The Washington herald., 1913-05-25
English Airman Tells Of His Experiences Bulgarian AVA
ton Corps Well-equpped One Bomb Dropping
from Clouds Is Matter Of Luck

streets, and 50 on tin we were over the
cluster of important forts on the north.
east Of the place. From these occasion
ally pun Of smoke was distinguishable
and here I thought it well to carry out
my operations. as the works lay closei
together and my chance Of producing
some effect was therefore the better.
Our machine wasn't fitted with any
mechanism for the discharge Of missiles
(nor, indeed. was any of the Bulgarian
aeroplanes). 20 everything had to be done
by hand. which is, think. much the best
method: the mechanical devices have
seen are all cumbersome. didn't lik'
the idea of my observer doing the throw.
ing. because I feared that from his posi-
tion behind me he might In some way
damage the wheels or under carriage
Accordingly, got him to pass me shell
when wanted one, and then dropped II
over the side, of course, keeping it poin'
downward and giving II slight outward
shove. 1t sounds very easy as I tell Il
now, but 1t wasn't really, because W
there my hands had grown stif with
cold, and under those circumstances q
shrapnel shell isn't very easy to manipu'
late.
-.en, too, in throwing down a heavy
object like that from a great height
always had a silly feeling that I was
going to leave the bomb In my seat and
precipitate myself head foremost, some
thing like the absent minded man who
threw his wet umbrella upstairs and
stood on his head in the hall
However, no accident occurred, and ]
got rid of my three shells that morning
in quick succession directly over the
northeast forts For pilot and observer
results were impossible to judge. One
can't hover in an aeroplane, and IL one
has dropped a shell on people il is hu-
man nature for them to retaliate. and
your best course is to get away with all
possible promptitude. That the damage
done by bomb dropping can be consider
able without being perceived by either
pilot or observer may be gathered from
the following fact:
A sorte Seen from Above.
My friend. signor Sabelh. with whom
1 went out from England. was dropping
shells over Adrianople and actually with
one Of them shattered the dome OF
Selim's mosque entirely without his own
knowledge or that of Mai. Zlatareff. who
was flying with him. At best. ! think.
bomb dropping may be described as a
game of chance; some shots may be very
effective
Whatever the results of our expert
ences on this occasion. we escaped with
out exciting any hostile demonstration.
and flew on TO complete our circuit of
the city. On our way we came above a
minor action. Our people had been con-
centrating their fire on a couple of the
northern forts, and as we passed over
them we could see from between the
Turkish redoubts what looked like a
surge of innumerable black specks. but
which was in reality a small sortie. Cir
cling around we watched the specks
sweep out over what was probably a
front of four miles. and waited till the
cotton wood puffs of Bulgarian shrap-
mel began to play over them and check
their advance.
OF the siege itself. apart from our
own share in the operations, We saw
a good deal. At night we used to stroll
out the last thing and from the ridge