CHAPTER XXIII
First Blood
WITHOUT the formality of a declaration of war hostilities were begun.Taking the precedent of the Russo-Japanese war, when the Japsdelivered what might be termed a treacherous attack upon PortArthur--an act that was tolerantly regarded by her ally, GreatBritain--a squadron of Zeppelins, numbering seventeen in all,proceeded to a rendezvous at the mouth of the Elbe, accompanied byseventy-two seaplanes. As night fell the whole of the destroyerflotillas of Heligoland, Borkum, and Westerland Sylt shaped a coursefor British waters. Two hours later the aircraft left to deliversimultaneous surprise attacks upon Sheerness, Harwich, the Tyne,Rosyth, and Dundee.
At midnight the British and American ambassadors at Berlin wereinformed of the outbreak of hostilities. Guards were posted outsidethe embassies, and all telephonic and telegraphic communications fromthese buildings were interrupted. The ambassadors were informed thatthey would be at liberty to leave Germany either via Paris or Viennaafter a lapse of twelve hours.
At 2 a.m. the cables between Borkum and Lowestoft, which, subject tocensorship, had been working normally, suddenly ceased to transmitmessages. From that moment all direct telegraphic communicationbetween Great Britain and Germany was broken off.
Strangely enough, that very element of chance that the GermanChancellor claimed to have eliminated became most pronounced. Forweeks past the prevailing winds had been from an easterly ornorth-easterly direction; now without warning they backed to thewestward. By midnight it was blowing with almost the velocity of ahurricane. Consequently the German aircraft, especially theZeppelins, made a comparatively slow voyage.
Now it happened that the British fishery-protection gunboat _Onyx_was cruising off the sou'-west tail of the Dogger Bank, and theattention of the officer of the watch was called to a peculiarbuzzing sound overhead that was plainly audible during a lull in thewind.
Bringing his night glasses to bear the officer made the discoverythat a number of seaplanes were battling against the wind, theirdirection being due west.
Fortunately the lieutenant did not attempt to train a searchlightupon the aircraft, nor did he offer to enter into communication bymeans of a flashing-lamp; but he promptly got in touch withScarborough wireless station:--
"From _Onyx_, lat. 54? 17' 20" N., long. 2? 9' 30" E. Sighted seaplanes, numerous, nationality unknown, steering due west."
With commendable promptitude this information was transmitted to theAdmirality, and since it was known that none of the British seaplaneshad left their respective bases that night, it was taken for grantedthe aircraft were of German nationality. Orders were immediatelygiven for the east-coast defences to be on the qui vive, and for theNore, Harwich, Rosyth, and Dundee flotillas of destroyers andsubmarines to put to sea.
Dawn was just breaking when the belated German seaplanes came insight of the leading British vidette boats from Harwich. Theaircraft, battling against the furious wind, were rocking andpitching so much that the attention of their pilots was directedtowards the maintenance of stability.
Presently one of the German seaplanes dropped a bomb. It explodedharmlessly at a distance of more than two hundred yards from theBritish destroyer _Lynx_.
From that moment all doubts as to the intentions of the aerial fleetwere set at rest. The destroyers instantly opened fire, and, in spiteof the high seas that were running, made excellent results. Whetherthe seaplanes were two hundred or two thousand feet in the air theirdestruction was no less certain; few could resist the explosion ofthe highly charged shrapnel. It was, to use the words of afirst-class petty officer, "like knocking over a lot of partridges".
In ten minutes the few aircraft that still escaped damage turned tailand fled before the wind.
The seaplanes detailed to operate on the Scottish coasts fared nobetter, but in the case of those operating against the Tyne ports asmall success fell to their share, though more by accident than bydesign.
Within recent years powerful batteries had been erected atCullercoats, Tynemouth, North Shields, and Frenchman's Bay for thedefence of the Tyne, and at Roker and Hendon Hill for the protectionof Sunderland. These either superseded the previously ill-armedbatteries or were on entirely new sites. For purposes of mobilizationthey were entrusted to the Tynemouth Territorials of the RoyalGarrison Artillery, who held the honour of being first in precedenceof all the several groups of this branch of the Service.
Upon the hasty though not unexpected order for mobilization these mennobly responded to the call. Many of them, summoned from their workin the great shipbuilding yards, had no time to don their uniforms,but they could shoot none the worse on that account.
At exactly a quarter past four, just as the sun was breaking above abank of clouds, the first hostile seaplane was sighted by the gunnersof the Cullercoats Battery.
The German airmen had already realized that, owing to the climaticconditions, all attempt to deliver a surprise attack was hopeless.But their orders were definite. There was to be no turning back.
To a certain extent their method of attack was better planned thanthose of their ill-fated detachments, who were already eitherdestroyed or in full flight. They flew high and with a great spacebetween the pairs of units. Moreover, with the sun well behind them,they offered a difficult target to the British gunners.
The nearest hostile seaplane was actually immediately above thelighthouse at the end of the North Pier of Tynemouth harbour when atwelve-pounder shell from the Cullercoats Battery struck her. In thetwinkling of an eye the graceful bird-like machine was literallyblown to atoms, the explosion of her petrol tanks throwing out spurtsof lurid flame out of which fragments of the ill-fated craft fellwith unequal velocity into the sea.
Undeterred by this catastrophe, the second aeroplane, travellingthrough the air at a rate of seventy miles an hour, passed over theSouth Pier. Several times she swayed ominously in the air currentsset up by the projectiles which screeched within a few feet of theswiftly-moving target.
Now she was within the line of batteries and immediately above themost congested quarter of South Shields. It seemed as if nothingcould prevent the seaplane from working havoc upon the crowdedshipping between Tynemouth and Newcastle. Men, women, and childrencrowded into the streets, gazing in blank astonishment at the sightof a hostile aircraft making ready for its work of destruction. Talesof probable invasion had for years past fallen upon deaf ears; nowthat the actual danger was apparent they could not realize it.
They were not long left in doubt. The seaplane slowed down, and,descending to less than four hundred feet, dropped two bombs in quicksuccession. No doubt these were intended for the petroleum tanksowned by the Tyne Commissioners. Both missiles went wide of the mark.The first struck and destroyed a Russian timber barque moored at thejetty; the second demolished the best part of a row of houses, andstarted a disastrous fire that, before it was extinguished, laid barenearly an eighth of South Shields.
Following the course of the river the seaplane flew onwards. Fourhundred feet beneath her lay the locks of Tyne dock, the greatcommercial basin controlled by the North-Eastern Railway Company, andwhich, in time of war, would form the principal coaling and oil-fuelbase for British destroyers obliged to replenish their bunkers andtanks in the Tyne.
At this juncture two companies of the 7th Battalion of the DurhamLight Infantry were on their way from their drill hall. Luckily theywere armed and provided with ball ammunition, and without hesitationthe officer in command ordered them to open fire. It was realizedthat the danger of the bullets falling to earth was less than theperil from the bombs of the modern terror of the skies. Soon thesharp crackle of musketry began.
Several times the seaplane was struck, but without serious result,till without warning one of her wings appeared to crumple up. Roundand round spun the stricken craft, dropping rapidly towards theground, with her propellers still buzzing at a furious rate. "Ceasefire!" came the order, and with bated breath the Territorials watchedthe result of their work.
Pr
esently the downward fall was retarded. One of the crew of theseaplane had released the umbrella-like parachute. Nose downwards thestricken craft continued to plunge; only by means of leathern strapswere the ill-fated Germans prevented from being thrown clear of thewreckage.
Ever so slowly it seemed to the watchers did the seaplane fall, till,with a dull crash, the framework struck an open space between thedock office and the buildings of the chemical works.
The crash was instantly followed by the petrol taking fire, whileabove the hiss of the flames could be heard the shrieks of theluckless Germans who were unable to disentangle themselves from thewreckage.
No longer were they looked upon as enemies; they were human beings inperil. The "Terriers", dropping their rifles, began to run to the aidof the burning airmen, but before the foremost got within a hundredyards of the wreckage a tremendous explosion sent most of the menover like ninepins. The remaining bombs that had survived the impactof the fall had exploded, and when the would-be rescuers approachedthe scene of the disaster they found a hole nearly twenty feet indiameter and six feet deep blown out of the ground.
Another seaplane, winged by the gunners of the Spanish battery--wheretwo seven-pounders of a modern type had only recently beenmounted--fell into the sea off Freestone Point. Her crew werepromptly rescued and captured by the coastguards, and the damagedseaplane was dragged ashore in triumph.
As for the other hostile aircraft menacing the Tyne ports, not onecame near enough to make use of its powerful means of offence. Manywere destroyed; the rest, realizing the hopelessness of the task,turned and flew towards the coast of Germany.
Nor did the German submarines and destroyers meet with any betterluck.
Five of the latter succeeded in entering the Firth of Forth, but nonegot within striking distance of the four British super-Dreadnoughtslying with steam up off Rosyth. The vigilant swift third-classcruisers attached to that base quickly settled the destroyers as theypitched and plunged against the steep seas off the Bass Rock.
In every other case the detachments of the German destroyers were metand overmatched by the superior numbers and greater seaworthiness ofthe British craft. Had the German seaplanes rallied and supportedtheir destroyers during the hot conflict that ensued the result mighthave been different. But they did not. Once more, as in times past,the elements came to the aid of Great Britain. The surprise attackshad signally failed. It was now left to the British Navy to seek outthe German battleships, and once and for all to settle the questionof supremacy on the high seas.