Aerial warfare and diabolical murder at sea

In one of their bombarding expeditions, British naval aviators wrought havoc among shipping between Ostend and Blankenberghe.

One large destroyer was hit amidships, and trawlers were sunk. Our aeroplanes dropped 143 bombs on military objectives, while hostile machines dropped 50 behind our lines.

Continuing the work of harassing the enemy, English and Scottish regiments carried out successful operations. Intense cannonading in the region east of Ypres was a prelude to a British offensive on a wide front. The prolonged spell of wet weather, which turned the battlefield into a wilderness of mud, prevented the British from following up on their successes.

Details of a cowardly attack made by a German submarine on a small trading schooner were forthcoming at an inquest on three of the victims. Evidence of the two sole survivors showed that the submarine opened fire from 150 yards, the first shot smashing the boat and the second killing one of the crew. The five survivors got into the second boat, which, when in the water was struck by a shell, one man being killed outright and the skipper and another man mortally injured.

The Germans beckoned to the survivors to approach, and then laughed at them without offering the slightest assistance to the dying men. The skipper died in hospital. The coroner described the conduct of the submarine crew as diabolical and the jury unanimously returned the verdict of ”wilful and diabolical murder.”