Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1917-07-12
FLIES 466 MILES
TO BOMB KRUPP'S
French Aviator's Remarkable
Trip into Germany Told
by Airman Himself.

Grand Headquarters Of the French
Army in France. July 1o.-The most dar-
ing air raid yet carried out against the
great Krupp munition works at Essen
was recounted to a staff correspondent OF
the Associated Press to-day by Sergeant
Maxine Gallois. who defed all the Ger
man anti-aircraft defenses and bombarded
the heart of the German armament-
producing factories with high explosives.
crossed the German front line twice, flew
over many Rhenish cities, and reached
home unscathed.
The whole flight lasted seven hours. dur.
ing which the daring French aviator was
guided only by the moon and stars and
the compass. as the voyage was made In
the darkest hours Of the night. the
destination being reached exactly accord
ing to plan. Sergeant Gallois narrated his
story in the simplest manner. He said:
-Four Of us-Lieutenant Addison de
Perdiguier. Sergeant Durand, another
comrade. and myself-left our base at
nightfall Friday. with the intention OF
reaching Essen. Soon afterward we ran
into foggy weather, and lost sight Of each
other. flew at an altitude Of ]. 200 meters.
and passed over Metz and Thionville, fol-
lowing the course of the River Moselle.
which. however. rapidly disappeared in
the mist.
NO GUIDE BUT THE STARS.
THE batteries fred at me crossing
the Rhine. and as I passed over Nets
searchlights played about the sky. AT
Thionville heard another airplane
nearby but I was compelled to travel
by the aid of the compass, the stars
and the moon.
AT Treves I saw a heavy bombard.
ment. which ! calculated was directed
at my comrade. Therefore I knew I
was travelling In the right direction. I
did not see Coblenz. l saw the refec-
ton of the moon on the Rhine and
found Bonn. From there to Dusseldorf
there was a regular sea electricity.
which increased as I got further north.
Cologne was blaze of luminosity.
and at Dusseldorf there were all kinds
| Of lightu. blue, red, and white. All the
time the anti-aircraft guns fred as !
passed. and around Cologne the gun.
ners were very accurate in the range.
Leaving there. ! saw. like cliffs on
the horizon a brilliant illumination
which seemed kilometers in length
stretching to the left of Essen. while
southwark was another long line Of
lights coming from the factories. Ar
riving over Essen rose to about 1000
meters. I circled around, searching for
a place where the lights from the
workshops appeared densest. Then
threw the first bomb. After counting
ten dropped the second. and then
the remainder OF the ten I carried at
similar intervals. I could not tell
whether the bombs exploded. but they
probably did. 1t was impossible to
distinguish their effect, owing to the
flaming furnace chimneys.
MY duty done. turned homeward.
not having seen my comrades again.
The motor worked with wonderful
regularly all the time. came back
exactly the same as I went. and was
fired at many times.
II was thoroughly exhausted and was
suffering from my eyes. which were at
fected by the strain and wind, az had
lost both pairs Of goggles at the start.
and was often obliged to put my head
outside In order to see the director.
When nearing the base. owing to the
darkness ! could not tell exactly whore
! was. ! thought possibly was still
over the German lines and decided to
continue westward as long as the petrol
lasted. had a few litres left and was
driving onward when suddenly I recog.
nized a pre-arranged signal and managed
to land just at dawn at the same place
from which had departed. The distance
covered was 7bo kilometsrs (about teoat
] milssl."