Told in gallant deeds

by Marie Belloc Lowndes

Early in the War Ostend became a place of desolation and distress, for the unfortunate Belgians, when fleeing from their burnt towns and villages, naturally made for the sea. There was no room in the town to lodge them all, and many of them lived for quite a long time in bathing-machines on the beach. It was mostly from Ostend that the Belgian refugees embarked to find kind new friends and homes in England.

Before the Germans marched on Brussels King Albert and his brave Queen had left for Antwerp, the beautiful old city and port which was, till this war, regarded as one of the best fortified strongholds in Europe.

The King and Queen, together with their little children, had not been there many days when one night the enemy basely sent a huge Zeppelin airship over the town. It tried to drop bombs over the Palace, where the Royal family were sleeping, but, missing the mark, only destroyed a small house, in which, however, a young mother and her tiny baby were killed. This cruel and unwarlike act shocked and disgusted all civilised people. But it seems to have delighted the Germans, who loudly proclaimed that London would be the next city visited. It is, however, a curious fact that during the first three months of the War no Zeppelin flew over French territory, although in this way a great deal of legitimate damage might have been done, not to women and children, but to soldiers and stores of arms.

At the time that I am writing, no Zeppelin has yet flown over London, but from the first day of the War a great many sensible people fully expected that the enemy would send one of these enormous aircraft over to England, if only to surprise and terrify us.

Now a Zeppelin is a most wonderful thing, and for my part I should very much like to see one. The day may come when we shall journey by air as easily as by road or rail, and in Germany for some time past anyone could take a short trip in a Zeppelin by paying a comparatively small sum.

I have already told you that it is a foolish thing to underrate an enemy; it is also a rather mean thing to do. Let us, therefore, give all honour to Count Zeppelin, even if he has allowed his invention to be turned to a despicable and inhuman use.

This remarkable man, like most inventors, was regarded for a long time as a dreamer, even as a madman. Undeterred by this mortifying fact, he worked on and on till at last he produced the airship which was known as Zeppelin I. It was not, however, till Zeppelin III, just seven years ago, made a successful flight, that the German Government agreed to purchase the ship, and further granted him a good sum of money in order that he might carry on his experiments. In the year following, in 1908, a much larger sum was given to Count Zeppelin, and he found himself, from being an obscure inventor, suddenly raised to a pinnacle as the most belauded man in his Fatherland!

When this war broke out the Germans undoubtedly counted immensely on their fleet of Zeppelins. But, fortunately for those of us who live in London, a Zeppelin is so huge and unwieldy that it can only be started with considerable difficulty, and it cannot alight and fly up again as can an aeroplane. Moreover, it requires an enormous shed for its protection when it is not in the air, for on land it is a very helpless machine. Once in flight, however, it is a most formidable-looking engine of war. It has been said that if a Zeppelin were stood on end by St. Paul’s, it would appear at least a third longer than that vast building.

To return to Antwerp. The city has long been dear to many English people, and it is very easily reached from our shores. Perhaps that is one reason why it has been a favourite holiday place for a great many years. When the news came that it was to be fiercely attacked by the enemy, a wave of sorrow swept through our country.

It is a beautiful town, and the steeple of the Cathedral is so exquisite, so delicately lovely in design, as to have become one of the wonders of the world. Napoleon, who was not apt to admire fine architecture, said it was like a piece of old Mechlin lace. Antwerp is a city of churches, and in each church there are wonderful paintings, many of them the work of men born in the city itself.