1939-09-24 — Page 5

EMBER 24, 1939.

er London With

MAJOR TEMPEST,

O., M.C.

which ficker.

of the anti-aircraft guns, for which 1 with a was very grateful.

pressure

For- Still I was flying slightly higher ground

than the Zeppelin and, realising that if I delayed my attack an instant longer she might climb out of my reach, I made a diye straight at her and, passing under her enormous en- velope, which seemed to overshadow me, I put in a burst of fire from my Lewis gun.

nes

nce

Arch

ven

on.

me.

val

on- the

Like A

Chinese Lantern

My ammunition was Pomeroy, Buc- kingham tracer, and ordinary machine- gun bullets, Pomeroy penetrated and exploded, but Buckingham tracer, be- side showing trajectory of the bullet, was incendiary.

My first round was without effect. Turning about, I flew under her in the same direction as she was going and let her have a further burst. Then, banking, I sat under her tail safely sheltered from the danger of

The Zeppelin Ying to earth a mass of flames. It will be seen that it is parting in the middle into two separate portions, while on the left a butaing fragment of the air ship has already broken off,

+

attack from her own guns, which r in the air for a moment the Zeppelin tion afterwards showed to be a frac-

could see were firing tracer shells in would all directions. There

e hand

I had almost begun to despair of bringing her down when suddenly, after letting her have another burst, I saw her begin to go red inside like an immense Chinese lantern.

hip that Volving,

en- And then I knew it was all up! Im, for Perhaps with me also, for having shot range up a couple of hundred feet and hung

ed the British Battle Fleet into zotlon at ow used for the purpose of training gun- armament consists of six 18.6 Inch 60 big guns weigh over half a ton sach. all Capital ships is carried out in three are of the turret, and in the fourth by the

hundred man

to action stations.

go

began to fall.

Flames burst from her glowing en- velope and licked her bows. Brigh ter they grew, ruby, orange, yellow, paler. And then she seemed

to be coming straight for me.

tured skull, I suffered little. My machine, however, damaged.

The blackened skeleton of the van- quished monster lay across two fields, was badly and the enterprising farmer to whom they belonged was making a charge at The next morning I was persuaded the gate. to visit the scene of the Zeppelin's destruction at Potter's Bar,

where

I did a frantic nose dive with the Mathy and every member of the crew burning wreckage tearing down on of L31, Germany's latest

ship, met their end.

me.

a spin did I manage to corkscrew `out Only by putting my machine into of the way as the blazing mass roared past me. But I managed to right my machine. There was a smell of burn- ing everywhere in the sky. Far be- low, that white-bright mass was re- ceding, till a cloud of ascending sparks told me it had hit the ground.

Where? It now dawned on me that I had no idea where I was. Lon- dón, Surrey, the const?

The running fight in the air had lasted how long? I had lost all sense of time and direction. I might have travelled fifty miles from London.

A mist had settled below, and as I flew on a curious calm came over me. It was a sensation I shall always remember. It was more than the sensation of relief on coming out of a bad dream; it was almost as though

I came from another world.

I am firmly convinced now that I momentarily fainted in the air. When I came to I imagined I was flying out to sea.

I was positive I could see the grey waves below.

On I flew and vaguely wondered if I would come down in France. It was not until I realised that I was feeling dizzy, ill and exhausted that I made an effort to pull myself togeth- er and find out where I was. I must discover a landing place soon or per- ish.

Only A

Fractured Skuli!

Coming down to 5,000 feet I at last. recognised the airfleld at North Weald Bassett, near Epping Forest, and be- gan to descend. In landing I mis- calculated my altitude and crashed. Bút except for a slight cut and a bad- headache, which an X-ray examina-

naval air-

I paid my shilling and went in.

NEXT WEEK A Man Who Was Saved From The Hampshire

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