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Annitta Frances Florence Mackinnon
b.9 Jan 1891 New York, , New York, United States of America
Family tree▼ (edit)
m. Abt 1889
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m. 16 Apr 1927
Facts and Events
RELIGION: Church of England. Later, Roman Catholic. CHRISTENING: 1891 - St. George, Hanover Square, London 14. BAPTISM: 1896 - St. Philip, South Kensington, London, England. 1909 Affidavit by Sr.Charlotte James (12th October). MARRIAGE: 1927 - Staines, Middlesex, England 46. Witnesses: Alice Mary Hyauiason Joseph Hyauiason. DEATH: From (breast) cancer at Neringah Hospital (12 monthsafter first visit to doctor). Note: Recurrence of tumour removed in 'teens. EDUCATION:: 1906 - St. Wilfred's Boarding School, Cale Street, Chelsea,London. Entered 3rd March, 1906 1909 to 1911 - St. Charles' Training College,Kensington, London. Certificate gained 1st August 1911. Confirmed 23rd September, 1912 [Bd. of Ed.] RESIDENCES: Whilst teaching in Edmonton, she lived with an Italian family in that district. I remember her talking of the son, Angelo, who suffered from tuberculosis. At the end he turned upon his family and castigated them for praying that he should not die as he felt that this was the only thing that was preventing him from finding peace. During this period there were raids on London by German Zeppelins and my mother recalled seeing three of them shot down. The first was on 2nd September at Cuffley. The SL-11, commanded by Wilhelm Schramm, arrived over northern London at St. Albans. As she bombed the northern suburbs, the airship was picked up by searchlights at Finsbury and Victoria Parks. Turning back to the north, the SL-11 was spotted by Second Lieutenant Robinson, the same pilot who had seen the LZ-98. Robinson approached and fired two full drums of the new Brock-Pomeroy ammunition to no effect. As the zeppelin cleared the searchlight defenses, the British plane made one more pass, firing another full drum into the airship's side. This time, a bright glow showed inside the ship, and within seconds, the fabric burned away as the airship turned into a blazing torch. Her slow descent to earth at Cuffley was not only seen by all of London, but also by the Navy zeppelins then making their approach. The L-16, commanded by Erich Sommerfeld was less than a mile away from SL-11 when she burst into flames, and she attracted the attention of one of the British pilots chasing SL-11. Sommerfeld however, sped off to the north, escaping the glare before the British planes could arrive at his position. Of all the airships, Frankenberg in the L-21 correctly deduced the cause of SL-11's loss. He and his crew 30 miles to the north could plainly see two aircraft around the Army airship, and after she caught fire, one was seen to drop red and green flares (which Robinson did too). The rest of the airships completed their bombing runs all across eastern England and safely returned to their bases, having dropped a total of 17 tons of explosives on English soil. The bombing caused £21,000 worth of damaged, at the cost of 16 airshipmen dead, and one £93,000 airship lost. The second was on 24 September at Billericay, the town enjoying a moment of countrywide fame as one of the giant German Zeppelin airships (L32) was shot down during an aerial battle overhead. As it fell in flames it narrowly missed the High Street and crashed into a nearby field. L-32 had come onshore after circling for about an hour. Peterson's last radio message received was garbled, but it is possible that L-32 had engine trouble and circled until repairs were made. Up to that point, he and Mathy's ship had been cruising together. When L-32 broke out of the cloud cover over the Thames River, she was spotted almost immediately and pinned in the searchlight beams of the city's eastern defenses. Peterson may have realized his danger, because L-32 dropped her bombs in rapid succession and turned toward the sea while attempting to gain altitude. First Lieutenant Frederick Sowery was in the air that night and nosed his British built BE2c 4112 biplane toward the zeppelin which was so dazzlingly illuminated by the searchlights. After firing two drums of Brock-Pomeroy ammunition at the airship, he made a third pass, firing into the side of the zeppelin until he saw flames on its outer fabric. L-32 quickly caught fire and with her hydrogen burning off like a blowtorch, she dropped slowly to the ground near Snail's Hall farm, Billericay, killing all on board. After "firing" the zeppelin, Sowery dropped a red Verys Light (flare) and then landed at Sutton's farm. Officers of the Naval Intelligence Division were first on the scene and despite the heat, they raced through as much of the wreckage as possible (Seen at left). They were rewarded with a copy of the German Navy Cipher Book, which Peterson had allowed on board the L-32 against regulations. It will never be known why he allowed it, if he even knew that it was on board. Its capture was a boon to the Royal Navy code breakers. The third was on October 1, 1916 the last night of this bombing period. Eleven airships headed for England, with only the two L-30's permitted to attack London. L-30 again reported having bombed targets when, in reality, she was not spotted at all over England. Mathy's L-31 approached London from the Northeast, finally throttling his engines down in an attempt to float silently over the listening searchlight operators on the ground. By 12:30, at least four defense planes were in the air when Mathy fired up his engines and attracted the searchlight beams. As the guns on the ground opened fire, Mathy dropped his entire bomb-load and turned west. L-31, now several tons lighter, rocketed skyward and almost escaped. She had cleared the A.A. defenses when Second Lieutenant W.J. Tempest dove his plane under the airship, firing a drum of Brock-Pomeroy ammunition into the ship's keel. Suddenly, the zeppelin turned a bright red inside, and a burst of red flames shot out of her nose. L-31 plummeted straight to the ground like a freight train, nearly taking Tempest and his plane with her. As Tempest corkscrewed his plane out of the way, the burning airship passed him and landed at Potters Bar. Local villagers running into the field found a man lying on his back, half-imbedded in the ground. He was alive and unburned, but died soon after. His identity disc was marked: "Kaptlt. Mathy. L31" MISCELLANEOUS_NOTES: Various spellings of Annitta (Annetta, Anita, Nita) were used. Received Letters of Administration for deceased husband's estate amounting to £411.0s.10d. References
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