The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1919-07-24
GREAT WAR MYSTERY CLEARED
MAD AIRMAN WHO BOMBED AND FOUGHT FRIEND
AND FOE-GRIM DISCOVERY OF HIS FATE

speed out of my machine. Suddenly
! felt Il sharp pain in my left shoulder
and realized had been hit.
! AT first | was inclined to descend and
surrender to tho British but l thought
IL might be more dangerous to attempt
4 landing in unknown territory. espe-
Cially as | was close to n heavy barTaGr.
/ therefore renewed my efforts to In
crease the speed of my machine, and %
my great rrl,"f l. was successful,
though | bcEan to feel weak and dazcG
from pain and less Of blood.
A, Il was now understanding my murder
Gus pursuCr and soon had the JOY OF
losing sight of him altogether. but my
wound began to give me trouble, and /
! thought | would never get home in time.
Fortunately my fears were not realized.
and reached one Of our aerodromes
near Client In safety"
! Mystery Cleared UP.
, The further adventures Of this mad
man are told in the report of the COM
mISSioncrS in the following terms:
! There is not now any doubt that
! Captain Erschnucr went mad. as de
y,r.bcd 10y Lieutenant Weitman. TN"
dead body Of his observer was found In
! British an1i-aircraft forces not far from
L terribly mutilntcd condition by the
| Colchester. and. as the result OF dill
! gent search the remains of the wrecked
! machine have now been found In the
TlaCk Forest.
All that waT left of tho body Of the
! famous alrman was u collection OF char
! red bones, and these were found amid
; the wrcCrugc :, ms machine suggesting
, that he had fallen or had been forced
down in flames and had persisted amid
the flames In this lonely part of the
! forest.
''Of ErSChaUcrs madness there can be
! no doubt, for his acts were those or u
madman. When he reached Mannheim
! In the evening Of March 18th, he circled
! oyer the town and rcsccnded low. His
machine was clearly recognized by its
special markings. and the people congre-
! gated in III, streets to give welcome
! 10 this hero of the mir. While they were
| ucInonst rating two bombs were dropped.
! and terrible explosions were caused
' right in the heart of the town.
! over two hundred people were killed
! ouir right and many were badly injured
besides the damage 10 number OF pub
' lie buildings. including the Central
! Post Office. No ono ever seems 10 nave
! thought of madness to account for this
/ extraordinary behavior of n presumably
. German pilot. and II was supposed by
the German authorities that Erschauer
/ ha dbcCn forced down by tho Allied air
! men. and that one Of the latter nan
! used his machine rs ruSe OF war 10 en-
{ able him to attack our towns withou'
! being suspected.
| Bomber Erupp's.
| after the bombs were dropped Ger
| man machines went up 10 attack the
! visitor. but tho guns Of the defcnces re-
! raaincd silent for fear OF causing panic
+ and death in tho crowded streets. The
! mysterious raider fiot away, and in tho
course Of the next two days, having re-
! plcnishcd his petrol supplies in some
manncr not revealed, he made similar
attacks on other towns. including Hell
/ relbcrg where nc damaged part Of the
! cathedral and college buildings, Essen.
! where he dropped bombs on shell fac
! tory nj tho krupp works, and Baden.
where he caused the death OF n'arly Il
hundred people who had assembled
! outside the ducal palace to watch the
flight of this daring German airman.
After the visit to Baden the raider
was pursued and brought to action by
| two of the airncn sent to defend the
town uftCr one of the allied raids on II.
There was Il desperate fight for over an
hour. IN the course - which the mad
raider killed the pilot of one machine
and forced the other down IN flames. the
pilot GId observer being killed.
Prior To his appearance over Mann
hcnn this raider appears TO have flown
over Dutch territory. for the description
furnished by the Dutch authorities tai
lies with that given by those who knew
the machine used by ErsChau"r. arr the
pieces of bomb We have examined are
obviously from tho type su?p'ICd 10
GCtha raiders AT that time.
Abla1el
I'm his wondcrngS over German tho
mad raider appeared twice over Berlin.
but for some reason did not drop bombs.
Probably the second time he had used
all his bombs. On this occasion he failed
TO comply with the strict regulations
then in force about warning from Ger
man machines approaching the capital.
and two of the machines patrollinE APP
preached TO Signal to the stranger They
were fired on. and one of the pilots was
wounded. The mad raider then put on
speed. and left his antagonists behind
Later he was reported over tho Black
Forest. and in view of instructions that
had been circulated he was engaged by
several German machines. After very
heavy firing the raidiUg machine was
seen 10 be aliEht ut the tail. but appar-
entity tho pilot suhduCd the ilamcS for
when he flew away rapidly towards the
east there was no sign OF either smoke
or flame.
For more than n week after this Cor
man air patrols WCr" on tn" lookout for
the mysterious raider but not trace
of him was to be found, and il was not
until the present inquiry was set on foot
that tho mystery was solved.
'(By The international News Bureau,
Inc. Boston. MaSS.)