AIR RAID.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 132, 14 January 1916, Page 1 (Supplement)

AIR RAID.

ATTACK ON STUTTGART

PILOT'S GRAPHIC STORY

SIXTY-TWO MACHINES PARTICIPATE.

The following is a reproduction of the greater p;irt of an article describing the French air raid on Stuttgart, which is sent from Paris to the Now York ''Tribune,'' by its special correspondent, Mr Gordon Bruce : "My friend, there id not much to tell."* A"ot much to tell! He was an energetic young officer of the French Aviation Corps. All I had asked was a description of the most ambitious acropLano raid in history—when 62 powerful machines swooped down upon Stuttgart oa a September morning, and dropped more than two hundred bombs as a reprisal for the series of Zeppelin raids on London in the early part of the same month. The man who stood hy my side hau piloted one of the in\ading craft. "Then tell me 'not much' —whatever that may be." 1 urged. lie glanced upwards, where dozens of the great white birds were speeding to and fro in the blue sky. All about was tlie dcaior.'ng roar of high-powered motors. Talking in such a racket was difficult. I followed him into a hut. "I suppose," he began, "that to us who have been flying hour after hour, day after day, since the war began, that raid was more or l&ss of a routine proposition—all in the day's work, as von would say. As you know, the flight took place in the early morning. Tt was very fofifjy. and one had to comr quite Hose to distinguish the face of another.

''Fire was belching from the motors all down the lino a* the heloers started the warming-up process. If there" was the slightest foreign sound as a motor settled down to work, the machine was discarded and replaced by another. On such a trip one must not trust to kick. He must know that his machine will bring him bark —provided, ol com so. that the enemy does not find him with a few chunk of shrapnel. THE START. The filer then went into a description of the method of carrying and dropping bombs; then resuming his story, be said : "To get on—as they hay m England —-it wasn't long before everything was ready for the trip. As the last minute J remember seeing som of the flying men bolting down a foil as they climbed into their pla.vs. On my part, I was not hungry, hut forced myself to eat a hit because the long flight in the cold morning air would have left me ravenous, otherwise.

''Two machines swept into the air—ihcy w< re the pilots of tlio fleet. We towards our objective. Of course we ;i!l had instrumenuts lor navigation if tlie mist prevented our keeping together. The machines starved at intervals of almost a minute, owing to the thick weather. We knew that the nir would lie clearer as we elinihed. and that the m'st would van idi when the sun came up. Something like 12 machines were aloft when we started. It was a splendid sight as we roue ibovo tlie haze that hung over the ea: lh. To the east the sky was lighting up with the dawn, and before us lee prnoe--io!i oi big firing birds was s\ eep'i-g :-t"ad'ly into the growing light. ''An occasional glam-c to the rear showed plane after pb;i" pulling up out of ti.e (-en of fog below. Tie y coined to come from nowhere. It was like a magician pulling rahh ts out of a hat. After ntl, 1 th'nk 1 did enjoy that flight. Sann some of the inachiii'.v ahead began to circle or ciiuib a bit so as not to get Loo far in :e!v.in-, e i)f the main body, and gradually we got into shape, flying in a Hock, and at the same aim ah - about four thousand feet, perhaps }■ ... The noise of those sixty b'g mot o's was like eontiniious thunder. We could not hear one another if we shouied, so there was nothing io do but Hy :ly— fly. N'O BEr.IKF IX ItilPlf! '.U.S. " I remember thiiiking then about our purpo-e. I don't ib, heve in re-pn-a's if it means tho death of 11011-f->::ii!iii'.anU, Uut the '!< rmaii methods in tliis war have be.n ;o brutal that it is hard to understand your own fee! ings. I wondered va uelv if anv of my bomb* would kill children. I hoped not. and determined t 1 ke p over railroads and military establishments, if posble. " _ "The air cleared v ith remariial ie suddennevs. It was : , if an unseen band had turned on :hc light of the world by pressing a hidden .-oviteh. The 1 ;;rth was lieiow iks oiiee ii'ii'i 1 . Sure (■■lough, there it wa.- neatly plotted out into the strange arpe? that appears when great heights set the h'Ms at naught, as a child's shovel levels an uneven pile of saml. And we were pass ng into- or ov-u- the enemy's country. We left the battietorn regions for those that were -till untouched. Perhaps the best illustration I can give is the cnni'iai eon between a dirty blanki t and a ga ly-piocci] fpidt. i'ai there' was no tune to admire, for our win k ha> at baud. " fin- there was SI ultgart! We were upon t aimoi t before we ivali-ed the fact. It no-t'ed in the heart of a .s.ift green world. 1., ing down there rke a tov citv, it looked wry poa< eful. y\\ < raft -ailed along like a llat-bot-liuued boat oil a mill-pond. '1 lie a'r w;i„ still, and without swirls and ■■ bump-." I looked out at the great v, ing . 0:1 cliier »ide. end felt peri'ectly :,afe and secure. ;i is a tine thine, to have 11 well-built an plane. "My partner was loaning forward, i i ■ was L r "ttillg r adv. and h s eves «■,•;-. li::el on ;,. • ue ~.■ ifa !v la.id-out tov a be'uw. We we,- Leaded d re-, tly over til: Ilea: I oi tie pi 1: ", end 11 re- : oil ed ho oll'ui ! to keep hi r in her ' „:v.. ! ~-■,>. i !;,.,• down a little, and ,-... V. o-ded poriiap, 011-lj't. Wlliell ■,,.• ;!■: In ug a ■ iiv.— at an alli-aido oi ;i pjir: .'mat a.V :)ii'l'.ift. My observer i.'.-i , iti 1! a e'oud oi -moke oil t'e-olb.-r id-- ol the 1 : iv. That nieanl the nidioad \ards, and the: ■ weie the tov I:, ks stV-teiiing off into the d'stame ■- smldenh from lb.' Hue 1 f >.. ■ ~l,h)es before US a see'- of bbe k o l ' j,, 1 f...!|. We I ,oke: a- they ~ !!, ;ii ,.! ,ih il\ -au elouds of dost or smoke arise v.l.ere thev -truck, it re-cuil.'ed the