December 19, 1918 
LAND & WATER 
19 
and the other two went over to " get a bit of their own back " 
for tliis, and did a good deal of damage " ground-straffing " 
and shooting into enemy troops and transport, setting some 
motor-lorries on fire and blocking the main road amongst other 
items. Landing on his drome he got out of his machine and 
stood for some minutes telling the others there what a goed time 
they had had on the Hun convoys, until someone remarked 
that the Hun had been shooting pretty close, as evidenced 
by the numerous holes in the machine and a large one in the 
front skirt of his long coat. 
" Yes," said the Admiral lightly. " And they chipped me 
a little, too," He turned back his coat to show a gash over 
the knee (that afterwards took half-a-dozen stitches to repair) 
and a boot full of blood. He had two wounds, the knee one 
and another from 
splinters driven 
into his ankle. 
He went to hos- 
pital, but by 
some means 
known only to 
himself managed 
to persuade the 
doctors to cart 
him back to his 
Squadron. I saw 
him in bed there 
and remember 
his telling me 
(with a wink) the 
number of days 
, the doctors said 
it would be be- 
fore he could put 
foot t(i ground. 
He was over the 
lines and crash- 
ing Huns again 
in less than half 
the time. 
He also was 
killed byfire from 
the ground. He 
was an Austra- 
lian, who came 
over and joined 
the R.N.A.S. and 
on formation of 
the Air Forcewas 
given command 
of an old R.F.C. 
Squadron. I have 
not met a stouter- 
hearted fighter, 
or one more 
admired respec- 
ted, and loved by 
his superiors, 
equals and sub- 
ordinates alike. 
These are only 
a few of the great 
ones amongst 
the many air 
victors on the 
Western Front. 
There are many 
others and many 
amazing stories 
of their victories, 
but for the 
moment I must 
leave them to 
touch, however 
lightly, on the 
work of those air victors whose prowess did more than any- 
thing else to relieve England of tho^e nightmares, the Zeppelin 
raids. There is little need to go back to those actions which 
were fought over England, because they were fully reported 
at the time, the victories were watched by thousands of 
spectators, and the wreckage of the destroyed Zepps was view- 
ed by huge crowds. But of the later victories over the North 
Sea less is known, and it was these which gave the Germans the 
final and complete proof, so well begun by Warneford and 
Robinson, that Zepp raids did not pay and must be abandoned. 
The great point of these North Sea fights lay in the fact that 
the Zepps were met and brought to action far out at sea, 
that some were shot down in roarin ; flames and the others 
driven to ignominious flight without ever dropping a bomb on 
England. It may have paid Germany to bomb England and 
lose a few airships in the performance ; but plainly it could 
not pay to lose them without ever raismg an alarm there, 
much less dropping a bomb. -n ( .,„ -,;,- 
In may, 1918. a warning was given to the Home Defence air 
stations that a fleet of Zepps was approachmg over the North 
Sea. Immediately the airmen rushed to their machines took 
off, and pushed out over the sea into the deepenmg darkness 
The night was not favourable for flying, being cloudy and 
stormy, with rainstorms and mist sweeping over every now and 
then. The venture was especially hazardous to those men who 
were flying Camels, D.H.4 and D.H.9, land machmes with 
wheeled undercarriages and no device for keepmg the machme 
afloat if from any cause it had to come down in the water. 
But the Zepps were discovered and a D.H.4 secured a favour- 
^'^ able position, and 
opened fire on 
one with imme- 
diate result. 
Flames began to 
spurt from the 
envelope, grew 
rapidly, and in a 
moment had 
wrapped the 
monster airship 
in a sheet of 
roaring fire. 
Meantime 
others of our 
machines had 
continued the 
hunt. The Zepps, 
warned probably 
by the fate of 
the one, knowing 
our airmen were 
around them, 
and imagining 
the result of 
continuing the 
attempt to reach 
England, turned 
for home. They 
were pursued 
and a second one 
was brought to 
action, again by 
a D.H.4. The 
two men on this 
machine were 
certain this 
second Zepp was 
also brought 
down in flames, 
although, at the 
time it was not 
officially credited 
as being de- 
stroyed. TTie first 
reports published 
only gave one 
Zepp downed, 
but this was be- 
cause our second 
victor, confused 
by the darkness 
and the rain, 
steered ba ck 
wide of his mark 
and eventually 
landed a long 
distance away 
from his station 
and too late to 
turn in his report. 
The last Zepp brought down in the war was again'over the 
North Sea, but this time in daylight and in full view of the 
fleet. The story goes that it was during church service on 
board the battleships that this Zepp was caught up by a 
Camel (single-seater scout) working with the Navy, and after 
a brief action shot down blazing from stem to stern, while 
from the flagship a signal flashed "Hymn No. 244, Verse 7," 
and the crews in response sung triumphantly : 
Oh, happy band of .pilgrim.^, 
Look upward to the skies, 
Where such a slight endeavour 
Shall win so great a prize. 
So perished the last of the Zepps and the last serious attempt 
at a Zeppelin raid on England. 
i/)y Charics Vi-vcti. 
THE ZEPP DESTROYERS 
The aeroplane has clearly demonstrated its superiority over the Zeppelin's. The last attempted 
raids were met far out at sea, by day or dark, and the Zepps destroyed or driven ofi without 
dropping a bomb. 
