THE greatest air raid of the First World War so far took place on Christmas Day, according to editions of the Southern Daily Echo 100 years ago.

Seven British aviators attacked a German naval fleet off the German port of Cuxhaven.

The Daily Echo also revealed further reports were being received of another great success by British aviators as correspondence was received that Squadron Commander R B Davis, of the Royal Navy, had dropped 12 bombs on an airship shed, believed to contain a dirigible.

The attack on Cuxhaven was delivered at daylight starting from a point in the vicinity of Heligoland.

Escorted by light cruisers, destroyers and submarines, the British seaplanes of the Royal Naval Air Service flew over the mouth of the Elbe and Weser rivers before delivering strikes on the Cuxhaven area where they dropped their bombs, causing damage to shore installations.

As the seaplanes conducted their attack, the Royal Navy vessels were seen by the Germans from Heligoland, who immediately launched an attack on the British from several submarines and a fearsome armada in the air consisting of two Zeppelins and three or four German planes, who buzzed round the ships dropping bombs close by to the vessels.

It was necessary for the British ships to remain in the neighbourhood in order to pick up the returning airmen, and a “novel” combat ensued between the most modern cruisers on the one hand and the enemy’s aircraft and submarines on the other.

By swift manoeuvring the enemy’s submarines were avoided, and the cruisers Arethusa and Undaunted immediately opened fire on the airborne attackers with the Zeppelins soon put to flight.

The enemy seaplanes succeeded in dropping their bomb in the vicinity of the British cruisers but fortunately without any hitting their intended targets.

The British ships remained for three hours off the enemy’s coast without being molested by any surface vessels and safely re-embarked three out of the seven airmen with their machines.

Three other pilots, who returned later, were picked up at a pre-arranged rendezvous by British submarines which were standing by, although their aircraft were sunk.

Six out of the seven pilots returned safely, although the fate of one of the daring and skillful airman, Flight Commander Francis E T Hewlett, was still unknown as he was still missing with his machine seen in a wrecked condition about eight miles from Heligoland.

Intelligence was yet to be received confirming the extent of the damage by the gallant British aviator’s bombs, although a German official statement admitted that bombs were dropped on ships and on the gas works near Cuxhaven.

However, with reports that all of the airman’s bombs had been discharged on to points of military significance, the Admiralty’s overwhelming opinion was that the raid had been a gratifying success, the paper reported.