Thorbun - Luck of a Lancaster: 107 Operations, 244 crew, 103 killed in action

Squadrons of the Royal Naval Air Service arrived in France at the end of August 1914, mainly to bolster the Royal Flying Corps of the army rather than to fulfil naval duties. No. 1 Squadron RNAS set up at Antwerp and attempted a truly daring feat on 22 September when four aircraft were sent on a bombing mission to the Zeppelin sheds at Dsseldorf and Cologne. The weather was very bad for flying but one did make it to the target, a Sopwith flown by Lieutenant C. H. Collet. After coming down through thick mist, he dropped three twenty-pounders, from the hand; the two that hit a shed proved to be duds.

The second attempt on 8 October was a triumph. Two RNAS Sopwith Tabloids set off from Antwerp.

The Tabloid had been built in 1913 for the civilian market as the aerial equivalent of a sports car. It could do 90mph; far more than standard service aircraft. A float-plane adaptation of it had won the second Schneider Trophy race in the April, at just under 87mph (the first race, in 1913, had been won at 45mph). It was said that, after seeing the Tabloid in practice, most of the other competitors didnt bother racing.

The RNAS pilots were in the single-seater version, unarmed at this point in the war, flying alone right into the Fatherland with nothing more than their service revolvers. It was a sensation. Here is an eye-witness report:

I was in Dsseldorf when the English airman visited the town for the second time. It was a splendid feat he took the Germans by surprise. The soldiers seeing the hostile aircraft high up in the air shot at it continually until suddenly the aeroplane started to glide lower and lower; the people were mad with joy and shouted hurrah. The soldiers got ready to catch the aeroplane as it fell when suddenly from a height of between 100 and 200 metres the airman threw several bombs, one of which reached its goal the Zeppelin shed, in which there was the air-cruiser, the pride of Dsseldorf, which had received orders to join the army in France that afternoon. In spite of my being a good distance away, I heard the explosion, the smoke whirling high into the air, and I saw the airman escape in the common confusion.

The German papers next day had Zeppelin shed slightly damaged and failed to mention the four army officers killed or the heap of ashes that was the remains of airship Z9.

The English airman was Lieutenant Reginald L. G. Marix. While his aircraft was being hit five times by rifle shots and mitrailleuse (multi-barrelled machine gun), he dropped two twenty-pounders by hand from less than 600ft and changed the military outlook on bombing. As The Times said, under the headline The value of bomb-dropping:

There has always been a little uncertainty about the value of bomb-dropping, for although it seemed possible that buildings might be set alight with incendiary explosives, it was another matter to make sure of hitting the right building. The naval pilots have now shown at Dsseldorf that this is possible.

The other aircraft, flown by Squadron Commander D. A. Spenser-Grey, found Cologne but missed the Zeppelin base there, so bombed the railway station instead. Marix and Collet were both awarded the DSO; Spenser-Grey already had one.

The Admiralty pointed out that the importance of the Collet attack lay in the fact it showed that: In the event of further bombs being dropped into Antwerp and other Belgian towns, measures of reprisal can certainly be adopted, if desired, to almost any extent. Charles Herbert Collet DSO would not live to see much in the way of reprisals. He was killed in action at Gallipoli in August 1915.

The Admiralty also said: The feat (by Marix) would appear to be in every respect remarkable, having regard to the distance over a hundred miles penetrated into country held by the enemy.

The Times added a footnote: Demand for air risk insurance. There was again a very large amount of insurance effected in London yesterday against the risks of damage by aircraft and bombs and shells thrown therefrom; and underwriters hardened their rates. A premium of 2s 6d per cent is now regarded as the minimum.

The Handley Page Heyford (above) was an improvement on the 1920s Vickers Virginia (below), pictured flying well within the speed limit with all her crew in the fresh air. The Heyford had a maximum speed of 142mph, a range of 920 miles, and a crew of four: two pilots, observer/navigator, wireless operator/air gunner. This was 9 Squadrons equipment from 1935 until early 1939. Note the huge, non-retractable undercarriage and the open cockpit. The possibility of such an aircraft penetrating into country held by the enemy was rather compromised by its armament single Lewis guns in nose and mid-dorsal stations, and in the dustbin turret hanging underneath.