MAJOR TEMPEST
As he was during
the war
·
THE CHINA MAIL,
My Battle Ov A Zeppeli
and as he is today.
ship of the wily Mathy.
was the letter which us dying pilots engaged in defending Kapitanleutnant Heinrich London had failed to get near the air athy wrote to the New York mes in September 1916 that st fired me with determina- n to bring down a Zeppe-
athy was the "ace" among Ger- y's. Zeppelin commanders during war. He had carried out all the t successful raids on this country, The death toll caused by his bombs greater than those from any other lp. The total of the material age he had caused ran into mil- s of pounds.
hone · Bell
Thrill
And, as I was the first on the list,
Above the roar of my own plane I
I was the first to go up two hours could hear their boom, see the gleam later. Now my orders were to patrol of bursting shells. Still the oncom- at 8,000 feet between my own flight ing airship, all the while making a station, known as Sutton's Farm, gradual descent on London, was relent- Hornchurch, and another known as lessly held in the luminous fingers of Joyce Green, which lay only a few the searchlights. miles away on the other side of River Thames not far from Dartford.
the
When I received this order I felt myself chafing at two things-First, the monotony of flying backwards and forwards over such a limited "beat," and, second, the futility of being res- tricted to a "ceiling" of 8,000 feet, when it was common knowledge among those with experience of Zeppelin chasing that these ships rarely flew at an altitude of less than 12,000 feet, and often reached a height of 15,000 feet.
How could oné expect to "pot" them with such a handicap? I soon de- cided to forget the voice of authority.
As a matter of and take a chance. fact several of our squadron had been and making unofficial height tests had found that our machines, although not particularly up to date, were, by discarding much of the armament offi- cially laid down and limiting it to one Lewis gun and ammunition, capable of rising several thousand feet above the prescribed flying height.
The letter he wrote was audacious, vainglorious, and declared his inten- tion to smash London on the first day of October. So when the telephone bell rang with ominous insistence on the afternoon of that day and the sig-
order "Operations" nificant through. from headquarters, it
I decided to put these height re- with a thrill of excited anticipation. that the five flying pilots next on the hearsals to practical use this night. roster to take the air crossed from their billets to look over their ma- chines waiting in readiness on the fly- ing ground.
Zeppelins were on their way
London.
came
was
As I climbed slowly in the direc- tion of London, I felt a strange exu- berance pass through me.
to Perfect
he
There were Leefe Robinson - had brought down the first Zeppelin e had even managed to drop bombs exactly a month before-Fred Sowrey, Woolwich Arsenal. All efforts of Durston, Stammers, and myself.
TOOTAL
FURNISHING
FABRICS
WE BEG
TO
ANNOUNCE
SPECIAL DISPLAY
OF
FURNISHING
FABRICS STARTING 25th
MONDAY
TREMENDOUS SELECTION OF ABSOLUTELY UP-TO-DATE FABRICS.
EXPERT TAILORS
TO MAKE YOUR LOOSE COVERS & CURTAINS
WHITEAWAY'S
CURTAIN FABRIC SPECIALISTS
Zepp. Night
The air was clean and steely. was a perfect. "Zepp" night.
It
Leisurely I "sat" over central Lon- don, circling round the city and climb- ing steadily all the time, although sad- ly deviating. I fear, from my official "beat."
Below, the great city lay spread in dim relief. I could, without the slightest difficulty, make out all the familiar landmarks an Buckingham Palace, the lake in the background a tiny, shining pool, St. Paul's, West- minster Abbey, Woolwich Arsenal, with the unbroken glimmer of water where the Thames snaked 'its way through it all.
I glanced at my watch. It was a few minutes before midnight. Al- most immediately afterwards a blade of light sprang from the darkness and sliced the inky canopy above.
Another followed, and another. They shot upwards from the ground like thrusting swords, telling their story of the vigilance 10,000 feet be- low.
own
Suddenly I noticed that these search- lights were concentrating in the north.
One by one they swept in that dir- ection until they formed Q huge: pyramid of light.
And then I saw that on the apex of the pyramid rested a Zeppelin no bigger than a dart.
The airship must have been about fifteen miles away, flying at a height of between 15,000 and 10,000 feet, and regardless of the focused search- lights she began to make straight for London, diving steadily as she flew.
I at once began to fly towards her The at a mile and a half minute. next moment the anti-aircraft
guns below opened fire.
Shed. All
Her Bombs-
. It was evident that she was coming
down in order to locate some specifio target.
B
W.J. D
denly shed all her
helped her to climb e
I heard them hit the When I had reached a point about confused series of deto five miles from her I was flying at a tunately they fell on
own, which outside London. height well above her must by now have been considerably
At this moment my
-ALIVE TO TELL THE TAL
Second story in the series by
men who missed death by A second lieutenant in the 39th Home| Squadron, W. J. Tempest went up from the Ho Aerodrome one October night in 1916 to me Zeppelins on their way from Germany to bombaa
Six hours later he landed back at his ae Alone he had brought down L31, Germany's cra airship, after a thrilling battle 15,000 feet ab don. He was awarded the D.S.O. and retired rank of major in 1921.
He lives in Newbury. Tennis is his recre
If I was to maintain have to keep the suppl was nothing for it but t pump.
below 10,000 feet. I had also come pump failed.
and within range of our own guns, shells were bursting all around me.
As I drew closer to the ship and came within the beams of the search- lights, I must have been seen, for she suddenly turned about and began to climb.
I was now so close to I could see her propel but apart from the ro
On I flew in pursuit, and, finding gines there was compar she could not shake me off, she sud- we were both now bey
This ploture was taken on H.M. 8. tron Duke, tha vess the Battle of Jutland, flying the flag of Admiral Jellicce. nery officers and ratings of the Home Fleet in practics_fi cailben guna and two batteries of six inch guns. The shal Photo shows action in the gun. turrete. The manning of ti turrets by seamen under the command of a gunner's mate Royal Marines. When the main armament le "closed up" (Copyright, Fox)..