Flatpack Bombers by Ian Gardiner

Author:Ian Gardiner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Bisac Code 1: HIS027090
ISBN: eBook ISBN: 9781844684625
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Published: 2009-08-18T16:00:00+00:00

Throughout this time he was under heavy fire from the ground. He flew north out of range of the guns and back again over the shed trying to release his bomb, which failed to oblige. He then headed for the waterside still under fire. Near the lake he had another attempt at dislodging his recalcitrant bomb on the aircraft factory at the waterside without success.10 Coming down to surface level he made good his escape westwards along the lake and somehow found his way back to Belfort without a map of France, but was now faced with the prospect of landing with a ‘hung-up’ bomb under his fuselage.

The Hales bomb was designed not to arm until the rotating vane on the tail had completed the requisite number revolutions in order to activate the fuse. In theory therefore, it would be safe even if it fell off on landing. But the safety pin had been pulled on this bomb and technological fail-safe mechanisms have an unpleasant habit of not living up to their expectations. There were later incidents in which pilots were blown to bits by their own bombs when they landed under similar circumstances. Sippe of course did not know this, but he surely was aware of the awful possibilities. In later wars, pilots had the option of abandoning their potentially lethal aircraft and descending by parachute. Sippe had no such choice. But he got down safely at Belfort shortly before two o’clock, in spite of one of his wheels crumpling on landing.

The pilots had had strict instructions not to cross the international boundary into neutral Switzerland, even though there was as yet no international agreement that recognised exclusive sovereignty over the air space above national territory. Since the line passed down the centre of the lake, it seems likely that Sippe had indeed breached this instruction on the outward journey, and possibly on the homeward journey as well. The Swiss certainly thought he had and registered a complaint. In their response, the Foreign Office reminded the Swiss of the current state of the law, denied that Sippe had crossed the line, but said that even if he had, it had been a mistake.

John Babington had long since lost sight of his fellow flyers and wondered what he would find when he got to Friedrichshafen. Would the hangars be ablaze? He did a last quick check-up. The toggles on the ends of the four wires that he had to pull to release the bombs were fine. They were arranged so that one could not pull them all at once. But he lined them up so that he could pull them one after the other with the minimum of delay, removing his right-hand glove so that he could feel them better. He had not brought his clumsy Service revolver, but instead he had his cherished German Mauser pistol tethered by a loose lanyard and lying snugly in a bracket ready to use. It was already loaded with a clip of cartridges. He eased off the safety catch.

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