The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1917-07-12
AIR FORAY ON LONDON.
German Planes Fly Over British Cap
ital, Dropping Many Bombs.

LOuuOu, July - Ilc SeSOQu oO-
scent upon London by squadron of
German airplanes was made this
morning between and 10 o'clock
when the business section of the me-
tropolis was crowded.
Although the German contingent
was larger, more daring, more delib-
crate in its methods and descended
much lower than on the visit of June
13, the number of killed and wounded
was, according to the first official roll,
roughly one-third the previous cas-
ualty. Thirty-seven people were kill
ed and 141 injured. The destruction
of property may have been greater
than in the first raid.
The fight of the Germans over
London lasted about 20 minutes. En-
glish airmen engaged them for sew
eral minutes over the metropolis and
anti-aircraft guns were firing briskly,
dotting the sky with sharpnel puffs,
but without success so far as con-
cerned the destruction of any of the
20 or more machines which constitut-
ed the invading force.
The admiralty was able to report
tonight, however, that naval airmen
who followed them to sea brought
down three machines. A British
squadron sent up from Dunkirk to
intercept the returning raiders did
not encounter them because they had
taken a more northerly route, but
the British airmen met and destroyed
other German machines.
The morning was. one of haze,
weather most favorable for crossing
the channel without being observed
On their former visit, made in similar
weather, the Germans kept high up
in the msts, but today when they
neared their objectives, most of them
descended. Their formation was like
flock of wild geese as they ap-
preached and neither the British
pursuers nor the guns were able to
scatter them until they spread out
before letting loose the bombs.
Thousands See Raiders.
Hundreds of thousands of people
on roofs, from windows and gathered
in the streets saw the remarkable
spectacle. All London heard the
noise of battle. At first there were a
few minutes when the anti-aircraft
guns were crashing sharply and the
machine guns were rattling aloft.
Then came three or four minutes
when the heavy explosion of bombs
and the shattering of glass were the
dominant sounds; then few min
utes when the artillery fire receded
into the distance.
The Germans steered a course
across London from northwest to
southeast. They dropped the last of
their supply of bombs on section of
workmen's dwellings and crossed the
Thames. Some observers say a giant
airplane piloted the squadron and
that the bomb carriers were in the
the centre, fanked by scouts for
fighting off the British airmen. The
low altitude and slow pace at which
the Germans crossed London and the
daredevil way they circled over their
objectives have caused great surprise.
When first seen they were steering a
steady course from the northwest,
evidently in the act of making a long
sweeping curve which would ulti-
mately bring their heads in the direc-
ton of home. They completed the
manoeuvre over the Thames and as
the British machines came into the
picture the raiders quickened their
pace.
Continue i'm Pursuit.
A fierce running fight ensued be-
tween a strong force of British ma
chimes and the raiders toward the
mouth of the river. The machines
flew fairly low and the rattle of ma
! chine guns was distinctly audible
from the ground. None Of the Ger
mans had been brought down when
the combatants disappeared from
view, but the British squadron con-
tinued the pursuit and engaged them
heavily.
Todar's attack was plainly directed
against the civilian population and
the business and financial buildings.
There is no question, the Germans
l,nou, uboro thov were and if WaSnOt