ZEPPELIN'S LAST EFFORT.

New Zealand Tablet, 5 August 1915, Page 19

ZEPPELIN'S LAST EFFORT.

The daring exploit of a British airman who on Monday, June 7, was successful in destroying a Zeppelin in full flight was attended by the accidental killing of two nuns. Much as the deaths of the two nuns, and the damage to the convent at Mont Stanand is to be regretted, the incident was the unforeseen result of an act of war, and is in no way comparable to the deliberate destruction of religious institutions of which the enemy has been guilty. The story of- the thrilling fight in the air and the subsequent damage to the convent is thrillingly told by the special correspondent at Rotterdam of the Daily News. lie "says : * Scarely had the grey dawn crept over the town than the buzz of the airship’s motor was heard as it returned from a scouting expedition that boded no good for south coast England. It had formed one of the craft that recently paid a visit to London, and the crew had been cruising about the north of Belgium training for future night visits to the English shores. ‘ A few inhabitants who were awake, peering from their bedroom windows, soon descried in the sky two aeroplanes coming up like hornets to attack the giant dirigible, which, being unable to descend quickly enough to reach the shelter of her shed, had, for the first time in the history of war, to risk a combat with aeroplanes on something like equal terms when there was light enough for the small mosquito craft to see their prey and force it to give battle. ‘ The Zeppelin rose with the greatest speed in the hope of holding a superior position, but it was not quick enough to evade the pursuers, whose pilots, with magnificent skill, rose higher and higher, till at last they were able to use their bombs in addition to their" other armament. ‘ German soldiers joined in the fight, firing antiaircraft guns at the aviators, who were, at the same time, subjected to a lively fire from the crew of the illfated Zeppelin. Their skilful manoeuvring saved them, for one was able, after a short fight, to soar over the Zeppelin and drop bombs with such splendid accuracy that the whole airship was suddenly seen to burst into flames and come sinking to earth. ‘ The aeroplanes sailed round in the vicinity to make sure that their work had been thoroughly accomplished and then made off unharmed—the first victors in the first genuine fight put up by men who had been slaying women and children in dead of night. ‘ The Zeppelin dashed through the air, a perfect mass of flames. Every one of its eighteen compartments was set alight. The wreckage fell on the Grand Beguinage dc Saint Elizabeth. ‘ The end of the Zeppelin was in keeping with all its work. At. is had been engaged in attacking defenceless women and children, so on its final trip it brought death to two nuns and at least one child. ‘ Its heayv engines crashed through the roof of the famous nunnery, killed two nuns outright, and set the place on fire, seriously endangering the lives of many others. ‘ Everyone in the suburb had by now been awakened, and many rushed to save the inmates of the nunnery, where some children refugees appear to have been receiving hospitality. ‘ One man rushed to an upper room in the hope of saving a child who was heard calling for help. The flames cut off his descent by the stairway, and he jumped from the window with the child, both being killed. ‘ Another man engaged in the rescue work was also cut off, and, jumping from a second floor window, broke both legs.

‘ The beguinag© is a little town of itself, inhabited by about 700 members, and enclosed by walls and moats. There are eighteen convent buildings and a church. Though nearly all two-storeyed Gothic brick buildings, all the houses differ slightly in appearance, and form a very picturesque ensemble. The nunnery was founded in 1242. Nuns belonging to this Order have to devote themselves not only to the religious life, but to works, of charity, and they have done magnificent work for refugee's throughout the war.’ ' f