[Sailor Steve]

March 8, 1918

In an overnight raid covering March 7-8, five giant German R-Bombers attack England. A 1,000 kg bomb dropped on Warrington Crescent, near Paddington Station, kills 48-year-old lyricist Lena Ford and her 30-year-old son Walter. Lena Ford was famous for her song 'Keep The Home Fires Burning, written with composer Ivor Novello. Lena and Walter Ford are the first American citizens to die in an air raid on London.



Air War:

0600 English RFC pilpt Charles Napier and observer Joseph Moore, flying a Bristol F.2b, shoot down a DFW C.V. Vicrory number 2 for both.

0800 Australian RFC ace Andrew Cowper, in SE.5a B664, shoots down a Rumpler two-seater for victory number 10.

1040 Canadian RFC pilot Norman Millman and English observer Arthur Cooper, in Bristol F.2b B1190, shoot down an Albatros D.V. Victory number 5 for both.

1050 Scottish RFC pilot Herbert Hartley and observer John Robertson, in Bristol F.2b A7114, claim two Albatros D.Vs. Victories 4 and 5 for Hartley, victories 2 and 3 for Robertson.

1100 Canadian RFC pilot John Elmer Drummond, in Bristol F.2b B1265 with 2nd Lt N. Sillars as observr, shoots down an Albatros D.III for victory number 1.

1100 Two Australian AFC SE.5a pilots share a victory over a German two-seater:
Richard Howard, D212, victory number 3.
Lt A.L. Paxton, C9496, victory number unknown.

1110 German ace Josef Mai, flying an Albatros D.V, shoots down a DH.4 for victory number 8.

1140 German pilot Wolf Baron von Manteuffel-Szöge, with Jasta 35, shoots down SE.5a B8264 for victory number 1. 2nd Lt R.H. Topliss is wounded and taken prisoner.

1200 Thre RNAS Sopwith Camel pilots share a victory over a German two-seater:
Sub-Lt C.S. Deveraux, B7230, nationality and victory number unknown.
Aubrey Ellwood, England, B7229, victory number 4.
Sub-Lt K.D. Mackleod, B7232, nationality and victory number unknown.

1208 German ace Willi Kampe, with Jasta 27, shoots down DH.4 B2094 for victory number 8. 2nd Lt J.F.R.I. Perkins and Lt R.G. Foley are both killed. Kampe is also killed.

1215 German pilot Otto Fitzner, with Jasta 17, shoots down a Bréguet 14 for victory number 3.

1215 German pilot Julius Keller, flying with Jasta 21, shoots down Morane 'N' 1512 for victory number 1. American pilot Cpl Wallace Winter, flying for the French Air Service, is killed.

1220 German pilot Alois Heldmann, with Jasta 10, shoots down a Bréguet 14 for victory number 1.

1230 English RFC pilot Thomas Rose, in an SE.5a, shoots down an Albatros D.V for victory number 1.

1315 Brazil-born English RFC pilot Gordon Fox Rule and English observer Philip Teerence Holligan, in DH.4 A7705, shoot down a Rumpler two-seater. Victory number 1 for both.

1430 Saxony-born German ace Hans von Haebler, in Fokker Dr.I 509/17, shoots down Sopwith Camel B3905 for victory number 7. Sub-Lt H.R. Casgrain is taken prisoner.

1555 Norman Millman and Arthur Cooper score their second kill of the day, shooting down another Albatros D.V. Victory number 6 for both. This is Millman's last aerial victory. He will finish the war as a flight instructor in Britain and live until 1981.

1600 Herbert Hartley and John Roberston claim their third kill for the day, shooting down another Albatros D.V. Victory number 6 for Hartley, number 4 for Robertson.

1630 German pilot Alexander Hellwig, with Jasta 77, shoots down a Bréguet 14 for victory number 1.
(Three Bréguets are shot down this day: 1272, Sgt Aureléin Larroucau and Brig Bouet both KIA; 1277, MdL Commin and Sldt Cador both MIA; 1278, Cpl Michel and MdL Hertzog both MIA.)

1710 German pilot Andreas Triebswetter, with Jasta 16, destroys a British observation balloon for victory number 1.

French ace Omer Demeuldre, in a SPAD, shoots down a Rumpler two-seater for victory number 10

French ace Hector Garaud, flying a SPAD XIII, shoots down a German two-seater for victory number 10.