Twenty-year-old R.A.J. Warneford had never flown at night. But this Royal Naval Air Service Flight Sub-Lieutenant learned fast. His big moment began at midnight, June 7, 1915, at a tiny airfield near the France-Belgium border. His mission: to bomb the German Zeppelin sheds at Berchem St. Agathe, Belgium.

Zeppelins were considered invincible in the air. By jettisoning their water ballast, the giant airships would shoot up thousands of feet in the air—higher than most planes at that time could fly. The only way to destroy the Zeppelins was at their moorings.

Warneford’s Morane Parasol was pretty fast, by 1915 standards—70 mph at low altitudes. He carried only six 20-pound bombs and a light carbine. Fate had brought Warneford and his slingshot face to face with a 521-foot-long Goliath: 18 gas chambers, 953,000 cubic feet of hydrogen, four Maybach engines, and a crew of 28.

As Warneford approached, the Zeppelin fired and began chasing him! He dove under its belly, but the Germans dumped their water ballast and the giant gasbag rose out of range. Warneford followed, pulling his Parasol up to 11,000 feet. Unaware of his presence, the Zeppelin dropped to 7,000 feet. Warneford was at last above the bulging behemoth. He swooped down and dropped his firebombs. They tore into the Zeppelin's skin with a violent explosion. Though awarded the Victoria Cross and the Cross of the Legion of Honor, this David would never be 21. Ten days after his heroic victory Warneford died in a plane crash. But the British no longer feared the invincible Zeppelin.