IN THE AIR.

Taihape Daily Times, 23 October 1917, Page 5

IN THE AIR.

ELEVEN ZEPPELINS RAID FRANCE PARIS, October 21. It is officially stated that eleven Zeppelins raided France last night. They were chased in all directions by aeroplanes, and harassed by gun-fire. Official warning was given to Paris, but no bombs were dropped over the

city. The guns brought down a Zeppelin •iear Luneville, and another in the upier Marne district.-Aeroplanes downed third, in Burgundy, an a fourth in Maritime Alps, after an all-night ' ;v-e. The .report that a fifth was rough! down is not confirmed. The crew of one was taken prisoner, ;"d the Zeppelin itself was captured intact. Two others were disabled when ttacked by aeroplanes and anti-ain waft guns and compelled to descend. The crews fired the airships and took to flight, but were taken prisoners. Besides those downed four disabled Zeppelins, are wandering about France, two in the south-west, one over the Mediterranean coast, and one on the Swiss frontier. All are closely hemmed in by French aviators. The first Zeppelin was shot down at St. Clements, in the Department of Mcurthe et Moselle, at seven o’clock on Saturday morning. Three airships were seen in company travelling at fifty-six miles a hour against a head wind. The anti-craft guns opened at a range of 4000 metres and the Zeppelins then leapt to a height of 5500 metres. . The fourth shell penetrtaed the en velope of one, which ignited, and one of the gandolas’became detached and fell. Then the Zeppelin, nose upward, crashed to earth. Five bodies, fearfully mutilated, were found near by, the ruins.) The second Zeppelin, L 49, was forced to land undamaged, at 9.20 by chosing aeroplanes at .aurbourne, 30 'miles west by south of. Nancy. The 'Commander, second officer, and seventeen men were taken prisoner. The .third,..LsQ, alighted, at Dammar,-, .tin, near M°ntigny ,Ie Roy, T\yo. qflS,-.. ce.rs and li men Raided, were slightly . wounded. They one of the gondoia,s and ignited it r and the, Zeppelin, with, four aboard, swiftly reasccnded. The. stated .that LSO left her base at qn the 19th, and lost her way i-q, a, fqg while trying to return to The fourth Zeppeluq fell at Laragne near Gap, in the Department of Hautcs Alpes, 47 miles south east of Grenoble. Two officers and 15 men.were taken prisoner after burning the machine. A fifth was brought down at four in the afternoon between Siatcro'n and Gap. The crew set the aircraft on fire, before they were taken prisoner.

ZEPPELIN SQUADRON;AGAIN RAIDS ENGLAND, .-.,j, LONDON, Octi 2L-' Six or seven ai’rS&ips 'attacked'’, the Eastern and''North-eastern counties of England yesterday. They * proceeded 1 some distance inland, but made no very definite attacks. Bombs were dropped at various points, including a few in the London area. Latest reports show that 27 persons have been killed and 53 injured. Some damage was done to houses and business places. The feature of the last air raid on London was the silence, and absence of excitement. The residents of many suburbs were not aware of the raid. An official warning was given earlv, and after passing several eventless hours !people left theiir shelters and went to their homes. The night was calm and hazy. The first shells fell about midnight, one killing five pjersons. Some provincial centres were visiter, but the raiders were uncertain of their whereabouts, and dropped many bombs in the fields. One dropped on the outskirts of a town, crashed through the roof of a house killed the mother and injured two daughters.

Although six or seven Zeppelins crossed the coast, it is believed that only one penetrated the London area and dropped bombs on three districts. SUCCESSFUL BRITISH ATTACK ON YPRES-STADEN RAILWAY. EXTENSIVE AERIAL ACTIVITY Received 8.45, LONDON Oct 22. Sir Douglas Haig reports:— Early this morning we' carried out local attacks astride the Ypres-Staden railway; the French co-operated on our left and progress reported is satisfactory. The Admiralty report that naval aircraft, yesterday afternoon, bombed Vlisseghem and Houttave aerodromes Bombs appeared to burst accurately. Enemy aircraft attacked our bombers but all ours returned. Five of our scouts, during reconnaissance and patrols, engaged twenty hostile scouts and destroyed two and drove down two. One of our pilots is missing

CONSTERNATION IN GERMANY. AMSTERDAM, October 21. The Zeppelin disaster has caused ..ulesprcad consternation in Germany, rt is admitted that it demonstrates the failure of the Zeppelin as an offensive I weapon. RAIDERS RETURNING FROM ENGLAND. PARIS, October 21. The log book of an undamaged Zeppelin shows that the craft was return ing from England Prisoners from three Zeppelins state that they were sent to Ehgland and lost their way on the return journey. The captured Zeppelins seem to be of a new type. They are bigger than usual. They are able to fly 110 kilometres per hour, and can rise (3000 metros. WAR IN THE AIR. GREAT WORK BY BRITISHERS. LONDON, October 21. Sir Douglas Haig reports: Despite the mist there is extensive aerial work To day our planes bombed a foundry and railway station junction north-west of Saarbrucken, fires following. Many scouts attacked a bombingsquadron. Four of them were brought down. On Saturday bombs were dropped on aerodromes at Courtrode and Routers, the station at Cortemarck, and various billets and hutments at Roulers. A bomb destroyed a grounded machine. A second fell through the centre of a 'hangar Meanwhile our scouts operated in the neighbourhood brought down seven enemy machines. A ton of bombs was dropped on Ingleminster aerodrome and railway station, also on aerodromes at Courtrai, where a direct hit was obtained on a machine which was endeavouring to leave the ground. During the day thirteen enemy machines were brought down.