My great
uncle joined Royal Flying Corps in 1915.
In a letter to his mother he described
a night attack on a Zeppelin over England. He wrote of the heavy cloud cover and
of being unsure of his position in the dark, finding the Zeppelin again, firing,
seeing the strafing on the canopy.
He describes several attacks.
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| Alfred de Bathe Brandon 1883–1974 |
He describes several attacks.
At the time
there was debate about whether he had hit the Zeppelin and for some time
afterwards, the anti-aircraft artillery was given the credit for bringing it
down.
In the same scrapbook is a letter from the German commander of the Zeppelin, written about a year later, acknowledging my uncle's part in taking down the airship.
One of my
great uncles died in Palestine in 1917, killed in the battle of Ayun Kara.
He joined the Wellington Mounted Rifles Regiment at the start of the war, fought at Gallipoli, was hospitalised then returned to his regiment in Egypt in 1916.
He became skilled with machine guns and taught others. His carrier for the Hotchkiss machine gun reduced galling on the horses and the design was used by the whole squadron. Arthur led a successful cavalry charge and though twice injured, continued to encourage his men until he was killed.
In the same scrapbook is a letter from the German commander of the Zeppelin, written about a year later, acknowledging my uncle's part in taking down the airship.
He joined the Wellington Mounted Rifles Regiment at the start of the war, fought at Gallipoli, was hospitalised then returned to his regiment in Egypt in 1916.
He became skilled with machine guns and taught others. His carrier for the Hotchkiss machine gun reduced galling on the horses and the design was used by the whole squadron. Arthur led a successful cavalry charge and though twice injured, continued to encourage his men until he was killed.
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| Hermione Ruth Herrick, 3rd from left. |
Arthur’s
younger sister, Great Aunt Ruth, had been studying piano in Dresden and
Vienna before the war. She returned to England to work as secretary to the head
of the Nursing Division at Walton-on-Thames.
There was talk of a friendship with a German man that was interrupted when war broke out. Aunt Ruth never married and went on to found the Women’s Royal New Zealand Naval Service in World War II.
There was talk of a friendship with a German man that was interrupted when war broke out. Aunt Ruth never married and went on to found the Women’s Royal New Zealand Naval Service in World War II.
~ Miranda Parress
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