Paris bombed by aeroplane

31 August 1914

Yesterday, just after noon, A German army aeroplane dropped four small bombs and a message on Paris.

The aeroplane—a Taube piloted by Leutnant Ferdinand von Hiddessen—first overflew the city at midday, and loitered overhead for about half-an-hour before it attacked the 10ème arrondissement. Von Hiddessen and his observer threw four 2-kg bombs. The first two landed in the streets and broke shop windows. The third landed in the courtyard of a boarding house and injured two female residents, one of whom died of her injuries. The fourth hits the skylight of another courtyard but fails to detonate.

Leutnant v. Hiddessen über Paris
by Fritz Preiss

Lt Ferdinand von Hiddessen

After the bombs, the German airmen throw down a two-and-a-half-metre-long pennant in the colours of Germany. The pennant is weighted with a sandbag, to which is attached a satchel of notices to the residents of the city. They read:

L’Armée Allemande se trouve aux Portes de Paris: il ne vous reste plus qu’à vous rendre.

Leutnant von Hiddessen

The German army is at the gates of Paris: you can do nothing but surrender.

Leutnant von Hiddessen  

The pennant and notices have been collected and handed over to the police.