tructive than the former fleets of unwieldy Zeppelins. These
great Gothas were each capable of dropping nearly a ton of bombs. And
their heavy armament and swift flight rendered them far less vulnerable
than the air-ship.

From March 1 to October 31, 1917, no less than twenty-two raids
took place, chiefly on London and towns on the south-east coast. The
casualties amounted to 484 killed and 410 wounded. The two worst raids
occurred June 13 on East London, and September 3 on the Sheerness and
Chatham area.

A squadron of fifteen aeroplanes carried out the raid, on June 13, and
although they were only over the city for a period of fifteen minutes
the casualty list was exceedingly heavy--104 killed and 432 wounded.
Many children were among the killed and injured as the result of a bomb
which fell upon a Council school. The raid was carried out in daylight,
and the bombs began to drop before any warning could be given. Later,
an effective and comprehensive system of warnings was devised, and when
people had acquired the habit of taking shelter, instead of rushing
out into the street to see the aerial combats, the casualties began to
diminish.

It is worthy of record that the possible danger to schools had been
anticipated, and for some weeks previously the children had taken part
in "Air Raid Drill". When the raid came, the children behaved in the
most exemplary fashion. They went through the manoeuvres as though it
was merely a rehearsal, and their bearing as well as the coolness of the
teachers obviated all danger from panic. In this raid the enemy first
made use of aerial torpedoes.

Large loss of life, due to a building being struck, was also the feature
of the moonlight raid on September 4. On this occasion enemy airmen
found a mark on the Royal Naval barracks at Sheerness. The barracks were
fitted with hammocks for sleeping, and no less than 108 bluejackets lost
their lives, the number of wounded amounting to 92. Although the raid
lasted nearly an hour and powerful searchlights were brought into
play, neither guns nor our airmen succeeded in causing any loss to
the raiders. Bombs were dropped at a number of other places, including
Margate and Southend, but without result.

No less than six raids took place on London before the end of the month,
but the greatest number of killed in any one of the raids was eleven,
while on September 28 the raiders were driven off before they could
claim any victims. The establish