THE BOMBING OF LONDON

Hokitika Guardian, 18 August 1928, Page 4

THE BOMBING OF LONDON

ZEPPELIN LEADER’S NARRATIVE. LONDON, June 5. Some exciting episodes in the Zeppelin raids on England during the war are described in “Tlio Zeppelins,” a hook published to-day. It is hv On pita in Ernst Lehmann and Howard Mingos, and recounts the experiences of Captain Lehmann, a German officer, who from the naval reserve joined Count Zeppelin’s staff early in 1913. Ho was director of air raids during the war. Here is liis account of tlio origin of tho raids: , The bitterness of war was increasing almost daily ; and as the wounded came back from the front there developed a public demand for the most drastic measures against tho enemy, particularly Franco and England. Above all. England, in "German oyes, safe across the Channel,, must be made to suffer. The best way, according to those who talked loudest but who undoubtedly knew least about the subject, was to raze lxnidon by fire. .... The Bank of England was ono of the principal targets in all the raids on London. If it could he destroyed England’s entire monetary system might be thrown into confusion, and that would be one way of paralysing the auxiliary industries in a war of this magnitude. Wo are told , that,.the Kaiser stipulated tliat “such , places as. Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and the residential sections should not be bombed, even by accident.” MEETING OF KINGS. We aro also informed that when tlio Kaiser heard of a secret meeting of Allied lenders which the Kings of England and Belgium were to attend at St. Oilier (France) he directed that the Germans should transfer their n.ttnck from St. Omer to Poperinghe. “On the other hand,” it is complained, “the Allies made several attacks on , Ohnrleville and Stenay, the headquarters of the Kaiser and the Crown Prince” Of London’s defence Captain Lehmann says: They might darken their groat city as much as they liked, hut the English never could disguise their river. They even, put, up false street lights in Hyde Park, but the Thames betrayed them. ~• ~

A raid by three. Zeppelins (on tho night of September 23, ,1916) which ended in disaster is thus described •

Suddenly the sky itself burst into brilliancy, as if rent by a lightning bolt. L 32 captained by Peterson, had been caught. The Zeppelin could be seen falling, a fiery comet with a tail of whirling flame. ■ Matliy in L3l was near liv and saw L 32 catch fire, first in front, and then throughout from bow to stern. At first she scorned not to he falling at all, but then she tore earthward, gathering momentum until she crashed near Billericay, east of London.

Matliy was the only one of the three commanders to bring liis ship back to port. That night L 33 under Booker was forced down with punc-

tured gas cells near Little Wigborough. . . They had escaped from a fire as hellish as that which they themselves had created aiul were temporarily safe under cover of darkness.

. . . Soon Boekor saw that he could J not even reach Holland.. Bather than chance a fate like that of Ll 9 (lost in ! the North Sea) lie decided to turn j back and land his ship somewhere in J England. He made it. j In a British prison camp Boeker was visited by a friendly captain of the B.A.F. who told him that he had spied on him at friedriohsharen and

heard him discussing plans for a new automatic airship cannon. ... THE LAST RAID,

The last airship raid,,of the war was disastrous to the, Germans; The weather was not the, best when five Zeppelins topic off toward England on the afternoon of August 5, 1948, Their objectives included ... the .. great ammunition stores in Middle England and Captain Strasser was accompanying, Lossnitzer in L7O. With Lfio and L 53 on either side j she arrived shortly before darkness near Cromer. Of course tile raiders did not know that airplanes had been flying about trying to find them. L7O was only about 17,000 feet high when she was sighted by one of the English ’planes—a new type known as a D.H. 4, which incidentally had been adopted by the American Government as the most modern fighting machine. The pilot managed to gain the same level as L7O and he then attacked her head-on. His observer sent a full hurst of machine gun incendiary bullets straight into the nose of the Zeppelin, which was soon enveloped in flames. The wreckage foil into the sea neai "Wells. Tho death of Captain Strasser was a. severe blow to the naval airship service. He had been its guiding genius. . AVhilo displaying some irritation, not unnatural, towards the British and Allied defenders who spoiled the plans of the Zeppelin raiders, Captain Lelimann assures us that the Zeppelin commanders had further surprises up their sleeves when “the complete and sudden nervous collapse of a majority of the German people” occurred. , • • - ■ ■