Source:
File: http://flyingmachines.ru/Images7/Putnam/German/377-2.jpg, 2015. Their
Flying Machines. 1 March 1915. [online]
Available at: <http://flyingmachines.ru/Site2/Crafts/Craft30197.htm> [Accessed: 1 March 2015].
i
Two young German Pilots -
Who might for this purpose,
Be called Otto and Heinrich -
Climbed into their air craft,
At the German held port
Of Ostend. About them other
Pilots took to flight, on a cool
February evening of Sunday
The 21st - this flying fleet
Set their course for England,
To attack the area of Essex.
The air fleet moved at varied
Height and speed, leaving
Land for sea – Perhaps sited
At the back of the fleet Otto -
The youngest pilot aged 20 -
Indicated to his senior pilot
Officer Henirich - aged 25 -
The shaking of a support rod.
By then they were well over
The sea, as Heinrich saw
The concern –the rod began
Vibrating more. Realising
The wing would imminently
Collapse, he waved to Otto -
They would land on the sea
To carry out a needed repair.
They dropped from height
Through cloud - the tilted wing
Causing more shuddering -
Heinrich steered at a sharper
Angle to get to land quicker.
Otto held on as the water
Came faster – Heinrich pulled
Level, ready to touch the sea,
When the rod collapsed,
Under the weight of the wing.
In sudden skimming of water
Speed was too much for one
Float, as they jarred the surface.
Hard water causing the craft’s
Lurching – In the sudden tipping
Motion, Otto lost his control
To fall sideways into the water.
Spying his co-pilots struggle,
To flounder in the sea, Heinreich
Clambered out quickly, onto the
Undamaged float, to reach out.
Made heavy by the weight
Of wet clothes, Otto kicked and
Gasped in the cold water - trying
To grasp Heinrich’s hands.
ii
21 February, a Tuesday, found
The North Sea quiet and calm.
William Dunett, the skipper
Of New Boy, a sturdy trawler -
Stood atop the deck of the boat
Passing the early hours on watch.
Seawater lapped lazily against
The sides of the smack vessel.
With her sails folded down,
New
Boy might have been
In harbour - and not in middle
Of the North Sea. Down below,
The crew slept – It was still
Necessary to maintain watch
For war hazards - watching for
German Navy or submarines.
In lying too, New Boy was yet
To make quota of fishing, before
Going home - The Skipper looked
Into the dark, bitter cold of night.
A dull lamp sat on the deck
Beside him - weak light hardly
Passing beyond the boat's edge.
A frost had formed upon the
Boat's sides - he saw the exhale
Of his breath, matching drifting
Slow passing fog - they awaited
For the wind to rise when they
Might drag out the trawl for
A good day's catch. Another
Man sharing the watch, stared
Outwards, in his silent thoughts.
Both watchmen were aware
Of sudden light - the other came
To the skipper as they saw it curve
Into the sky – ‘Something Going
On there.’ The skipper made skilled
Judgment of direction, the flare
Died out - Skipper Dunnett felt
Sure that it was a distress flare.
With the crew awoken and sails
Raised, they decided on a course
In duty of rescue - with virtually
No breeze New Boy made sail
Drifting through fog for a slow
Heading in the distress direction.
Hours had passed between
Sighting and arriving, the time
Was just nine in morning,
As they reached the area.
With daylight the New Boy crew
Spotted the source of the rocket,
A damaged German seaplane –
With a broken wing and float,
Sitting lopsided on the still water.
iii
With some vital hours passed
And a bitterly cold morning, they
May have expected to find
Only frozen bodies of some
Disaster – But found, clinging
To some wrecked air craft,
Were two German aviators.
In launch of a small boat,
They rowed out to the plane -
To assist the two German’s
From the craft - the youngest
Man had suffered most from
Severest exposure - wearing
A look of grey, frozen death.
As the men climbed safely onto
A fishing trawler safe into
The hands of British one aviator
Asked what they would do
With them? The trawler Skipper,
William Dunnett, reassured
Them that they would be fine.
How they would be taking them
To the port of Lowestoft.
Given other clothes, food and
Placed in a warm cabin, one
German who did speak good
English, told of how they had
Come to be in the English sea.
After taking flight from Ostend,
A support rod of a wing broke
Forcing them to land on the sea.
With only one undamaged float
They could not lift off again -
So periodically they fired rockets,
To sit on the less damaged side.
The reason for his companions
Severe exposure had been that,
On landing he had fallen from
The craft - quickly getting Otto
From the water, only to suffer
From soaked, cold state.
The first night passed in long,
Slow freezing hours – morning
Began with drifts of snow –
They had all but given up hope,
When their vessel appeared.
He realised they had spent over
Thirty hours in the bitter cold.
On return to Lowestoft ,some
Days later, the two German
Aviators were handed to Naval
Authorities. Both men were very
Appreciative and shook hands
Solidly, with each crew member.
by Jamie Mann.
Anon.,1915. German Aviators in the
North Sea – Picked up by Trawler.. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 01 Mar.
p.2. Col.3. Available at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11432667/Daily-Telegraph-March-1-1915.html
[Accessed: 01 March 2015].
Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago -
Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 01 March
2015).
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11432667/Daily-Telegraph-March-1-1915.html
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