Saturday, 27 September 2014

Poem ~ Zeppelins Shot and Spotted - Sunday, 27 September 1914


Into the renamed city of Russian Petrograd,
Two railway trucks conveyed remains
Of a Zeppelin airship - shot down, as reported,
From a great height by Russian artillery.

The largest part of the inflated body destroyed,
By the exploding gas  - the underbelly
Of an engine car, with four propellers, survived,
The fittings intact and in good repair.

This Eastern front has reported the destruction,
So far, of two German Zeppelins.
But if this was one of them, it was not clarified.
Perhaps this was an additional craft,
Lost to the aerial fleet that Germany intended
To play a big part in the war.

This Zeppelin, if shot down in dead of night,
Will be the third airship,
Of the same type, the Russians have gained.
As other two captures,
Were reported as happening in broad daylight.

On the coast of Belgium, at Ostend, Saturday,
Occurred a Zeppelin raid setting out to destroy
Ammunition trains, which the enemy believed
To be halted at the station. In fact the trains
Had been there, but had left on a previous day.
The belief is that the enemy had gained
Information of ammunition trains from spies.

From Copenhagen, on Friday, North East
Of Kattegat, at Thunoe - a Zeppelin flight,
Had been seen moving slowly south east,
To vanish towards the strait of the Little Belt.

Reports from Bordeaux, on Friday evening,
Are received in a dispatch, that Switzerland
At Basle, bore witness of a dark, moving
Zeppelin - in a trial flight, it had proceeded
Above Lake Constance - the suggestion is
That this test flight was not very successful.
As to how or why, the paper gives no clue...

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1914. War on Zeppelins - Another Capture Reported. The Daily Telegraph - Special War Edition, [online] 27 Sept. p.2. Col.1. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11121585/Daily-Telegraph-September-27-1914.html [Accessed: 27th September 2014].

Anon.,1914. Airship at Ostend - Object of the Attack. The Daily Telegraph - Special War Edition, [online] 27 Sept. p.2. Col.1. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11121585/Daily-Telegraph-September-27-1914.html [Accessed: 27th September 2014].

Anon.,1914. Flight near the Baltic. The Daily Telegraph - Special War Edition, [online] 27 Sept. p.2. Col.1. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11121585/Daily-Telegraph-September-27-1914.html [Accessed: 27th September 2014].

Anon.,1914. A New Zeppelin. The Daily Telegraph - Special War Edition, [online] 27 Sept. p.2. Col.1. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11121585/Daily-Telegraph-September-27-1914.html [Accessed: 27th September 2014].

Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 27 September 2014). 



#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #ww1centenary #worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered 

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