The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-06-01

and again the ship was forced quickly upwards, and. in moment agaiI downward. l We planned to pass the English coast at an altitude of about 12,OOC feet. Orders were given for a sharI lookout for aircraft. The cold. began to search into our bones as we climbed higher. Straight before us we sighted the Goodwin. Sands, at the mouth of the Thames The English coast took shape.
 Rocket Gives Alarm
 Below us a beam of light appeared It was from a steamer. Suddenly her lights went out and a spark shot up ward and broke into a cascade of stars It was a skyrOcket. We were dis. 1 covered!
 There was the relief which comes from the breaking of tension. We knew that the inevitable hazards of the night had come. We were ready. Below us we could dimIy see a swarm of guard vessels. There was sudden cracking of artillery fire but the shrapnel fell short. We were out Oi range. We caught a wireless message to London, Look out for Zeppelins passing directly over me" It was l frantically repeated. time and again. We were eager for action. We re- leased a bomb at a vessel but fell per haps a hundred yards short of the stern. The steamer had been steering wild zig-zag course and made a des- perate sidewise turn as the bomb fell. As we advanced up the Thames, the steamship traffic was continually denser- We saw a great ocean liner moving in- However, we hold fast to our bombs. We are saving them for a more important target. .-. Suddenly a searchlight shot up, to the starbOard, and, although we were rid ing high, we were glaringly lit up. At the same moment a murderOus fire was turned against us from one of the forts. We climbed into q nearby cloud bank, out of range. There were anxious sec Onds as we raced to cover.
 Through rifts in the clouds we fol- lowed the crooks and turns of the Thames. Since we had followed the same stretch for a year, we recognized the city of London while it was still a good distance away. We were able to pick up our position directly above the city as the illumination shOne through the clouds.
 Beams Make A Light Like Day Previously we had arrived over an entirely unsuspecting city and had been able to search out our target at an altitude of about 5000 feet. But by this time they had learned their lesson. The lights went out as we approached. All traffic comes to q standstill-a source of satisfaction to us-when a raid IS on. But the winding of the Thames charted our objective perfectly. From these turns we knew the exact location of the Tower bridge, the docks and above all the serpentine in Hyde park gave us an excellent idea of our position. On the outskirts. of the city we saw a lighted area which we knew to be the prison camp; we steered over it and let our comrades know that the homeland still thought of them.
 The silence was OminOus. 4 few miles still separated us from the docks our main target.
 The weather was still favorable. At 13.OOO feet there were only a few clouds. As the control cabin emerged from a cloud bank. a searchlight grOped through the heavens for second or two and then impaled us on n shaft of light Then the beams from 70 searchlights picked us up. It. was a light as day.
 The steeFsman remarked dryly: We might just as well save our electricity in the control cabin. The whole boat shines like a silver fish"
 There was shriek. whine. a