HOW I BOMBED KRUPP'S.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 January 1917, Page 6

HOW I BOMBED KRUPP'S.

AIRMAN'S THRILLING STORY. "TO OUR NEXT MEETING, MR. KRUPP.'? a ! One of tlio most vivid stories of acvial warfare which have been written during tho war 'tyis been specially contributed to Lloyds by the famous "French airman, Lieutenant Daucourt, who, with Captain Beauchanips, recently bombed Krupp's works at Essen with such signal success. "Indeed, it was very simple,'' declares the hero, with all the verve and gaiety of his race, and in simple, but vivid, phrases, he modestly describes the incidents of his flight and his sensations as hundreds of German guns sr/ar their shells at him and Hun planes rose in vain to check and chase him. "Essen at last,'' he records, exultantly, in his log book, as the famous works are sighted, and his final note is inspiring. "To the pleasure of our next meeting, Mr. Krupp," he writes, with gay defiance. HOPES AND FEARS OF 500 MILESFLIGHT IX SIX HOURS. How I bombed Essen ? Indeed ,it was very simple, as you will see by these extracts of my log hook, where I consigncd~ some, of my impressions during my journey. I would remind you first that two French aeroplanes, one piloted by Captain Beauchamps, the other by me, effected the raid. Our preparations and the way our planes were fitted cannot be described here, being, I am afraid, considered as a military secret. But it might interest you to know that the machines were of British design. Although the distance to.be covered was pretty nearly 500 miles, it was not to frighten me. I bad an extensive training for seven years, and have always been a specialist for long-distance flying, as witness my participation in the Circuit do 'Paris (400 miles), La Coupe Pomery, 1012 (.">lO miles), Paris-Berlin, in 1913 (000 miles), and my great journej, Paris- Vienna-Budapest-Bucharcst-Varna-C'onstantinople-Konia-Adana, and finally Syria (over 3000 miles) You can understand that after journeys of that length the idea of going to bomb Essen seemed to me very feasible: Of course, there were the Archies and tlio Hims' ( planes. But, as you will :;ce, that did not prevent us doing what .ve wanted. New here are my notes, which ure brief, 'but complete. Taking them was nearfy my only, distraction during the seven hours which my flight iasted.

A LAXD OF DESOLATION. "11 a.m.—My friend Beancliamps has jrst gone, and I followed two minutes iater. One t.iicusand yards up, 2,000, .'5000; we keep on getting higher and higher. The v.iather is clear, with jucfc a few clouds over OOOOft. The ai? is distinctly coid. We continue going i<und and roiricl, meeting every few seconds some friendly planes, wki.h cither go towards the Bodies' lines or return from there. At last we reach the proper height, get nearer cacli other, exchange a few signals when flying side by side at 50 yards from one another, and we go straight over the lino toyards Germany. At first the orientation is easy. There is a yellowish s;one without any vegetation, where the earth has been ploughed by millions of shells.

12 a.m.—l am fully over the Boche lines. We are been, and the anti-air-craft guns start a curtain fire a little forward, but too high. The white nulls of the 7.7 make a line of smoke which I have got to cm is. Soon the shots become more numerous. Three hundred shots at least must have been fired in a few minutes. Time after time I j,et right into the smoke of the bursting shells, and I ci.n hear pieces of stoel vhistle near, very near. Oh! the Boehc gunner rectifies its range. But. he is 100 low now, so 1 go higher still, and 1 pass. « • • > A 300 FT DEOP. "*<" :

Now there are on my left shots wlnc'i b-.u-st with bl-ick smoke. One hundred and five calibre shells. This is Rett n? more serious. Sliots get nearer, T poii't towards the left slightly, and, all of a sudden, I go Mdeg. to the left and drop straight towards the ground for ::Coft. The game is finished and the gunners done. Out of spite they shoot all over the place, and the shells burst new at the hack of me. A little under me I can see a big, fat yellow plane. Black crosses! It's' a Boche. Another one follows vcrv near. The distance beiween us is about OflOft, hut they are much 'slower than I am. Clac—eheclac. It is Mr. Ttoche opening fire. The short hursts of his machine gun keep c-epitating. The brute does not shoot badly. Shall I engage him in a fight? ll is really very tempting. B»t no, Ki-.sen is m'v 3n '>' target, and I have no r>ht to compromise, by a passing engagement, the Miccess of our raid. I opcj| my engine right out, and lose soon riy aggressors.

COMRADES TX ADVENTURE.

As I flv over Treves I just distinguish en my left' the outline of another plane It is' getting nearer and nearer. The bur. prevents me from seeing it dourly, although I seem to recognise the Filhouette of my companion's machine. No doubt it is'him; I can now see his blue, vhite, and red coearde. And all of a R -(Vlen I feel very happy., One is M, very lonely up there, very, very high. Kow we fly together, with only a few '•housands yards between us. A little 'later I change my direction pr.d go -straight northi, leaving Obknz on my left. Far in front of me I can see a small grey ribbon—the Rhine. It looks beautiful from up here. Somehow my co"fidence increases every m'.iute, everv ro'nute. Sure, everything will' go well. I cross over the right bank. On the live many long convoy.-! of barges go un towards Coblow; If only I did not consignment of bombs to deliver, I snould go down to gun them. It it funny how strong these temptations ar,'. Here in Bonn. My friend and co-r.iider is still on my right. ?ly engine keeps on turning merrily, an'd I marvel ai the ease with which I have covered these first 200 kilometres. Lnderneatli tlu Khine, and still more boats. Now we p/iss a town which set ins enormous It is Cologne. .Now I! . C i„t straight towards Dusseldorf. But ill the district disappers under a pali 01 smoke. What an extraordinary agglomeration of works! Here are Solingen, Barmen, black country crisscrossed by innumerable railway lines wn with'hundreds of high chimneys, like guns, pointing to the-sky. Down there a tremendous amount of arms r.f. all Sorts, guns, munitions, etc., all to be directed against us, are produced with a tremendous activity. I am getting near- ,« the end of my journey- My. Jwarl a.- ~. .iCam.ieintmi that.

n.y engine may boar mo without Mil- | ing, at least till I have done my work, j Put through my helmet I can hear Hs regular working in the tempest of its explosions. \\ Over there on the left I can just see Dukborg, and this river "Vhich cames and (lows into the Rhino—it is the Rum. Underneath tho smoke which come? out of the forest of high chimneys is denser and denser. Essen at last. lam over what has been considered as the heart of Germany, over the town which, stands as the symbol of brutal force. Whore now are the Knipps' wovks? There, on tho west of the town. How large they are! The shops and buildings between which trains are running seem innumerable. The attempts to disguise it are indeed foolish. It is the. most perfect target one can imagine. Now I suppose I am going: to bo "strafed." I look hero and there for bursting shells. Nothing. They aim too low. However, some very violent waves of air, of which I do not understand the cause, disturb for a moment my bombing preparations. Two o'clock. —I pass the centre of the works, and crop my torpedoes in rapid succession. My friend, who is overdue and a little on tho left, drops his also. 1 guess, more tha; I can exactly see, as I am so very high, that underneath in the works the people suffer, from a sort of madness. There are rushes of people, soon hidden by clouds of- smoke which rise from man\ points. Nearly at the centre it seems that there is a formidable explosion, followed by an intense fire. . What a joy to have attained one's aim.

Krupps has been bombed, in full daylight, in spite of its anti-aircraft guns and of its planes. I suppose that now tho Bodies must he mad with fairy, and will try to chase us. Never mind, my mission has been fulfilled. I mill fight the enemy planes if they come. A DUEL IN MID-AIR. /'■ I should like to signal something to my friend, Captain Beaueliamps. 1 try to get near him, but he seems, to go quicker than I do. All of a sudden, while I have been .looking backwards, he disappears, and I can see nothing in front of me but a mountain of clouds. I go down, then up again. Impossible to find him. I do hope fervently that he has not had a break-down or been wounded.

Here I am again over Dusseldorf, but not going so last as in.coming. The wind, which lias veered, hampers me. A quick verification of my oil and petrol tanks. All is well; I can keep up for another six hours. The clouds get denser and denser. There is at some moments a thick mist, which veils completely the ground. My only guide is now the compass, S.S.W. As I am drowsing some -explosions.thunder louder than the noise of my engine. I turn right round, so that the Dothe gunner loses the range. Bujr as 1 turn I see, lj:X)ft or 2Cl)oft under me, three Boche. plane* who are givin* chase. , Their machines are as fast as mine, but as soon as they try to go up they lose ground. I slacken for a few seconds, and, going straight towards the most forward of them, I Serve him at about loOyds with three bursts of my machine-gun. Unnerved, he prefers not to engage in tflght, and flies towards the left. But the others are attacking me from the back". It is time to go.

"TO OUR NEXT MEETING." Have I wounded'my opponent? I don't think so, as he seems to be flying straight again, but very much lower. Soon the two others are only black spots. . , . The chase has lasted over 53min., and I have really got a still' neck, so often did I turn round. . Now I. nave ; heen up six 'hours. Time drags dreadfully. My eyes hurt, and I suffer from the cold. Evidently lam over Belgium now. But where? I must know. I come down; engine stopped. How sweet is that silence .after six hours of tempest! Four thousand feet—it is low enough. 0.30.—1 cannot stand it anv more. I am coming down—7oooft, 5000 ft, 1000 ft. I cannot hear the guns now. But what arc these? Bivouacs. Am I in France? I keep on ior .mother quarter of an hour, going south and finally alight in an immense field, ffir from a .village. If I am on the territory invaded by the Germans I'll fly away under their nose. I am at the end of the field, ready to start again in ease, of alarm. I have kept my engine turning slowly. After five minutes of waiting some people como running towards I shout to them at the top of my voicj; "Where am f?" "At Champaubert," they answer me. What a joy is mine! I am in France, back, after having succeeded in seemed to men an possible enterprise. My notes finish here. There is, anyhow, little to add. I jumped from my machine, but my legs were so numbed that for some time they would not support me. However, after r few.minutes, I felt quite well again, and was cheered to the echo by the villagers, who had arrived in large numbers. 1 left again to report to my chiefs, and hoard that my friend had arrived quite safely, and landed about l! 0 miles from me. ' My happiness was then complete. And now, Mr. Krupp, here is to the pleasure of seeing you again soon!