The Story of the Great War, Volume 4: Champagne, Artois, Grodno; Fall of Nish; Caucasus; Mesopotamia; Development of Air Strategy; United States and the War — John Shaqi
The Story of the Great War, Volume 4: Champagne, Artois, Grodno; Fall of Nish; Caucasus; Mesopotamia; Development of Air Strategy; United States and the War
History
The Story of the Great War, Volume 4: Champagne, Artois, Grodno; Fall of Nish; Caucasus; Mesopotamia; Development of Air Strategy; United States and the War
World War, 1914-1918
The squadron divided and approached the city from a half dozen
different directions, dripping bombs as they came. One of the largest
chemical plants in Germany was set afire and burned to the ground.
Both wings of the Margrave's Palace were struck and one of them
practically ruined. In the opposite wing, which escaped with only
slight damage, the Queen of Sweden, who is a German by birth, was
sleeping. She was said to have missed death only by a few inches.
Other titled persons in the palace had narrow escapes. A collection of
art works was ruined. Despite the fire of antiaircraft guns the French
machines hovered above the city and dropped bombs at will, again
proving that there was no sufficient protection against air attacks
except by flotillas of equal force.
Within a half hour flames started in many sections of the city. The
chemical and other plants were burned. Karlsruhe's citizens were made
to realize the losses which German airmen had inflicted upon the
noncombatants of other countries. According to the best advices 112
persons were killed and upward of 300 wounded. The maximum number
admitted by the Germans to have been injured was 19 killed and 14
wounded. But persons arriving in Geneva, for weeks after the raid,
told of the wholesale destruction and large casualties. The victims
were buried with honors, and the German Government issued a statement
deploring the "senseless" attack. This was one of the few raids made
by aviators of the allied powers in which the lives of noncombatants
were lost. That it was a warning and not an adopted policy is
indicated by the fact that it was not followed up with other raids.
Zeppelins were seen off the east coast of England about midnight on
June 16, 1915. They left in their wake one of the longest casualty
lists resulting from aerial raids upon England up to that time. South
Shields was the principal sufferer. Sixteen persons were killed and
forty injured. The Zeppelins devoted their attention to the big
Armstrong works principally. Guns and munitions of almost every
description were being made there, and the raid was planned to wreck
the establishment. This attempt was partially successful, but the
buildings destroyed soon were replaced and operations at the plant
never ceased. The extent of the damage was kept secret, but the number
of victims again caused indignation throughout the British Empire.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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