FLEET OF ZEPPELINS.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 March 1916, Page 2

FLEET OF ZEPPELINS.

I j RAID ON.THE MIDLANDS. FALSE ALARM IN LONDON MANY MIRACULOUS ESCAPES. The whole of London was on tlie qui vivi! on the evening of the last (lav of •January. Report, on excellent authority, linil it that ii wliolo fleet of Zeppelins had been sighted over the North Sea; therefor,', London must be the objective. Accordingly, trains ceased to run and all big London termini were darkened; trains already out stopped just where they were*, and some did not ,move an inch for three hours. Would-be passengers, who flocked the stations en route '•■• home, could be promised nothinjr. 11c police stations were surrounded by lines of motor-cars, ready to be off anywhere, at the signal; the "specials" we're all assembled ready to depart in a moment to any unknown destination; ambulance stations had lines of stretchers all ready outside, with attendants all waiting for the summons. There was no raid on London, but next day a very bald statement was issued officially saying that a raid had ■ been attempted in the Midlands on an extensive scale, but the raiders were hampered by the tliiek mist. After crossing Hie coast the Zeppelins steered ' various courses, and dropped bombs at several u.wns. and in rural di-1 riots irf Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, LeiccsW.-diuv;' Staffordshire. Other counties add"d to a subsequent list were Norfolk and Sufi folk, the total number of bomb:', dropped being estimated at about ."(1(1; many of them fell in rural placer, and caused no damage at all. Some damage, not very sc-rii us, was caused to railway property in two pl,-(cs; only two factories, neither being of military importance, and a brewery were badly damaged, and two 1 or three other factories wore damaged slightly. One church and a Congregational chapel were badly damaged, and a parish-room wrecked;' 14 bouses were demolished, and a groat number damaged, las seriously by door and window frames being blown out. A number of cr.ses of injury, mostly slight, have been reported. ?n that the figures give a total of 5!) killed—":! men, 20 women, 6 children—lol injured— .11 men, 48 women, 2 children—total, 1(10.

STAFFORDSHIRE SUFFERS MOST. Staffordshire, perhaps, suffered woset of all the counties. In one eomp'irativoIv small area 28 people were killed and 10 injured. Scores of working-class houses were wrecked, but from a financial nuint of view the damage was injco:;?;der.i»lc. Two sonars to. "visits appear to have herm uaid in this vicinity, and in each u-c ,:,cre was loss of life. The who!,, district reverberated with the shock of ilio explosion, which could bo heard mile; off. The raider could not. be seen. One family nf 1" was killed; flic bomb fell on one roof, killing grandfather, grandmother, (heir married daughter and her two children. One aerial torpedo was recovered find two or three unexplndod j bombs, estimated to weigh some lfiS'.b.. The raider also pssscd over a suburb previously visited." Here another death was caused, and * hole was blown in bank of a canal large enough to hold a horse and cart. One town in Staffordshire learned of the approach of the r-iumy shin,; bv the sound of the expulsions coming closer. The first bomb on the town wrecked a large Congregational Church and so injured a man near by that he died in a few minutes. The second fell in front of a municipal building but oiilv broke windows. Another fell in the main street, close to a iramcar, in which the Mayoress was seated. All the glass was smashed and tlie lady received serious injuries from a fragment of bomb. Another fell just outside the door of a large, public-house, blew in all the windows and shattered the woodwork, but the occupants—who had taken refuge in the cellar—escaped without injury. After dropping two more bombs," which shattered all the glass within a wide radius. Hie raider made silently oft'. Four bombs fell in hospital grounds, but the instituti.ui was untouched; an incendiary bomb fell on a stable, killing a horse arid some pigs. A church and lis adjacent viemge snirered considerably. Falling on a young couple out for a stroll, a bomb killed the man, and his companion lies in hospital dangerously ill. . °'

DEATH OF A LADY MISSIONARY. The wife of a well-known vicar—a lady missionary—was conducting a mission meeting for girls and women. The lady wss standing. Bible in hand, when a bomb fell between tin} church and the mission-room; there was a blinding flash, s.iyl then all was darkness. The lady was struck by a huge fragment of shell and instantly killed: close by, another lady was instantly killed. In the darkness the screams of injured people could be heard, and many were trampled on in the confusion which followed. Two clergymen were badly hurt. .- Succour was soon at hand, and (he sufferers were removed to a hospital near by where doctors and nurses were heroically working in the very centre of the danger zone. Some of the victims were killed as they hurried through the streets; over an area of about a mile and a-half several bombs were dropped in all directions. The buildings touched were usually of small consequence, and .wme were empty.

"They have killed daddy, and look what they have done to me," This w,as the cry of a little boy whose left arm was severed as clean as if it had been cut through whh a knife. The father, hearing the whirr of the engines, was going to. his garden to see what was happening; a fragment struck him on (he head and he died immediately; the child had followed, and maimed for life ran back to his mother, who had remained indoors. In some inMances. in the sanv-. sjreet, curious iv.males had left to see v.-1.-i was happening—they were thus save' ■' iheir homes were wrecked. A woman nursing a babv was buried op to her neck, oniy her head being visible (o the rescuers. She was crushed, but wa s rescued alive;'a heavy beam had protected her, hut (he child was dead. A young man playing billiards was another victim. I

IMPORTANCE OF DARKNESS. In Leicestershire there was a large building, with glass roof, brilliantly lighted. Word was received of the near- ; nes s of Zeppelins, and the building was darkened. The ,-orks stand on two sides ol the street. The bomb fell in the middle of the road; pedestrians were killed, hut the buildings remained intouched. Apparently only one town in Leicestershire suffered much, and about 101) houses there sustained some injury, but were residences of a none too substantial character. Most of the damage was done fairlv early in the evening, but it was later than midnight before a certain town in Derbyshire was visited; by that time

practically all the inhabitants had gone, to bod, and. darkness was general. It is thought that the railway had been followed from a place, which had been bombarded earlier; eight bombs were here dropped in a-few seconds, and three men were killed on the spat, sue being a well-known local,footballer. .Besides this one town one other district appears to have been visited. Warnings were received that Zeppelins were about, and later that night the raiders,' in search for objects, stumbled upon this spot and dropped a number of bombs. The driver of one express train in full steam kept his presence of mind, with the result that his charge was saved, .and in'all probability what would have proved an infallible, guide to those overhead was lost to them. The driver put on full steam for a little way and drew up his trains in a tunnel. The passengers soon learned why they were there, and they felt secure and grateful. An hour later the driver though 'it safe to move, and arrived safely at his destination