True Stories of the Great War, Volume 1 (of 6): Tales of Adventure--Heroic Deeds--Exploits Told by the Soldiers, Officers, Nurses, Diplomats, Eye Witnesses
History
True Stories of the Great War, Volume 1 (of 6): Tales of Adventure--Heroic Deeds--Exploits Told by the Soldiers, Officers, Nurses, Diplomats, Eye Witnesses
World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives
The cold was intense and could be felt through the fleece-lined
clothes and heavy felt shoes with which we were provided. Our Zeppelin
carried four tons of the most destructive explosives ever created by
science--sufficient to annihilate the heart of London, the greatest
city in the world. The amount was divided into forty bombs of 100
pounds each, and eighty of fifty pounds each. The larger bombs are
designed to destroy fortifications and heavy buildings. The smaller
ones are for the purpose of setting fire to houses, and contain an
explosive that develops a temperature of 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
We made out the mouth of the Thames from certain lightships and shore
lights that have been maintained. At about 10 o'clock we found a
powerful searchlight playing on us. This we knew from our information
to be Woolwich, the important English arsenal. As we no longer desired
to conceal our presence, we discharged ten of the larger bombs in the
vicinity of the searchlight.
The bombs are discharged from tubes pointing downward from a steel
plate in the floor of the airship. The bomb is furnished with a steel
handle, and by means of this it is lowered into the tube. A bolt
fitting into a hole in the bomb holds it in the tube. The marksman
presses his foot on an electric button in the plate in the floor of the
car and this withdraws the bolt, releasing the bombs. He can drop two
bombs at once if he wishes, and the third two seconds later.
The height at which the airship flies, its speed and the effects of
wind at present render impossible scientific aim in the sense that an
artillerist would use the term. Nevertheless a considerable degree of
effectiveness is attained by Zeppelin marksmen, while a poor marksman
may entirely waste his ammunition. To hit a mark half an acre in extent
is good marksmanship from a Zeppelin. In practice a regiment of wooden
dummies was set up in a field and one of our aerial marksmen succeeded
in wiping out the whole regiment.
If Zeppelin marksmanship is still rudimentary, the destructive
power of our bombs, on the other hand, is terrible beyond anything
dreamed of before this war. One of our 100-pound bombs striking
fairly will destroy any existing building not constructed purely as
a fortification. Even if it strikes in a street, it will dig a hole
a hundred feet deep, destroying gas pipes, electric wire conduits,
subways and any subterranean constructions that may be beneath the
surface. Thus the destruction and paralyzing of all life in a city can
be practically assured if we use sufficient bombs. Our bombardment of
Woolwich was followed by the extinction of the searchlight, and we
had reason to believe that we had inflicted serious damage at this
important centre.
We knew that in a few minutes we should be over the heart of London.
Our daring commander decided to sail very low, following the course of
the Thames which he knew would take him near all the objects he wished
to reach.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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