The post of honour : $b stories of daring deeds done by men of the British Empire in the Great WarWilson, Richard
History
The post of honour : $b stories of daring deeds done by men of the British Empire in the Great War
Wilson, Richard
World War, 1914-1918 -- Anecdotes
Another chaplain, Father Finn, lost his life at the Battle of the
Landing on the 25th of April 1915.
“Father Finn,” wrote a correspondent, “was one of the first to give his
life in the landing at Sedd-ul-Bahr. In answer to the appeals that were
made to him not to leave the ship (the _River Clyde_), he replied, ‘A
priest’s place is beside the dying soldier,’ whereupon he stepped on
to the gangway, immediately receiving a bullet through the chest.
“Undeterred, he made his way across the lighters, receiving another
bullet in the thigh, and still another in the leg. By the time he
reached the beach he was riddled with bullets, but in spite of the
great pain he must have been suffering he went about his duties
speaking words of consolation to the dying men. It was while in the
act of helping one of his men that he was killed by the bursting of a
shell.”[7]
[7] From a letter published in the _Times History of the War_,
with acknowledgments.
LIEUTENANT ROBINSON AND THE ZEPPELIN
Warneford caught his Zeppelin in Belgium because it was flying low
just before getting near to its shed. In the late summer of 1916, a
young English airman brought down another of these airships when it was
flying high over London to avoid the fire from the anti-aircraft guns.
There were many air raids on the capital during 1915 and 1916 and a
great deal of damage was done. The time chosen for these visits was
usually the dead of night, when there was no moon and very little
wind. People got used to saying to each other, with a kind of thrill,
“This is a good night for a raid.” And at one time most people went
to bed fully expecting to be called up some time after midnight for
an adventure of a kind which was quite new to London and to peaceful
England.
The authorities gave instructions to the people what to do if a raid
should take place. They were very careful to tell them to keep indoors
and not to gather in crowds. But when the airships came many people
felt that they must get out of the house to see what was going on; and
one morning in September 1916 great crowds of Londoners saw a sight
which had never before been seen in the long and varied history of the
great city.
They saw a burning Zeppelin fall from the sky like a meteor. And it was
not until some days later that they learnt that it had been brought
down by Lieutenant W. L. Robinson, who received the Victoria Cross for
his skill and bravery, which were indeed of a very special kind.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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