LONDON'S PLIGHT IN THE ZEPPELIN RAIDS.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3376, 3 January 1920, Page 6

LONDON'S PLIGHT IN THE ZEPPELIN RAIDS.

1 . 0 SIR P. VSCOTT’S STORY OF GRAND FLE'E'J."S PERIL. London:er's ‘who experiesuoekl the Zeppelin raids in the early days of i the War will not be altogether sur- , prised at the reveletions of the clty’s lack of defences’ made by Admiral Sir Percy “Scott in his book, “Fifty Years in. the Royal Navy.” ‘ “On September 8, 1915,” he writes, la, Zeppelin came over London and dropped some bombs. Three days‘ later Mr Balfour asked me if Iwould take over the gunnery defence of London_ After 14 months of war the so-called defences consisted of eight 3—in]ch- high-angle ~guns«, efour sixpoun‘ders with bad gunsights, and six lpfom--poms and some Maxims whichwould not fire up as high as at Zeppe{lim The amunition supplied to the ’guns was quite unsuitable, and more] dangerous to "the people in London’ than to the ZeppelinS.e”’ _ _ 1 The tension Of those days is brought ‘ back by Sir Percy rScott’s story of how he got a 75 mm_ (3in.) gun from France.

“I told Commander Rawlinson to go over to Paris at once and beg, borrow -or steala gun. He was'in a motor-ear at the time. Looking at ‘his watch he said, '1 can eatch the boat.’ I asked him if he did not want any clothes. He said, ‘No. Please wire Folkestone to. ship me and the car over to France.’ Thus he left, going at about 50 miles an hour d-own South Audley Street. Twentyfour hours after leaving me he wired, ‘ ‘Have got‘ a. gun, two automobiles and ‘some ammunition. That is the sort. -of officer that is wain/ted in war-tine.” Sir Percy Scott also tells the story already partly famili'ar——of how the Germans ‘in 1914 might have won the war by sinking the Grand Fleet by submarines in Scapa. Fl-Ow. He visited Scapa Flow in November, 1914, and had a. talk with Jellieoe. “ The Commander-in-Chief,” he writes, “‘discussed with me the terrible state of affairs. He referred to the unprotected approaches, and said that he was doing all he could to make .the anchorages 9safe, but that any light submarines might come in and send the Grand Fleet to the" bottom. Why the Fleet was not destroycd I cannot imagine. Possibly the German mind could not believe that we could be such fools as to place our Fleet in a position where it was open to submarine or destl'oyel' attack.

“A story is told that a German air man, having reported that he could :~‘.:~:: n_c~ defences at Seapa, two spies'were sent -They reported. that there was no protection. The Germans promptly shot them as they considered they were lying. They then sent two more; they were not going to take any fisks, so they reported that our Fleet was as safe as theivzs was in the Kiel Cvanal. Perhaps fhat is why the Germans did not win, as they ‘could have won in 1914.” . V