Volume 16 , Issue 25

100 Years Ago - 4 August 1914

In the Ottumwa Tri-Weekly Courier, date 4 August 1914, in Ottumwa, Iowa, the front page headlines read? German Army Invades France. Other headlines that day were: "General European War Seems Assured; Fighting of Three Powerful Nations Engaged."

We also see that the Kaiser's soldiers were operating on both sides of empire at same time, and Russians were aggressive. Besides that German dirigible wrecked by Frenchman in Aeroplane who sacrifices his own life. The German Dirigible and Corps were fighting airplanes.

London, Aug. 3 (1914) -- The first engagement of the great European war was fought in the air, according to a report received the evening before. The report said that German and French air craft had been flying just over the frontier since yesterday morning (August 2, 1914). The Germans were using the big Zeppelin type dirigibles, while airplanes we're employed by the French flyers. One of the latter sighted a German dirigible on the French side of the border line. The French pilot drove his machine straight at the dirigible, which was manned by twenty-five soldiers, and dashed against the gas bag. The dirigible was wrecked and all aboard as well as the Frenchman were dashed to death. It was believed that the French flyer deliberately sacrificed himself to deal destruction to the Germans.   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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