History of the World War, Volume 4 (of 7) : $b An authentic narrative of the world's greatest war — John Shaqi
History of the World War, Volume 4 (of 7) : $b An authentic narrative of the world's greatest warMarch, Francis A., Jr.
History
History of the World War, Volume 4 (of 7) : $b An authentic narrative of the world's greatest war
March, Francis A., Jr.
World War, 1914-1918
On some of these expeditions much more damage was done than had ever
been done by the Zeppelins. The airplane expedition grew serious in the
year 1917; between May 23d and June 16th of that year there were five
such aerial attacks. The airplanes could not only move with greater
speed but with better direction. An attack on May 25th resulted in the
killing of seventy-six persons and the injuring of one hundred and
seventy-four, the principal victims being women and children. This was
at the town of Folkestone on the southeast coast. In this attack there
were about sixteen airplanes, and the time of the attack was not more
than three minutes. Scarcely any part of Folkestone escaped injury. The
attack was methodically organized. Four separate squadrons passed over
the city, following each other at short intervals. It was impossible
to tell when the attack would end, and people in shelters or cellars
were kept waiting for hours without being able to feel certain that the
danger had passed.
It is probable that one of the motives of these raids was to keep at
home fleets of English airplanes which might be more useful on the
front. Indeed, many Englishmen, alarmed by the damage, urged such
a policy, but the good sense of the English leaders prevented such
a mistake from being made. Pitiful as must have been the suffering
in individual cases, the whole of the damage caused by the German
frightfulness was but a trifle as compared with the usefulness of
the English air-fleets when directly sent against the German armies.
Nevertheless, every squadron of German airplanes sent to England
was attacked by British aviators, and in those attacks the Germans
suffered many losses.
The worst raid of all those made was one on June 13th, which was
directed upon the city of London. On that occasion ninety-seven persons
were killed and four hundred and thirty-seven wounded. These airplane
operations differed from the Zeppelin expeditions in being carried on
in the daytime, and this raid took place while the schools were in
session and large numbers of people were in the street. Only one of
the attacking airplanes was brought down. The raiding machines were of
a new type, about three times the size of the ordinary machine, and
there were twenty-two such machines in the squadron. The battle in the
air was a striking spectacle and in spite of the danger was watched
by millions of the population. The raiders were easily seen and their
flight seemed like a flight of swallows as they dived and swerved
through the air.
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