CHAPTER XXV
TOLD BY THE ADMIRALTY
Official communications are apt to make cold reading, but how much may be ‘read into’ them! Considered in the light of a lively imagination they convey a great deal. Between each line a story of considerable length and great interest might be written. Take, for instance, the following communication issued by the British Admiralty in the latter part of October, 1916: ‘Yesterday afternoon, one of our naval aeroplanes attacked four enemy seaplanes off Ostend. Our machine was under fire from all four seaplanes, but succeeded in bringing down one, which was completely destroyed, and in driving off the others.’
This was the second British aerial success against odds in the same week. A few days previously a naval single-seater machine attacked a large German double-engined tractor seaplane. The enemy pilot and observer were shot, and the seaplane dived vertically into the sea two miles off Ostend. Another British naval aeroplane destroyed a kite balloon in the same locality on this occasion.
We may crave for further details, but the time is not yet. Naval and military censors, though subjected to much adverse criticism, are wise in their generation.
Experience has shown that it is far better to give a light touch or two of romantic colouring, than to fall into the fault of conveying the kind of direct and definite information which might by some chance prove of service to the enemy. The following communications are above suspicion in the direction named, but they are not devoid of colour. They enable one to appreciate in a very real sense the heroic achievements of our naval aviators:
Between August 25 and 31, 1916, a series of attacks were carried out by naval aircraft upon the Bulgarian lines of communication beyond Kavala.
On the twenty-fifth the railway station and bridge at Buk (about twenty-two miles north-east of Kavala) were successfully bombed. On the twenty-sixth a similar attack upon the railway station at Drama (twenty-two miles north-west of Kavala) resulted in the burning of a large petrol store and considerable destruction among the rolling stock in the sidings. Bombs were also dropped on the billets of the enemy’s troops at Doksat (fourteen miles north-west of Kavala).
On the twenty-seventh, Okgilar (twenty-five miles north-north-east of Kavala) railway station, where the headquarters of the 10th Division were situated, was successfully attacked. The station buildings were set on fire and considerable damage was done to the permanent way.
On the twenty-eighth Drama Station was again bombed. The station buildings were considerably damaged. On the same day Kavala forts were attacked with excellent results.
On the twenty-ninth a large body of infantry and transport concentrated at Porna (about thirty-two miles west of Kavala, on the Seres—Drama line) were attacked. Considerable havoc was caused in the village and among the troops. A large fire was started among the stores in the transport park. The moral as well as the material effect of this bombardment seems to have been considerable, as a reconnaissance made on the following day showed that all troops, camps, and transport had been removed from this district.
On the thirty-first an attack was made on Angista railway station (twenty-five miles west-north-west of Kavala). Direct hits were made and extensive damage was caused.
Further communications issued by the Admiralty in the same month showed that between August 25 and 29 a series of attacks and reconnaissances upon the enemy railway communications in Palestine were carried out by a British seaplane squadron. These fights were made under hazardous conditions, due to the fact that the railway runs, for the most part, behind a range of mountains difficult for seaplanes to surmount. Bombs were dropped on Afuleh Junction, where considerable damage was done to the rolling stock, permanent way, and to stores in the vicinity. A railway engine and fourteen carriages were also set on fire and destroyed. The railway stations at Tulkeram and Ardana and an enemy camp four miles north-west of Remleh (thirteen miles from Jaffa) were successfully bombarded and severely damaged. And on August 26 a seaplane bombarded the railway station at Homs (about eighty miles north of Damascus). This flight, carried out at a distance of forty-five miles inland under extremely adverse conditions and through clouds low down on the mountains, was a singularly fine performance for a seaplane.
At a later date, from September 13 to September 22, further series of attacks were carried out by naval aeroplanes operating against the Bulgarian coast. On the thirteenth the head quarters of the Bulgarian 10th Division at Bademli Chiftlik were attacked, with considerable effect. Subsequently these head quarters were removed elsewhere, but were discovered, and attacked three days later, with excellent results. A large explosion was caused, and a fire, which lasted for a considerable time, broke out among the buildings. On the sixteenth considerable damage was caused to transport proceeding on the road towards Drama, and on the same day the shipping in Foujes harbour was bombed. On the seventeenth and eighteenth the rolling stock, gun emplacements, and stores at Drama station were bombarded and considerable damage done to them. On the nineteenth a column of troops and transport were thoroughly plied with small bombs, which caused considerable damage and confusion.
In October, 1916, a hostile seaplane was shot down and destroyed by one of our naval aircraft. The enemy machine fell into the sea. This was evidently the raider that approached Sheerness at 1.45 p.m., flying very high. Four bombs were dropped, three of which fell into the harbour. The fourth fell in the vicinity of the railway station, damaging several railway carriages. No casualties, however, were caused. Naval aeroplanes went up and the raider made off in a north-easterly direction. But our men of the Royal Naval Air Service pursued the enemy machine, and after a short, sharp battle in the air, sent it diving into the sea.