In the Air

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXI, Issue 50, 26 September 1916, Page 5

In the Air

ZEPS. OVER BRlTASMcerman REPORT OF THE RAID. USUAL MISSTATEMENTS. (Received 11.50 a.m.) London, September 25. \ German official report states: Naval airships bombed London and strategic, places on the Huniber, Sheffield; and Nottingham, and caused heavy fires. The airships were heavily bombarded by guardslnps .before t'hev reached English coast, and were heavily bombarded during the raid. Two of our air ships succumbed to th e enemy fire over London. llw others returned undamaged. The Press Bureau comments that the account is full of the usual misstatements. No places of mibteij importance were damaged. INC .DENTS OF THE VISITATION. London, September 25. Eve-witnesses' stories of the raids in tho eastern countie- ' ulon shovi that the raid was on the biggos^s-e and futl of thrilling incidents 1 übl. excitement was equally divided ovei the destruction of tho artisan d.s.ncs in south-eastern London and the tiagic end of the burning Zeppelm and the comic surrender of the officers and crew of a first-class Zeppelin to the sleepy inhabitants of a lonely country village. ."' Five Zeppelins were engaged in the raid on Essex: Tlyev dropped eightyfour bombs. Thanks to the authorities' precautions, they failed to discover towns or populous villages. Tha chief victims were sheep, poultry and rabbits. THE DESTROYED ZEPPELIN. The burnt Zeppelin Was travelling at terrific speed. It dropped incendiary and high explosive shells in East Anglia. and was greeted with an inferno of'shell fire, but it seemed to escape from the searchlights. The inhabitants were congratulating themselves on all being ended, when the Zeppelin returned, flying very high. When the monster fell, by a miracle it narrowly missed two cottages, only smashing tho front windows. A few moments later, the crew hammered at the door of the cottage. The wily laborer inside pretended to be asleep, but heard the commander swearing. The laborer put his wife and children in a back room and escaped through, a window, and brought up a constable. They met a body of men who replied to their, queries in broken English that the Zeppelin engine Had exploded and that they were prisoners of war. The Germans did not offer resistance. They appeared to be unhappy and dejected, bufc submissive. They were conveyed to* a detention camp.

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS. One sad incident was that of a soldier on special leave from the front to see his dying father. He arrived only to find the home in ruins, his father killed, and his mother and sister unconscious in the hospital. The soldier scrambled into the ruins. and gazed pitifully. Then ho Hung himself on the debris and sobbed unrestrainedly. The artisan districts in London suffered severely, especially the small working-class houses. A number of people are suffering from gas poisoning, suggesting . that asphyxiating bombs were dropped. Eye-witnesses- record the fine spectacle of several British airmen going in pursuit of the assassins. Though the Zcpprdins were very high, the Britishers soon were in hot pursuit. The crew taken prisoner were most timorous and seemed to fear being lynched. The commander asserts that the descent, was due to engine troubl \ hut the chief engineer hotly disputed the statement. It is confirmed that a Zeppelin of a recent type was destroyed. It descended slowly, in a. aig-zagging manner, the commander trying to reach the ground. The screams of the crow when jumping were heard.