Commander Spencer Grey, with Lieut S.V.  Lippe, in a biplane.  Flying from Antwerp at a height of 5,000 feet, to escape the almost continuous German fire, Lieut.  Marix succeeded in locating the Zeppelin hangars at Dusseldorf.  Then descending to a height of only 1,000 feet he released two bombs when directly over them, damaging both hangars and aircraft.  A German bullet passed through Lieut.  Marix’s cap and the wings of his aeroplane were pierced in a dozen places, but he succeeded in returning to the burning city of Antwerp, which he was ordered to leave the same evening.

During the same raid Commander Spencer Grey flew to Cologne.  He was unable to locate the Zeppelin hangars but dropped two bombs into the railway station, which was badly damaged.

A night or two later a German Zeppelin flew over Ghent and dropped a bomb near the South station.  On October 11 two German aviators dropped a score of bombs on different quarters of Paris, killing three civilians and injuring fourteen others.  The property damage, however, was slight and the effectiveness of bomb-dropping as a means of destroying a city or fortifications remained to be proved to the military mind.  It was noted that a large proportion of the bombs dropped by German aviators failed to explode.

HEROIC ACTS BY AIRMEN

Stories of heroism displayed by aviators on both sides of the great conflict have abounded.  One story of the devotion of German airmen, told to a correspondent by several German officers, he succeeded in verifying, but was unable to learn the name of the particular hero of the occurrence.  This story was as follows: 

“In one of the battles around Rheims it became necessary to blow up a bridge which was about to be crossed by advancing French troops coming to relieve a beleaguered fort.  The only way to destroy the bridge was for an airman to swoop down and drop an exceptionally powerful bomb upon it.

“There were twenty-four flyers with that division of the German army.  A volunteer was asked for, it being first announced that the required task meant sure death to the man undertaking it.

“Every one of the twenty-four stepped forward without hesitation.  Lots were quickly drawn.  The chosen man departed without saying farewell to any one.  Within five minutes the bridge was in ruins and the aeroplane and its heroic pilot had been blown to pieces.  This incident was not published in the press of Germany, because of the fear that it would cause terrible anxiety to the wives of all married German flyers.”

A DUEL HIGH IN THE AIR

An aerial victory for a French aviator, fought thousands of feet in the air in the presence of troops of both armies, was reported by Lieutenant de Laine of the French aerial corps on October 10.  The air duel was one of the most thrilling since the war began.  Lieutenant de Laine’s account of the combat was as follows: