GERMANS FIGHT GERMANS
One of the most extraordinary episodes of recent aerial fighting was the battle waged on June 5 between two flights of German planes. It was an unintentional but disastrous fight between brother aviators, during which British pilots joyfully and impartially rendered assistance first to one side, then to the other, until so many of the German fliers had been destroyed or damaged that the conflict could not continue. According to eyewitnesses two British officers in a fighting machine were leading a patrol along the lines, when they sighted a German Halberstadt two-seater, which, upon their appearance, fired a green signal light. The British leaders expected a trap, and waited to see what this unusual performance meant. In a short time six German scouts came wheeling out of the blue and joined the Halberstadt. Almost at once six other enemy scouts dived out of the sun on their comrades, whom apparently mistook for a British patrol about to attack the Halberstadt.
What happened was this: The Halberstadt had been acting as a decoy, and the green light had been meant as a signal for assistance. But there had been no expectation that two flights of German planes would respond at the same time. Not being able to distinguish the markings of their friends—and this has happened not infrequently before—the newcomers immediately began a furious attack upon them. The British leaders then guided their patrol into this mad mêlée and took a hand. The Halberstadt was the first victim, and this was shot down by a British commanding machine. Another British fighter in the meantime had accounted for two more enemy scouts, which were sent swirling to destruction. All the time the German aircraft were continuing their bitter battle among themselves, and several of them were seen to go down out of control before the engagement finally ended. The British leaders by their good judgment had led the Germans into their own trap.
ATTACKS ON HOSPITALS
Some hundreds of the personnel and patients of British hospitals behind the battlelines were killed and wounded on May 19 in the heavy attack by German bombing planes. Among those on the casualty list were several nurses, some of whom were killed, and several medical officers who were wounded. A large American hospital in the neighborhood escaped. A great number of the bombs were of extraordinary size, digging vast craters in the hospital grounds, while others were high-explosive shrapnel bombs, which scattered bullets through the crowded hospital tents and buildings. A three-seated airplane was brought down by gunfire while flying at a low altitude, and the occupants were made prisoner. The German Captain and the pilot sustained comparatively light shrapnel wounds, while the observer was not hurt. When questioned why he had directed his men against hospitals, the Captain asserted that he did not see the Red Cross signs. He said that he was seeking military objectives and had no desire to molest hospitals. With a shrug shoulders, the Captain added that if the British chose to build their hospitals near railways, they must expect to get them bombed.
The same group of hospitals was attacked again on the night of May 31. Several of them were hit and the casualty list among patients and workers was considerable. One hospital was almost demolished when an enemy aviator dropped an explosive on it after getting his bearings by letting fall a brilliant flare which lighted up the whole district. The raid lasted two hours. In one hospital one ward was destroyed and two other wards were damaged. Several attendants were killed in this place, and there were other casualties. The operating theatre of still another hospital was wrecked.
Altogether between May 15 and June 1 German airmen bombed British hospitals in France seven times, causing casualties totaling 991, as follows: Killed—Officers, 11; other ranks, 318; nursing sisters, 5; Women's Auxiliary Corps, 8; civilians, 6. Wounded—Officers, 18; other ranks, 534; nursing sisters, 11; Women's Auxiliary Corps, 7; civilians, 73.
On the night of May 28 German airmen deliberately dropped bombs on hospitals many miles in the rear of the front, in which there were scores of American and hundreds of French sick and wounded. A number of Americans were slightly injured by flying glass. One French nurse was killed and another injured. Several civilians died of wounds.
In addition to their operations against the Germans in France and Belgium, the Allies continued to carry the war into Germany. In a raid during the night of May 27 British long-distance bombing machines dropped between four and five tons of bombs on chemical works at Mannheim, the Landau railroad station, an electric power station at Kreuzwald, and on the Metz-Sablons railroad station. Very large explosions were caused and much damage done. The same night the important railway triangle at Liége in Belgium was bombarded. In spite of determined opposition by German airplanes, British aviators on May dropped bombs on factories and the railroad station at Saarbrücken in Rhenish Prussia.
Cologne, the sixth largest city of Germany, was raided by British bombing planes on May 18. Bombs were dropped on railroad stations, factories, and barracks. Eighty-eight of the persons who were killed were buried in the same grave. The people of the city became panic-stricken. Aix-la-Chapelle was also attacked and factories set on fire.