Denver labor bulletin., 1918-08-31
AN AIR RAID OVER LONDON
By JOHN p. FREY
In the International MOlders Journal.


the metropolitan district. 1t was not
difficult to discover that the air above
our heads was being filled, for the
falling shrapnel could be heard hitting
the sidewalk and dropping in the road
i way.
We had no idea of how long the at
tack would last, and, as there was
no convenient bomb-proof nearby, it
seemed to be as safe to stay where we
were as to run, or walk, to the hotel,
and then, besides, we were witness
ing a most impressive sight and were
, quite anxious to learn from first hand
experience what an air raid really was.
Had we known that the German air
men were attacking London with seven
squadrons, and that the fight above
our heads was to last for practically
three hours, the danger of our situa-
tlon might have prevented us from
taking the lively interest which we
did during the beginning of the raid.
How many searchlights there are
IN London, or how many batteries of
anti-aircraft guns, we cannot tell, but
the entire district of London seemed
to be black background from which
hundreds of beams of light reached
into the heavens, searching for the in
vaders. 1t did not take long to dis
cover that these lights were signaling
to each other with a dot and dash al
phabet. No sooner would search
light pick up an invading machine
than the signals were flashed to the
other lights and, from three or four
miles around, all of these beams of
light centered themselves in the sec
tion where the machines were flying.
=. II
to be seen during raid, not only
tinually change their course, rising
above the beams of light or going
into a nose dive and dropping below.
They are seen only as momentary
Pickering object, very much like a
flying beetle passing thru the suns
rays in a forest. But if the eye finds
difficulty in picking up and follow
ing the hostile airplanes, the ears
have no such trouble. The hum of
the engines distinctly informs those
underneath whether the ship is ap-
preaching, passing overhead or flying
to the right or left. 1t is a peculiar
experience to hear an airplane which
seems to be right above you and spec
ulate whether it will drop one of it's
bombs while in that position, or do
so at some other point. That bombs
were dropping not far distant we could
tell from the muffled roar which fol-
lowed their explosion, a sound so dis
tinct from any of the others that it
was unmistakable, and then occasion
ally glare on the horizon indicated
the falling of an incendiary bomb.
While the searchlights were comb !
ing the sky, the batteries were busy
everywhere, and so far as noise is
concerned, gave every bit as vivid
an impression of a modern battle as
batteries along the fighting front. At
times the whole earth seemed to rock
under their continuous discharge.
After witnessing what was trans
piring for half an hour or so a tre- 4,
mendous nose at one end of st. James |
park attracted our attention. 1t |
sounded very much like the combina-
tion of steam calliope, an automo-
bile race and a fire department all
rolled into one. In a moment black |
object passed going at tremendous
and another. 1t was the mobile anti
aircraft gun batteries moving from
place to place on powerful automobile
trucks. AS the streets were clear
of all traffic, and there were no rules
to impede their speed, they moved
from place to place with all of the
rapidity which their engines were ca
pable of producing. When we discov-
cred what they were, and the mission
they were engaged in, we not only
wished the brave artillerymen a rec
ord-breaking ride, but, in addition,
hoped that their wild dash thru the
park would result in winging more
than one of the murderous invaders.
Watching the sky we soon discov-
cred new feature, the hum of more
than one airplane could be heard over
head and suddenly several balls of
light were seen floating downward.
Immediately the searchlights left this
section of the sky and the shrapnel
ceased bursting in that area. The
lights came from one or more British
planes that had risen to do battle to
the Hun. We could distinctly hear the
rapid-fire guns above and there was
something thrilling in the knowledge
that overhead deadly duel was 60
ing on in the air between the invader
and the gallant defending air squad
rons.
After more than two hours of
searchlight activity and the roar of
cannon and the explosion of bombs,
there was a period of quiet, and au-