Post by larryc1 on Jun 30, 2020 18:30:34 GMT
In late March of 1918 the British learned (from a POW) of Kaiser Wilhelm's presence in Chateau Trelon which he was using as a temporary H.Q. The decision was made to attempt to assassinate him; the logic was that with KW II dead, Ludendorf and Hindenburg would be inclined to end the war.
Accordingly, a sortie was organized to leave from Ruisseau Aerodrome (just north of Agincourt!) to bomb the Chateau and machine gun the nearby Imperial train. The strike force consisted of 12 DeHavilland DH4 aircraft, each carrying three bombs. The group, from 25 Sqdn. was led by Chester Duffus, a Canadian ace. At 04:50 Sunday June 2, 1918, the aircraft took off and flew 150 km to the target.
At 05:25 the Chateau was duly bombed but remained undamaged. The Imperial train was riddled with 800+ machine gun rounds. Only the cars in the courtyard were destroyed. One a/c was lost to ack-ack and the crew, after burning the wreckage of their plane, were made POW's. Duffus and the other ten aircraft returned to Ruisseau before noon. It turned out that Kaiser Wilhelm had gone to the front by car, 19 hours earlier. History remained unchanged!
Note: Much of this information was taken from an article in the Independant (UK).
An Early Targetted Assassination Attempt..kmz (3.59 KB)
Accordingly, a sortie was organized to leave from Ruisseau Aerodrome (just north of Agincourt!) to bomb the Chateau and machine gun the nearby Imperial train. The strike force consisted of 12 DeHavilland DH4 aircraft, each carrying three bombs. The group, from 25 Sqdn. was led by Chester Duffus, a Canadian ace. At 04:50 Sunday June 2, 1918, the aircraft took off and flew 150 km to the target.
At 05:25 the Chateau was duly bombed but remained undamaged. The Imperial train was riddled with 800+ machine gun rounds. Only the cars in the courtyard were destroyed. One a/c was lost to ack-ack and the crew, after burning the wreckage of their plane, were made POW's. Duffus and the other ten aircraft returned to Ruisseau before noon. It turned out that Kaiser Wilhelm had gone to the front by car, 19 hours earlier. History remained unchanged!
Note: Much of this information was taken from an article in the Independant (UK).
An Early Targetted Assassination Attempt..kmz (3.59 KB)