“Obviously, the Zeppelin had already had a skirmish with its pursuers, as it was slightly listing to the left side. Shots were exchanged with the two airmen, one of whom was daring enough to approach close to the airship in an attempt to fly over it.
“After a sudden bold swoop this airman was seen to drop some explosives on the Zeppelin which was at once wrapped in flames. The balloon covering was now fiercely burning, and after some minor reports and one big explosion, the airship dropped upon the convent school of Amandsberg. The nuns tried to bring the children to a place of safety, and two sisters who had rushed into the street with little ones in their arms were badly hurt.
“The Zeppelin crew were all killed and only the framework of the great airship remained. The streets of the town were at once closed, and the people were ordered indoors. The British airman finally disappeared in a north-easterly direction.”
Not long afterwards Warneford was killed while flying near Paris in an aeroplane of a new type which was being tested. It was a sad ending to what promised to be a useful career, but the fame of the young airman V.C. was already made; and boys who love adventure will always be proud to read the story of the first Briton who was able, single-handed, to bring down a Zeppelin.
SMITH AND FORSHAW: TWO HEROES OF GALLIPOLI
Second-Lieutenant Smith of the East Lancashire Regiment was engaged in the fighting against the Turks in Gallipoli. He was in the act of throwing a grenade when it slipped from his hand and fell to the bottom of the trench. At the moment there were several officers and men quite near to him.
Smith shouted out a warning and gave a jump which landed him clear of danger. Then he saw that the other men would not be able to get into cover. Without a moment’s hesitation, therefore, he jumped back into the trench and flung himself upon the grenade. He was at once killed by the explosion, but the rest of the men were uninjured.
“Possibly,” wrote Smith’s commander to the young man’s father, “he thought he could extinguish it; more likely he gave up his own life to save others from death and injury. Whatever his thoughts may have been, his act was one of bravery such as I, personally, have never heard surpassed.
“There was only one result possible. I am afraid no decoration can make up for the loss of your only son, but the explanation must make you the proudest man in England, when every one reads the story and couples the memory of his name with that old and honoured phrase ‘A soldier and a gentleman.’”