil. Th ® with the Zeppelin took place at a height of 12,000 ft., and Captain Robinson was faced with the direct fire of seven ma-chine-vuns. He was in ihe air about an hour and a half, and had fired.three good bursts into the Zeppelin,, wher i it caught fire and came down m flames which illuminated the country for 30 miles. Though the Germans fnew of th# bullet at an early stage, they never d covered the secret of its construction. “I began to think of the bullet 18 year, ago, inspired by a picture which I saw in New Zealand of the first Zeppelin that fell in Germany," eaid Air. . Po “l e !JD “I then thought that an airship of thi type would bo' a most important factor in a big war, unless it could be fought bv netting alight the hydrogen in the Wloon. I invented a bullet, tried in 190 S by Lieutenant (now Com mander) Dinweddie, of H.M.S. then in New Zealand waters. I was in London when the war broke out on August 27, 1914, 1 «" bnutted n th ® vention to the AVar Office as an antlZeppelin bullet. It was ,£ jected. Bitterly disappointed I packed up and returned to Australia, my return to Australia Zeppelin raids became more frequent in Great Britain, and I decided to return and make another effort to induce the Government to use the bullet. I travelled by way of America, -.nd on a Sunday morning at Fort Ben Harrison gave a demonstration of the working of the bullet, which resulted in Lieutenant Copeck, of the United States army, recommending its adoption by the United States chief of ordnance. I was anxious that the bullet should be adopted by the authorities in Great Britain, and on the following morning iny wife and I travelled to New York and caught a ehip for England. I knew I had a good thing. Colonel (now General) Ashmore tried it at Fort Grange, Gosport, in June, 1915. It destroyed all the aeroplane wings against which it was directed, and Colonel Ashmore at once reported the result to the AVar Office. I subsequently attended at the AVar Office, and after several further trials I heard no more for more than four months. On November 15, 1915, I wrote to the Inventions Board, and was informed after a month that the Afanitions Invention Department was considering my application. On January 6 1916—more than 16 months alter 1 had first submitted the invention—l wrote to Air. Lloyd George, it was the Primo Alinister who actually obtained the acceptance of the invention. “Bv this time, however, my fund# were' almost depleted. I had had no financial help fram the Government, and had been s pending money all the while on trials. A financier in Piccadilly agreed to finance the undertaking on the condition that he received half of any payment that might be made to me for the invention. Towards the end of the summer of 1916 I received an order from the Government, and my wife made the firsv 5900 bullets in a room at the top of Adastral House, on th# Embankment, which was lent for the purpose. I wa. awarded for the invention, halt of which wont to the financier, end my wife received .65000 for services. <4ince that itmo 10,000,000 of the bullets Sheen made. My wife, who is a native of Afelbourne, was one of the few women engaged in the “ aki "K bullets Who was immune from the effects of the fumes. She was decorated by the King at Buckingham Palace with the M B E. for ‘having executed a task requiring ’exceptional courage and self-sacn-Tt is Air. Pomeroy’s intention to in Afelbourne. He intends to devote his attention to tho smoko nuisance.