New previously unpublished evidence has revealed that during the final year of the World War I, Britain attempted to kill Germany’s leader, Kaiser Wilhelm II. They were ultimately unsuccessful, but documentation shows that they came very close to success.
The Independent writes that largely unpublished documentation shows that on June 2, 1918, during WWI, a squadron of 12 bombers took off from an airfield near Boulogne to bomb a French chateau which they had learned was being used by the Kaiser as his secret western operational residence. However, Wilhelm had left 19 hours prior to congratulate his generals at the front for a German military success. The aircraft also chose to attack at an altitude of only 500 feet and attack in single file. This caused the smoke to billow up and many of the succeeding pilots couldn’t see their targets.
The chateau was largely unscathed but the Kaiser was headed back on a private train, so the British aircraft pumped 800 rounds of machine gun fire into the five carriages. Wilhelm remained unharmed, though others probably suffered a worse fate. Knowledge of this attack remained relatively unknown because Britain did not want to discuss a failed mission, reports The Independent.
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