The Children's Story of the War Volume 4 (of 10) / The Story of the Year 1915

His Majesty the King and Lance-Sergeant Oliver Brooks.

(From the drawing by S. Begg. By permission of The Illustrated London News.)

Second Lieutenant Rupert Price Hallowes, 4th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment.

At Hooge, between 25th September and 1st October, Lieutenant Hallowes over and over again inspired his men by his bravery and untiring energy. On one occasion he climbed on to the parapet and risked immediate death to encourage his comrades. Frequently he went forward into German positions during the night to spy out the land. During one of the attacks he went back under a heavy fire and brought up a fresh supply of bombs. Even when mortally wounded he continued to cheer his men and urge them to hold on.

Sergeant-Major John Crawshaw Raynes, "A" Battery, 71st Brigade, R.F.A.

When taking leave of his comrades before setting out for France, Sergeant-Major Raynes said to a chum, "I'll bet you a shilling I win the V.C." The wager was taken, and on 11th October, near Béthune, the sergeant won his bet. His battery had been very heavily bombarded, and when "Cease fire" was ordered he went out under a burst of heavy shells and bandaged Sergeant Ayres, who lay wounded forty yards in front. He then returned and worked his guns once more. During a pause in the firing he again went out to his friend and carried him into a dug-out. A gas shell burst at the mouth of the dug-out, and the wounded man was in peril of being suffocated. Seeing this, Sergeant-Major Raynes ran back across the open to fetch his gas helmet, which Sergeant Ayres donned and thus saved his life. Then the gallant Sergeant-Major, now badly gassed, staggered back to serve his guns once more. On 12th October he was buried in the ruins of a house, but was the first man to be rescued. He had been wounded in the head and the leg; nevertheless he worked might and main to save his comrades. As soon as his wounds were dressed he returned again to his battery.

Second Lieutenant C. G. Vickers, 1/7th (Robin Hood) Battery, Sherwood Foresters.

You will remember that on 13th October a division, consisting of Territorials from Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham, Derby, Grimsby, and other North Midland towns, was ordered to assault the Hohenzollern Redoubt. "It is a story of men attacking machine guns, of rushes across the open with no spot of cover, of fierce work with bomb and bayonet in a narrow trench. What flesh and blood could do they did." The Sherwood Foresters were sent in on the afternoon of the 13th, and bombing encounters went on all night. When reliefs were arrived at one o'clock on the morning of the 14th, Lieutenant Vickers was discovered holding a barrier against fierce German attacks from front and flank. All his men but two had been killed or wounded, and single-handed he was beating back the foe while his men built a barrier behind him. At last he was badly wounded, but not before he had secured the safety of his trench.

Corporal James Lennox Dawson, 187th Company, R.E.

Prior to the war Corporal Dawson was a science master in Hill's Trust School, Govan. On 13th October, at Hohenzollern Redoubt, we prepared a gas attack against the enemy. Corporal Dawson, who had already proved himself a gallant and resourceful leader, discovered that three of our gas cylinders were leaking, and that many of our own men would soon be rendered insensible by the fumes. Under a heavy fire he rolled the cylinders one by one out of the trench, and then returning, lay down and fired at them with a rifle. The cylinders were broken open, and the gas escaped towards the enemy. There is no doubt that by his cool gallantry he saved many men from being gassed. You may be sure that when the hero visited his old school he was received by his former pupils with rapturous applause.

Private Thomas Kenny, 13th (Service) Battalion, Durham Light Infantry.

On the thick foggy night of 4th November Lieutenant Brown and Private Kenny went out towards the German lines on patrol. They were sighted by the enemy, and Lieutenant Brown was shot in both thighs. He begged his companion to leave him, but Kenny would not do so. He took the wounded officer on his back, and for more than an hour crawled about under heavy fire, trying to find his way back. At last, when quite exhausted, he reached a ditch which he recognized, and, placing the lieutenant in it, went on alone to look for help. At last he came across a listening patrol, and with help brought in the wounded man. During the last part of the journey the Germans fired on him with rifles and machine guns, and threw bombs at him from a distance of thirty yards.

Private John Caffrey, 2nd Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment.

On 16th November Private Caffrey and Corporal Stirk, R.A.M.C., started out to rescue a comrade lying about three or four hundred yards in front of the enemy's trenches. They were beaten back by shrapnel fire, but nothing daunted they pushed out again, and in spite of the bullets of snipers and machine guns reached the wounded man. A bullet struck Corporal Stirk in the head just as he was lifting the man on to Caffrey's back. At once the gallant private put down his burden, bandaged Stirk, and helped him into safety. He then returned and brought in the other wounded man. Three times he had crossed the zone of fire on his errands of mercy.

Corporal Samuel Meekosha, 1/6th Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment (T.F.).

On 19th November, near the Yser, a platoon was holding a trench close to the German lines when the enemy's shells burst upon it, killing and wounding thirteen men and burying the rest. At this terrible moment Corporal Meekosha took command, sent a runner for assistance, and in full view of the enemy dug out his comrades and saved at least four lives.

Corporal Alfred Drake, 8th Battalion, Rifle Brigade.

Corporal Drake was out on patrol with an officer and two men on the night of 23rd November. When close to the German lines the party was discovered. One man who was shot down was carried off by his comrades, and when the officer fell Corporal Drake remained with him. When last seen, he was kneeling beside the officer bandaging his wounds, quite regardless of the heavy fire. A rescue party crawled out later on, and found the officer unconscious but alive, and Corporal Drake beside him, dead and riddled with bullets.

Shoeing-Smith Charles Hull, 21st Lancers.

Somewhere in Flanders, when the Lancers were under heavy fire, Captain Learoyd's horse was shot under him, and he fell to the ground. Shoeing-smith Charles Hull, seeing his officer's peril, galloped into the storm of fire, and taking up the captain behind him, dashed back into safety. It was a striking deed, and the shoeing-smith fully deserved the highest award of valour for his prompt and gallant rescue.

Private Harry Christian, 2nd Battalion, Royal Lancaster Regiment.

The Germans had opened fire with trench mortars on five or six of our men who were holding a crater. When the order was given to withdraw it was discovered that three men were missing. At once Private Christian returned to rescue them. While bombs were continually bursting on the edge of the crater, he dug out the men from under a heap of earth, and carried them, one by one, into safety. Later on, he placed himself where he could see the bombs coming, and directed his comrades when and where to seek cover.

Private William Young, 8th Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment.

On 22nd December, seeing that his sergeant had been wounded, Private Young went out under a very heavy fire to rescue him, and almost immediately received terrible injuries, both his jaws being shattered. Nevertheless, with the help of a comrade, he brought in the sergeant. At the dressing-station, to which he went unaided, it was discovered that this most gallant man had also received a bullet in his chest. Happily, he survived.

Nurse Cavell—Heroine and Martyr.

The heroic woman whose tragic story I am now about to relate finds a fitting place in this roll of heroes. Miss Cavell was the daughter of the Rev. Frederick Cavell, for forty years Vicar of Swardeston, Norfolk. She was trained as a nurse at the London Hospital, and in 1900 became head of a nursing institution in Brussels. Every one who knew her admired her noble character; she followed in the footsteps of the greatest of all nurses—Florence Nightingale.

The Martyrdom of Edith Cavell.

(From the picture by A. Forestier. By permission of The Illustrated London News.)
When the news of Nurse Cavell's murder was received, the following message was sent to her mother: "By command of the King and Queen I write to assure you that the hearts of their Majesties go out to you in your bitter sorrow, and to express their horror at the appalling deed which has robbed you of your child. Men and women throughout the civilized world, while sympathizing with you, are moved to admiration and awe at her faith and courage in death."

When the Germans occupied Brussels Nurse Cavell was allowed to remain at the head of her hospital. She and her assistants nursed German and Belgian wounded with equal devotion. During the retreat of the Allies from Namur and Mons a large number of British and French soldiers were cut off or lost their units. Many of them were discovered and shot; others hid themselves in trenches, woods, or deserted houses, and some of them were sheltered by friendly farmers, who gave them civilian clothing and helped them to escape into Holland. Many Belgian soldiers also lay in hiding, waiting for a chance to get out of the country. Some of the fugitives, hearing of Nurse Cavell, managed to get into touch with her, and asked her to help them to escape. This she did. She believed that she was only doing her duty to her country in coming to their assistance.

Spies informed the Germans of what she was doing, and on August 5, 1915, she was arrested and put in prison. Mr. Brand Whitlock, the American Minister in Brussels, pleaded for her, but in vain. Her trial began on 7th October, and she was found guilty of acting as a spy. The Germans kept the sentence as secret as possible, and on the evening of Monday, 11th October, Miss Cavell was informed that she would be shot at two o'clock the next morning.

The British chaplain who visited Miss Cavell on the eve of her execution found her very calm and resigned. "She was brave and bright to the last. She professed her Christian faith, and said that she was glad to die for her country."

It is said that the final scene was horrible. Miss Cavell, so it was reported, fainted on the way to execution, and was shot by the officer in command of the firing party as she lay unconscious. When the news leaked out a wave of horror and loathing swept over all the world—except Germany. At home Nurse Cavell was mourned alike in palace and in cottage. A memorial service was held in St. Paul's, and many plans were proposed for keeping her beautiful memory green. On the battlefield our men charged with the cry, "For Miss Cavell!" and the French hailed her as a new Joan of Arc. In the long, black list of German atrocities there is no more inhuman deed than the murder of Nurse Cavell.

CHAPTER XLVII.

(From the drawing by John de G. Bryan. By permission of The Illustrated London News.)
This picture illustrates the splendid feat by which Second Lieutenant Insall won the Victoria Cross. (See page 384.)

The machines used for directing artillery fire are bigger, and carry one or more observers as well as the pilot. They usually have two motors, so that they can still fly if one of them is put out of action. For making raids still bigger machines are used. In 1915 the French pinned their faith to a giant triplane, which well deserved to be called "the Dreadnought of the Air." It was 63 feet from wing to wing; it was driven by four powerful motors, carried two quick-firing cannon and four machine guns, as well as 1,200 pounds of explosives, and on a raid was manned by a crew of four men.

You have frequently read in these pages of the scouting work done by aeroplanes. When they fly over the enemy's lines they have huge cameras fitted to the bodies of the machines. Exposures are made, and the machine speeds back to its own lines, usually amid a storm of bursting shrapnel. Every aerodrome has a dark room in which the plates are developed. An enlargement is made, and the staff is thus provided with a picture of the German trenches as seen from above. If a good photograph is taken, the positions appear as clear as daylight; even the barbed wire and the situation and number of the machine guns can be seen. Poor photographs, however, do not show the details, and cannot distinguish a trench from a watercourse. Sometimes large kites are used for photographic purposes.

You can easily understand what a great change the aeroplane has produced in warfare when I tell you that during the Russo-Japanese War the Japanese fought for weeks, and sacrificed thousands of men, in order to capture the top of a hill from which their observers could overlook Port Arthur. Nowadays an aeroplane can supply all the information needed in a single hour, and howitzers can be directed from the air so that their shells will drop on the required position, though the gunners cannot possibly see their targets.

A modern general would be almost lost without his air service. From dawn to dark aircraft hover over the enemy's position, photographing his trenches, "spotting" his batteries, noticing the movement of troops and trains, and bringing back priceless information. More than once French aeroplanes have landed spies behind the German lines, and have returned to pick them up again days later.

We British were the last of the great European nations to apply themselves to the air, but by the outbreak of war we were well equipped. The British Royal Flying Corps consisted of a military and a naval wing. Each wing was divided into squadrons, consisting of twenty-four aeroplanes and twenty-four pilots, under a major or commander. The squadron was in turn divided into six flights, each flight comprising four machines. Every squadron had its own motor wagons and armoured motor cars. Our airmen, if they were not so skilful as the French, were competent and very daring, and had been trained to act with other arms. The Germans at first gave most of their attention to airships, but they were also provided with a strong force of aeroplanes. The Austrian service, though it contained some skilful pilots, was much inferior to that of Germany; while the Russians were short of machines, though they possessed giant biplanes which could carry over a ton weight of explosives.

As far back as Christmas Day, 1914, our airmen made raids upon fortified places in Germany. Seven seaplanes, escorted by cruisers and submarines, flew over Cuxhaven, where German warships were lying, and dropped bombs which, it is said, destroyed one or more Zeppelin sheds. Three of the aviators returned to the escorting ships safely; three others, who were rescued by submarines, had to destroy their machines in order to prevent them from falling into the hands of the enemy; and the seventh was picked up by a Dutch trawler. On January 22, 1915, another raid was made by two of our aviators on the new German naval base of Zeebrugge. A submarine lying in the harbour was destroyed, and probably other damage was done. Commander Davies, one of the two British aviators, had a most adventurous home journey. At one time he was surrounded by seven of the enemy's craft. He managed to elude them, however, and returned safely, but slightly wounded.

Raids such as these increased in number as the year advanced. On 11th February thirty-four of our seaplanes and aeroplanes made another attack on Zeebrugge, under the leadership of Commander Samson, whose daring has already been mentioned in these pages.[78] Great damage was done, and five days later the visit was repeated. Forty machines, including eight belonging to the French, dropped bombs on various batteries and gun positions, on an aerodrome, and on mine-sweepers off the shore. During the Battle of Neuve Chapelle the railways in the rear of the German lines were bombarded, and the junction at Courtrai, seventeen miles east of Ypres, was destroyed. On a later page I shall tell you how Second Lieutenant W. B. Rhodes-Moorhouse won the Victoria Cross and lost his life during this raid. On 7th June two of our airmen destroyed an airshed and a Zeppelin north of Brussels.

It is impossible in these pages to describe all the air raids of the year. Each was much like the other, except for the number of the machines engaged and the extent of the damage done. As an illustration, I will give you a brief account of the great French raid on the German city of Karlsruhe on 3rd June. It was made in retaliation for Zeppelin raids on open French and British towns, and was the biggest enterprise of the kind so far undertaken. Twenty-three aeroplanes set out at the first flush of dawn. Mr. E. A. Powell in Vive la France thus describes the progress of the raid:—

Of the four squadrons which set out for Karlsruhe only two machines failed to return. The Germans were furious, and the Kaiser telegraphed his "deep indignation at the wicked attack on beloved Karlsruhe." He had conveniently forgotten the murderous raids of his own Zeppelins.

CHAPTER XLVIII.

The first Victoria Cross ever conferred on an airman was won by Lieutenant Rhodes-Moorhouse, for extraordinary daring and endurance during the raid on Courtrai, which I mentioned on page 381. While dropping his bombs he descended to 300 feet, and was furiously assailed by anti-aircraft guns, which seriously wounded him in the thigh. He determined to save his machine at all costs, and made for home, flying at a height of only 100 feet. Though again wounded, he did not lose control of his machine, but flew thirty-five miles to his base, where he landed and made his report as if nothing had happened. Shortly afterwards he died in hospital of his wounds.

Flight Sub-Lieutenant R. A. J. Warneford, R.N.

On the morning of June 7, 1915, Lieutenant Warneford, who was flying in a very light monoplane, sighted a Zeppelin between Ghent and Brussels, and made straight for it. While approaching it he was too low, and was fired at by the Zeppelin's guns. Keeping to the rear of the airship, he climbed upwards by a series of jerks, until he was well above it. Then he swooped down until he was only fifty feet above the great gas bag, and dropped six bombs, the last of which burst the Zeppelin's envelope. A loud explosion followed, and the airship fell to the ground in the midst of smoke and flame. The force of the explosion turned his machine upside down, but he succeeded in righting it. Shortly afterwards his pressure pump failed to work, and he was obliged to come down in the German lines. He got out of the machine, repaired the pump, scrambled in again, and soared off. For two and a half hours he continued flying, and then he came down, happily behind his own lines. He was so weary that he fell fast asleep by the side of the machine, and was finally discovered by French soldiers only twenty yards from the cliffs of Gris-nez.[79] The story of his brilliant feat was flashed over the world, and his name at once became a household word in two continents. He had, by superb courage and skill, destroyed the first of the Zeppelins in flight. The Allies vied with each other in doing him honour; but, alas! his career, which promised so much, was soon brought to a close. Ten days later, while trying a new machine at Versailles, he was thrown out and killed.

Captain Lance George Hawker, D.S.O., Royal Engineers and Royal Flying Corps.

On 19th April Captain Hawker dropped bombs on a German airshed from a height of only 200 feet. He was under heavy fire all the time, and ran terrible risks. To avoid the shells hurled at him, he took refuge behind a German captive balloon, and was enabled to make good his escape. For this feat he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. On 25th July, when flying alone, he fell in with three German aeroplanes, and attacked them one after the other. The first escaped, but he damaged the second and third so badly that they were forced to descend. For this splendid feat he received the V.C.

Captain John Aidan Liddell, 3rd Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and Royal Flying Corps.

During a scouting flight from Ostend to Ghent an enemy shot broke Captain Liddell's thigh, smashed the control wheel, and otherwise damaged his machine. For a brief time he was unconscious, and his machine dropped nearly 3,000 feet. With a great effort he pulled himself together, and, though continually fired at, managed to bring his aeroplane into our own lines half an hour after he had been wounded. Only an airman can appreciate the extraordinary skill and determination which the wounded officer displayed.

Second Lieutenant Gilbert Stuart Martin Insall, No. 11 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps.

On 7th November Lieutenant Insall was out patrolling with a mechanic as gunner, when he was sighted and attacked by a German machine. With great skill he got to close range with his opponent, and his gunner fired a drum of cartridges which brought the German aeroplane to the ground. When the Germans scrambled out of their machine Lieutenant Insall dived towards them, and his gunner opened fire on them and they fled. An enemy party now fired at him; but, undeterred, he dropped a bomb on the fallen machine and set it on fire. He then flew over the German positions, and descended so low that his gunner was able to fire on the German trenches as they passed over them. His petrol tank was damaged, and he was forced to land in a wood inside our lines. At once the enemy's artillery opened fire on him, and some 150 shells fell around the machine as it lay on the ground. That night, behind screened lights, he repaired his machine, and at dawn flew home safely with his gunner.

Squadron Commander Richard Bell Davies, D.S.O., R.N.

Commander Davies was the hero of one of the most striking incidents known to aerial warfare. On 19th November lieutenant Smylie made a raid upon the Turkish railway station of Ferijik, on the Turkish river Maritza. He planed down over the station, and dropped all his bombs but one. While doing so his machine was badly hit, and he had to come to earth in a neighbouring marsh. In order to prevent the enemy from capturing his machine he set it on fire. He had hardly done so when he saw Commander Davies coming to his rescue. Fearing that the commander would descend near the burning machine, and thus run the risk of being blown up by the remaining bomb, Lieutenant Smylie took out a pistol, fired at the missile and exploded it. Then Commander Davies swooped down, picked up the lieutenant, and hurried off with all speed into safety. Seldom, if ever, has such a feat of pluck and gallantry been performed.

CHAPTER XLIX.

Some of the latest vessels have a speed of from forty to sixty miles an hour. Two sets of rudders are provided—one set for steering the ship horizontally, and one set to guide it when ascending or descending. It can ascend with remarkable speed—it is said that a modern Zeppelin can soar upwards at a speed of 4,500 feet per minute, and can reach the safety zone of about 12,000 feet almost before artillery on the ground has secured the range. A large Zeppelin can carry about seventeen tons, of which about two tons consist of explosives. All Zeppelins are fitted with powerful searchlights, and a car which can be let down from the gondola by steel ropes so as to enable the men in it to make observations from a lower level. The weakest part of a Zeppelin is its upper envelope. Attacking aeroplanes always endeavour to rise above the airship in order to drop bombs upon it. You will remember that Warneford destroyed his Zeppelin in this way.

Sub-Lieutenant Warneford bombing a Zeppelin in Mid-air.

(By permission of The Graphic.)
A description of this exploit, which won Sub-Lieutenant Warneford the Victoria Cross, is given on page 382.

Before the war a Zeppelin had travelled 1,800 miles on a single journey, and had remained in the air for thirty-five hours at a stretch. I have already told you that the Germans had built great airship sheds on the island of Heligoland. From this base to Yarmouth, on the east coast of England, is a distance of only 280 miles. It was, therefore, clear that, given suitable weather, a Zeppelin could not only cross the North Sea and return, but could sail over large areas of Great Britain as well. The Germans had long dreamed of making Zeppelin raids on London and destroying it by means of big bombs; but most people in this country laughed at the notion. We pinned our faith to the aeroplane, and believed the Zeppelin to be little more than an expensive failure. No real efforts were, therefore, made to cope with the threatened danger. A few anti-aircraft guns were stationed round the capital, searchlights were installed, street lamps were obscured, and windows were darkened, but that was all.

On the evening of January 19, 1915, the people of Yarmouth were startled by the sound of loud explosions in their streets. The Zeppelins had at last arrived. Bombs were dropped, two persons were killed, houses were wrecked, and holes were blown in the streets. The raiders then flew to Sandringham and King's Lynn, at both of which places bombs were dropped. Happily the King and Queen had left their Norfolk home for London on the previous morning. At King's Lynn four houses were destroyed, several others were damaged, and the widow of a soldier and a boy of fourteen were killed. People stood aghast at this new form of German "frightfulness." It was directed not against fortresses or places of military importance, but against peaceful civilians in open, unprotected towns. It was sheer murder, and was intended to terrorize the British people and bring them to their knees. The Germans have never been able to understand our national temper. They had still to learn that such blows only weld us the more firmly together, and steel us to greater resistance. Every Zeppelin raid brought flocks of fresh recruits to our banners.

A month later a German aeroplane appeared over the Essex coast and dropped bombs on and near Colchester, but no lives were lost. The summer air campaign began in earnest on 14th April, when airships appeared on Tyneside and attempted to destroy the great shipbuilding yards. Bombs were dropped, but almost at random, and very little damage was done, probably because the pilot was out of his reckoning. There were three other raids on the East Coast in the same month; but though houses were wrecked, no lives were lost. On 10th May Southend was attacked. At the first alarm people left their beds and rushed into the streets half dressed. They could see the body of the Zeppelin outlined against the sky, and the bombs falling like balls of fire. Many houses were destroyed, and others blazed furiously, but only one person was killed—the wife of a labourer. During the first nine months of the war the results of the air raids must have been very disappointing to the Germans. Half a dozen people had been killed, a few had been injured, and damage to the extent of some hundred thousand pounds had been done. The Germans were soon to improve on this record. "London has not felt it yet," they said.

A week later a Zeppelin passed over Ramsgate, on which it dropped two dozen bombs, happily without causing any loss of life, and then over Broadstairs and Dover. News of this raid had been sent to the station of the Royal Naval Air Service at Dunkirk, and eight seaplanes at once set out to intercept the Zeppelin. Flight-Commander Bigsworth dropped four bombs on the airship, but it managed to get home, though seriously damaged. On 26th May there was another raid on Southend just as the people were leaving places of entertainment. A lady visitor and a little girl, seven years old, were killed, and others were gravely injured.

The first attack on London was made on the last day of May. The Zeppelins passed over Colchester at ten o'clock in the evening, and twenty-three minutes later were dropping bomb after bomb on the most crowded part of the East End of London. Six people were killed, amongst them a little girl of three, who was burnt in her bed. Many houses burst into flames, and a great deal of damage was done. Earlier in the month German tradesmen, who had been allowed to remain and carry on business in London, had been mobbed; now the people, angered by the murderous raid, attacked their shops, and in many cases wrecked them. In June the raiders once more visited the East and North-East Coast. On 6th June they reached a town on the East Coast during the night and dropped many bombs on it. A large drapery house was destroyed, but a beautiful Norman church hard by escaped almost uninjured. Twenty-four persons were killed and about sixty others seriously wounded during the attack. The outrage was speedily avenged by Lieutenant Warneford, who, you will remember, destroyed a Zeppelin in Belgium the next day.

On 15th June there was another raid on the North-East Coast. A number of workmen ran out of their shops to see the Zeppelins, and were caught by the bomb explosions. Some sixteen of them were killed, while thirteen others were injured. Only one raid, and that an unsuccessful one, took place in July; but in August there were three, all of them on a large scale, and all on the eastern counties. On 9th August Zeppelins swept over a large area and killed one man, nine women, and four children, besides wounding at least fourteen others. One of the Zeppelins was damaged, and on the homeward voyage was attacked and destroyed by our aircraft.

On the 12th the visit was repeated, and three men, eleven women, and nine children fell victims to the bombs, while many others were badly injured, and numerous houses were wrecked. One bomb fell into the middle of a little crowd of old men, women, and young children standing at a street corner in a little country town, and worked frightful havoc. Though the Zeppelins were attacked by anti-aircraft guns, they succeeded in escaping. The third raid was on 17th August, when ten persons were killed and thirty-six persons were injured, including three children. In this case, too, the Zeppelins came under the fire of our guns, and perhaps, as in the former case, one of them was hit.

By this time it was evident that we were without proper means of defence against the enemy airships. They could come and go almost at will, and scatter death and destruction amongst us almost unchecked. After every raid the German newspapers published glowing accounts of the destruction which had been wrought. One of them said, "We cannot rain bombs enough on England." Our Government had given us only the briefest accounts of the raids, and people began to ask why they could not be told the whole truth. Mr. Balfour said that it was necessary to keep the Germans in ignorance of what they had done, and it would be folly to give them information which would help them on future voyages. Up to the end of August, he told us, no soldier or sailor had been killed, and only seven had been wounded. Only on one occasion had damage of military importance been done.

Raids were made on London on the evenings of 7th and 8th September. On the first night outlying districts were attacked, and on the following night bombs were dropped in the very heart of the city. The Zeppelins arrived between ten and eleven o'clock, when the places of amusement were open, and the streets were full of people. Suddenly the sound of explosion after explosion was heard. An American writer thus described the scene:—

Many people were killed, great fires arose, but no important public building was damaged. The Germans reported that they had practically wrecked London; but though they had done mischief enough, the result fell very, very far short of their boastful claims. Shortly afterwards Admiral Sir Percy Scott was placed in charge of the air defences of the capital.

There were four raids on the East Coast in September, and on 13th October London and parts of the eastern counties were again attacked. In London alone thirty-two persons were killed and ninety-five injured, and the total casualties of that night were fifty-six killed and one hundred and thirteen wounded. A cry now arose that our aircraft should treat German towns to a dose of their own medicine; but there were many who believed that we ought not to repay evil for evil, and that reprisals would not bring the war any nearer to its close.

The October raid was the last which took place during the year 1915. On twenty several occasions during that year the Zeppelins had paid visits to various parts of the East Coast of England. They had murdered no fewer than 199 people, and had inflicted injuries upon 421 others.

CHAPTER L.

On page 313 I told you that just before the fall of Brest the Germans prepared to force a road from Austria to the Bosphorus. What was the object of this new move? The Germans were in much the same position as the British and French: they were cut off from their Allies by hostile country. As you know, we undertook the ill-starred expedition to Gallipoli in order to open up communication between the Western Allies and Russia. The Central Powers were now about to invade Serbia in order to open up communication between Austria and Bulgaria and Turkey. If they could get into touch with these Balkan Powers, they could provide Turkey with munitions and supplies; they could send reinforcements into Gallipoli, and generally direct the operations of the Bulgarians and the Turks. Further, they could secure a right of way into Asia Minor, which would enable them to attack Egypt and perhaps advance to the Persian Gulf and threaten India. It was also hoped that new supplies of food, cotton, metals, and men would be tapped.

Look carefully at the map on page 393. Follow the main railway line, which runs from the Austrian town of Semlin on the Danube through Belgrade, Nish, and Sophia, the capital of Bulgaria, to Constantinople. If the Central Powers could capture this railway, they would secure a through route from Germany to the shores of the Bosphorus. The whole aim and object of the invasion which I am about to describe was to get possession of this railway.

What was the plan of campaign? Von Gallwitz, with the great artillery engine which had driven the Russians back from Galicia into the marshes of the Pripet, was to cross the Danube between Orsova on the Rumanian border and Belgrade, and blast his way through the triangle of country between the railway and the Bulgarian frontier. At the same time the Austrians were to strike south to the west of Belgrade, and while these two movements were in progress Bulgaria was to fall upon Serbia from the east. The little Serbian army was to be taken in front and in flank at nine different points by forces which outnumbered it by at least three to one. The invaders were furnished with huge guns and vast supplies of ammunition, against which the Serbians could not hope to stand. The moment that the blow was launched the fate of Serbia was sealed.