GREAT BRITAIN.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 171, 28 December 1914, Page 5

GREAT BRITAIN.

BOMB DROPPED IN DOVER. NO DAMAGE. Ldndon, December 24. j Official.—An aeroplane dropped a bomb : 'in a private garden at Dover without j -doing any damage. The aeroplane was | seen for a few seconds, and then es- j «aped seawards in the fog. ! BOMBS DROPPED IN THE SEA. j London, December 25. j Two heavy reports at mid-day on Monday attributed to gunfire are now stated io be due to a German aeroplane dropping two bombs in the sea westward of the 'Admiralty pier at Dover. j I RAID ON LONDON ATTEMPTED. EXCITING CHASE BY BRITISHERS, j THE ENEMY ESCAPES. j London, December 26. ! Aided by fog, a German aviator eluded the coast-watchers, and passed up the | Thames as far as Erith. He was first • sighted at 12.35 over Sheppey; at a ', height of 9000 feet. As he descended an anti-air gun was fired, but without effect. ■ The enemy was then lost in the fog. Three British aeroplanes started in pur. Suit. The German made across the Kentish marshes. Before being located At tErith he had been flying towards London. Six shells fired by the aircraft station burst above and around the machine, which wheeled upwards and retraced its flight. Within a few minutes a Britisher, flying from the westwards, pursued at a lower altitude. The German followed the centre of the river, at an altitude of 40M feet The Britishers appeared to gai:\ but the German mounted higher above the forts, and swept towards Southend. The chase continued across Essex, the Bring of the forts being restricted owing to the propinquity of their own aviators io the enemy. The latter and his passen. gers kept firing, and skilfully manipulated the machine, and, while minimising the chances of being hit, made it difficult • lor his pursuers to fire without injuring ; 'each other. The German rocked violently at times US if struck. I Then the fog thickened, and baffled ; the pursuers, who returned to their base. A POWERFUL EXPLOSIVE. London, December 20. ■ The Dover bomb dropped 5000 feel, and scattered its fragments over a radius of a hundred yards, excavating a ' hole Oft. by sft, and oft. deep. 1 ANOTHER ENEMY AIRSHIP I SIGHTED. ENGAGED AND DRIVEN OFF. London, December 24. A German aeroplane flew over Sheer- j ness at midday. I A British aviator engaged and bit the enemy three times, and drove him off , to the seaward. LORD ROBERTS VINDICATED. AN ADMIRAL'S BROAD HINT TO TRADERS. London, December 25. Reuter's Monte Video correspondent telegraphs that Admiral Sturdec, reply-1 ing to the British Minister's greeting, < said Lord Roberts had recommended . military preparation. If he had been listened to, the war would have been avoided. English business men, forgetting their true interests, had employed Germans for reasons of economy, but he * hoped that the traders and English shipping companies had learned their lesson. v-TJiIJO

j THE SCARBOROUGH RAID. i Times and Sydney Sun Services. j London, December 20. The Times, in a leader, on "the real reason of Scarborough," says: "Empty denunciation of the enemy is useless and worse. What is wanted is a calm and reasoned demonstration of the way to defeat Inn and what will befal us if that it not thoroughly done." London, December 25. A Danish steamer which witnessed the attack on Scarborough states that three cruisers shelled the town and afterwards steamed off so quickly that they were much more beneath than above water, and disappeared in the thick fog in a few minutes. Christmas leave consistent with military requirements was granted to the new army, but there was an entire absence of festivity and decorations in the barracks. London butchers purchased two of the King's prize beasts and despatched them to the front/ for. the Christmas dinner. A wounded engineer writes: "The battlefields are absolutely sodden. Where the country is flat as a pancake, drainage is impossible, but the problem Is solved by standing on tubs and barrels. IMPRESSING THE INDIANS. ■Times and Sydney Sun Services. London, December 26. It has been arranged that the wound. cd Indians shall see London before returning to the front. The first party of convalescents were taken in a char-a-banc to St. Paul's, Whitehall, Parliament Buildings, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, and the Tower.