In the Air

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIV, Issue 100, 3 April 1916, Page 5

In the Air

1 RAIDS ON BRITAIN. TWO SQUADRONS VISIT EASTERN COUNTIES. Pnit«d Pueru Association London, March 31. I Five Zeppelins raided the Eastern counties, but the result is unknown. It is reported that they also visited the north-cast coast. I THE OFFICIAL REPORT. ZEPPELIN IN THE THAMES. HEAVY CASUALTY LIST. London, April 1.

Official: A damaged Zeppelin descended in the Thames estuarv and

surrendered to our patrol vessels. The Zeppelin broke and sunk.

| The War Office reports that the raiders organised two squadrons, with a detached ship. The former made the Eastern counties their objective, while the detached ship raided the north-east coast. Fifty-four explosives and incendiary bombs were dropped in the Eastern counties, and twenty-two on the northeast coast.

The wrecked Zeppelin was LIS. She was hit by gun fire, while over the Eastern counties. A shell struck the. upper part of the rear tail, and she quicklv dropped to a lower altitude. Well down by the tail she descended into the sea off Kent. A machine-gun and some ammunition, a petrol tank riddled by shrapnel, and some machinery was dropped by this vessel or another raider.

The' casualties hitherto reported are: 28 killed and 44 injured. | Two of the M 5 officers and sixteen of the crew have been conveyed to Chatham. Nine wounded members of the crew have also been placed in hospital there. The commander wore a sealskin coat, and the others were in ordinary naval uniforms.

j Pells, captain of the steamer Syantholm, saw the Ll 5 floating near the Kentish Knock early in the morning. Earner he had heard heavy firing in the air, and the steamer rocked violently. He described the Zeppelin as about seven hundred feet in length, and it was broken in two, evidently being often hit. A German crawled along the envelope as it lay •in the water, and held up his hands as a sign of surrender.

! When boats from the patrol ships rowed up the heads of others ware visible through the manhole. The forepart of the airship was thirty feet, and the stern twenty feet, above the Water then, and she was floating buoyantly.

j There is intense joy in the metropolis at the prompt announcement of .the Zeppelin's downfall. An eye-witness states that the scene 'was most enthralling. The ship was of a larger type than usual. The night being starry, the huge glimmering shape attracted the attention of hundreds who left their houses, despite instructions. Searchlights illuminated 'the.Zeppelin from stem to stern, and (shells from theanti-air craft guns were 'seen bursting round her. The Zeppe(lin then turned and made for the coast, evident!} damaged.

THE RISK IN AVIATION.

London, April 1Aviators who are testing, new machines receive increased pay in consideration of the risks they run. LONDON HEARING THE NEWS. DELIGHT AT DOWNFALL OF THE Ll 5. (Received 8.30 a.m.) London. April 2. There was a striking scene in London on Saturday forenoon. The population were listening to or recounting their experiences of the previous evening, when the trains were stopped for several hours, and numerous other precautions were taken to baffle the raiders. Many people were marooned in the city and West End and did not reach their homes. The great topic changed magically at eleven o'clock, when a rumor was speeding everywhere that a Zeppelin had been downed. It seemed at first that it was a "Fool's Day", joke, but the newspapers, •by emphasising the official nature of the news, banished the scepticisms, and the result was the most remarkable outbreak of spontaneous delight that London has seen for a long time.

PARTICULARS OF ZEPPELIN MOVEMENTS. ARTIFICIAL CLOUDS, THE CAPTURE OF THE CREW. AIRSHIP SEVERELY DAMAGED. DESTROYED BY THE ENEMY. (Received 10.15 a.m.) London, April 2.

1 There was some unconcealed delight in the provinces, .especially in the Eastern Counties. An eye-witness says: There were three airships. One was caught in the rays of the search lights; it emitted a cloud of thick vapour and tried to dart away, but the search lights were too quick, and the ship emerged in a blaze of light, dived quickly, darted up again into thin clouds, and lay snug therein, apparently thinking she had shaken 'off the pursuing beams. The dropping of the bombs, though, suggested that she was anxious to be relieved of the I weight. She went off slowly, but many search lights immediately concentrated on her and firing began. |The first shots were excellently aimed, and she darted into a cloud and out again, rose almost perpendicularly, and was not seen again.

The steam trawler, Olivine, with Lieutenant Mackintosh as commander, saw the Zeppelin riding on a smooth jsea at 3.30 o'clock in the morning. I Evidently, she was sinking, as the crow were on top of the envelope. On .the Olivine approaching, the Germans signalled that they were willing to [surrehVlar. The trawler's commander hesitated", but took them aboard later, transferring them to a destroyer. Of eighteen landed, ten were bootless. They were conveyed to barracks in ambulances, which was the origin of the report that they were wounded. The remainder marched to the dockyard strongly escorted by marines.

The German commander is very young and was profoundly dejected. He hung his head throughout. He wore an Iron Cross. All were removed later to a fort. # There was no doubt the airship was severely damaged by gunfire. It is stated that the crew drew lots as to who was to remain aboard' and destroy the ship, himself being doomed to destruction. A junior officer was selected, and the explosion occurred after the tow began. Lloyd's News says that twenty-three of the crew are missing. Boats searched the vicinity in vain. The Lord Mayor a year ago offered £SOO to the man or men downing a Zeppelin in the United Kingdom, and he hopes to have to pay the amount.