The sun., 1917-06-07
8 ATRPLANES LOST
IN GERMAN RAID
Two Certainly Destroyed and
Six Driven Down in Chan
mel Fights.
SHEERNESS OBJECTIVE
Fliers Were Caught by Allied
AviatOrs on Their Way
to Home Base.

LONDON. June 6.--Of the eighteen Ger
man alrplsnes that few across the
Channel yesterday to bomb British COAST
towns not two. as first reported. but
eight were driven down by British air
men. Two Of these were certainly de-
stroyed and two moro are believed to
have been destroyed The Berlin state
ment says Sheerness was the Germans
objective
At practically the same tinfs that they
were taking such heavy toll Of the raid
ers British airmen were striking back at
German bases on the Belgian coast. Two
successful raids were made on the sub
marine base at Zeebrugge and on ships
In the harbor. and airmen who few over
Ostend and took Photographic brought
back proof that yesterdays raid there
worked havoc with the dockyard. sub
marine shelter and other works
Great Battle over sea.
OF the eighteen German machines that
started in the raid two were brought
down near the British coast after having
dropped their bombs, as reported in the
Official British statement. The remain
ing sixteen were engaged by ten naval
DunhlTh. WuO III BItdt
battle over the sea destroyed two OF the
Germans and drove down another four.
two Of which IL Is reasonable to believe.
according to the Official report. were put
out Of action.
After the lesson Of the Folkest raid
the British were ready for yesterdays 8
visit. and from the moment the Germans
left the Belgian coast they were engaged
first with patrols over tho Channel. then
with the land forces in England. and
later on their return with the squadron
Of airplanes from Dunkirk.
12 Killed, 3e wo..dea.
In addition to this prompt defensive
action. warning was given to the in
habitants Of the districts visited and
they were able to take to cover. so that
the casualties. while considerable. ag-
gregating twelve killed and thirty-six
wounded, were much smaller than in
the case Of Folkestone. which had no
warning.
Anti-aircraft guns and airplanes suc-
ceeded in keeping the raiders from the
naval ana military centres, and the
casualties were chiefly In small towns
and villages, on which bombs were
dropped Unfortunately.
The British statement on the German
|
Yesterday afternoon four Royal
Naval Air Service pilots on patrol
of Dunkirk observed about eighteen
enemy aircraft of Ostend. well out mt
sea, proceeding in a northwesterly
direction. Indecisive engagements
! took place and the enemy were chased
| to England.
On their return journey the enemy
were pursued and engaged by naval
| machine from an air station on the
Kentish coast. Two enemy aircraft
were in turn attacked and driven down
| by this pilot. who then landed at
Dunkirk. Other ensaEements between
Royal Naval Air Service machines
from home stations and the enemy
| also took place over the Thames estu-
! ary.
| Fights on Way Back.
Later ten naval pilots from Dun
kirk encountered sixteen hostile air
craft of Ostend. returning from their
raid on England. and numerous nights
took place. Two OF these hostile air
/ craft were completely destroyed and
four others were driven down out OF
! control. OF which two are considered
also to have been destroyed.
The Official statement on the attack,
on Zeebrugge and Ostend is as follows;
| On Monday hostile machine was
attacked by one of our royal air SER
vice pilots from Dunkirk fifteen miles
! out to sea and was driven down in a
vertical nose dive into the sea.
During the night a successful bomb
ing raid was carried out on hostile
shipping in the harbor Of Zeebrugge.
/! A big explosion was observed and
many smaller ones. Chis was followed
by another raid on N, Same objective
at daybreak. In ali many tons Of
bombs were dropped.
A hostile kite balloon was shot
down by one Of our machines. In
every case all our machines returned
safely.
Workshops Are Destroyed.
A Photographic reconnaissance over
Ostend shows as a result OF yester-
DAYS bombardment from the sea that
q majority Of the workshops In the
dockyard were either seriously dam
aged or totally destroyed.
The entrance gates to the dockya-d
basin, the wharf, the submarine shelter
and a destroyer under repair were
badly damaged. 1t appears also that
several vessels were sunk.
The German statement regarding tn
raid on the coast Of England says
One OF our airplane squadrons
dropped more than 5000 kiloGrammes
of bombs on military establishments
at Sheerness. at the mouth Of the
Thames. Good hits were observed.
During numerous aerial battles
along the front the enemy lost eleven
airpianes Lieut.. Allmenroeder gained
his twenty-fifth and twenty-s!xth VIC
tories and Lieut.. Voss his thlrty-third
victory.
Sheerness Is strongly fortified sea
port and naval arsenal on the northwes
corner Of the island Of Sheppey, In Ken
vast doclkyard being located there.
has a population Of more than 1s.00t
according TO the latest available figures