Zeppelin Blitz

by Neil Storey

  L-9 dropped six incendiary bombs at Wallsend. Three did no damage, the fourth went through the roof of a cottage and slightly injured a woman and a little girl (the woman was sitting at the fireside washing the girl and they both had their hair singed, the bomb setting the floor on fire); the fifth and sixth set fire to railway sleepers.

  A HE bomb then fell into the River Tyne between the electric power station and Castner Kellner’s Works, the force of the explosion damaging windows at both places.

  The last bomb, an incendiary, fell at Hebburn Quay, on the south side of the river, at 8.48 p.m. It struck the concrete floor of a dry dock, doing no damage. The Zeppelin then went out to sea at Marsden, between Sunderland and South Shields, persuaded by two aeroplanes, although the pilots could see nothing of her.

  The HE bombs were all estimated to be around 50kg in weight. The monetary value of the damage caused by the raid was estimated at £55.

  15/16 April 1915

  Three Zeppelins set out to raid the Humber but ended up raiding the East Anglian coast:

  L-6, under Oberleutnant zur See von Buttlar, was reported from Lydd as being out to sea, flying northward at 9.22 p.m., and reached the Essex coast at Walton-on-the-Naze at about 11.30 p.m. It passed over Frinton at 11.40 p.m., circled over Clacton at 11.45 p.m. without dropping bombs and then made across the Blackwater estuary to the Latchingdon peninsula, and passed inland over Burnham-on-Crouch at 12.10 a.m.

  L-6 went north-west to Maldon, circled over the town at 12.20 a.m., and dropped two HE bombs there and two in the neighbouring village of Heybridge, accompanied by about thirty incendiary bombs in both places. One of the latter failed to ignite, while two others ignited imperfectly. A house was damaged by an HE bomb at Maldon and a fowl house destroyed. The only casualty was a girl who was slightly injured.

  The airship then proceeded north-westward, passed over Smith’s Green, 4 miles east of Kelvedon, and then turned eastward. It was heard and seen at Tollesbury, was over West Mersea at 12.30 a.m. and at 12.35 a.m. passed over Brightlingsea, where it was fired on by the guard at a camp of field companies, Royal Engineers.

  Thence she went north towards Great Bentley and at 12.40 a.m. was over Tendring, turned south-east over Beaumont, swerved north at 12.47 a.m. at Moze Cross and at 12.53 a.m. passed over Harwich going north-east at a height estimated at 5,000ft. Three minutes later she went over Landguard Fort and Felixstowe, attacked by a pom-pom, which fired three rounds, and by rifle fire from Landguard Fort. L-6 dropped no bombs on the fortress.

  The damaged caused by an HE bomb dropped from L-6 on Maldon, 16 April 1915.

  At 1 a.m. the airship passed over Shingle Street out to sea, reported to be at a height of just 500ft. At 1.10 a.m. L-6 was heard at Orford going north, then she turned south-east and, at 1.22 a.m. passed over the Shipwash, after which she disappeared out to sea.

  L-5, under Kapitänleutnant Alois Böcker, was hovering off the Suffolk coast near Southwold as early as 9.40 p.m., but did not cross it until 11.50 p.m. when the Zeppelin came in at Reydon, going west. Landfall was probably given by the easily distinguishable expanse of Easton Broad. A quarter of an hour later she passed Wenhaston, going south-west, and five minutes afterwards Bramfield, where she was fired upon with rifles. She was still going south-west but soon turned north, and at 12.20 a.m. passed Halesworth.

  L-5 went east to Henham Hall, where, at 12.25 a.m., she dropped one HE and twenty-three incendiary bombs near the Red Cross Hospital. No damage was done and no casualties were caused. Two minutes later, she dropped another HE and three incendiary bombs at Reydon, which also did no damage. She then circled round south-east to Southwold and, at 12.30 a.m., dropped one incendiary bomb which fell into a truck at the railway station, and another on the seashore close to the pier.

  Crater left by the HE bomb dropped on Reydon, Suffolk, 16 April 1915.

  Turning north-west she again passed over the railway station and, at about 12.40 a.m., dropped another incendiary bomb and another HE at Reydon, followed by two incendiary bombs at Easton Bavents, where she was attacked with rifle fire by 6th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment (Cyclists).

  L-5 followed the coast northwards, and at 1.05 a.m. approached Lowestoft from the direction of the Herring Market. Arriving over the town, she stopped her propellers, being at a height of about 2,000ft. The siren at the electric power station was now sounded as an alarm. The airship rose to about 5,000–6,000ft, and moved off towards the Central Station and harbour at 1.15 a.m. just as the siren finished. She dropped an HE bomb and then went off along the river to Oulton Broad, dropping two HE and seven incendiary bombs on the way.

  Several houses were damaged, and a fire was caused in a timber yard. Two horses were killed and four injured at the railway station; the total damage was estimated at £5,966 10s. There were no human casualties.

  The Zeppelin then turned and went out to sea over Lowestoft at 1.25 a.m. A number of parachute flares were dropped by L-9 when over the land, and it would appear that some of these were regarded as incendiary bombs and are counted in the number of the latter mentioned above. How many were actually flares could not be ascertained.

  L-7, under Oberleutnant zur See Werner Peterson and carrying Zeppelin chief, Peter Strasser, spent an hour skirting the Norfolk coast in high winds, coming overland at Brancaster at about 1.40 a.m. She passed south-east along the coast, going over Cromer at 2.05 a.m., Haisborough at 2.15 a.m. and passing out to sea at Gorleston at 2.35 a.m. Frustrated by the blacked-out country below, L-7 headed back to Germany without dropping a single bomb on land.

  29/30 April 1915

  This was the first raid on England to be carried out by a German military airship.

  LZ-38 was the single army airship that carried out the raid, under the command of Hauptmann Erich Linnarz. It was first reported from the Galloper lightship as being 30 miles south-east of Harwich, going west, after 11 p.m. on 29 April.

  At 11.55 p.m. she crossed the coast at Old Felixstowe and went straight inland, reaching Ipswich at 12.10 a.m. There, she dropped five incendiary bombs in the borough, one of which failed to ignite. One fell on a house in Brookshall Road, setting fire to it and the adjoining house; otherwise no damage was done and no casualties were caused.

  Immediately afterwards, five more incendiary bombs fell at Bramford, to no effect. At 12.20 a.m. five explosive and eleven incendiary bombs fell at Nettlestead and Willisham, 7 miles north-west of Ipswich, doing no damage except for crops. The airship eventually reached Bury St Edmunds, and for ten minutes circled over the town, going round two or three times. At 1 a.m. she dropped three HE and forty incendiary bombs on the defenceless town. Luckily, most incendiary bombs simply burnt out causing no damage or were doused by buckets of water.

  The most significant damage was suffered by four business premises on the Butter Market, where Day’s Boot Makers and adjoining shops were gutted, and burned until morning. By some miracle, there was only one casualty – a collie dog belonging to a Mrs Wise.

  The airship had now left the area of coast fog; the sky was quite clear and moonlit at Bury St Edmunds, and the LZ-38 was plainly visible at a height of about 3,000ft. She therefore hastened to return to the protection of the fog before she could be attacked, and went off eastward at high speed, dropping a single HE bomb as she went. No damage was done in either case.

  At 1.15 a.m., she reached Creeting St Mary, 16 miles east-south-east of Bury St Edmunds, and dropped an incendiary bomb there, followed by another at Otley; neither causing any harm. At 1.27 a.m. another fell at Bredfield, 10 miles east-south-east of Creeting St Mary, and at 1.30 a.m. another at Melton, 2 miles from Bredfield, with the same result. The last bomb, also an incendiary, was harmlessly thrown at Bromeswell, and the airship proceeded out to sea near Orfordness at about 1.50 a.m.

  Some of the forty incendiary bombs droppped by LZ-38 on Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, on 30 April 1915. Most of them simply burnt out causing no damage, or were doused by buckets of water.

  Day
’s Bookmaker’s and adjoining shops on the Butter Market, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, were gutted and still burning well into the morning of 30 April 1915.

  After turning north along the coast, at 2 a.m. she passed over Aldeburgh and was last heard of at sea at 2.20 a.m., still going in the same direction. No action was taken against the Zeppelin; the mobile guns of the RNAS reached Bury St Edmunds at 1.45 a.m., three quarters of an hour after the raid, and it was by then too foggy on the coast for aircraft to go up.

  10 May 1915

  LZ-38, again commanded by Hauptmann Linnarz, was this time first spotted at 2.45 a.m. over the SS Royal Edward which was moored off Southend as a prisoner of war hulk. The raider dropped an incendiary bomb close to the port side of the ship, the flames leaping up to a height 10–12ft and lasting half a minute. The LZ-38 was travelling towards Southend and dropped two more bombs in the water between the ship and the shore.

  She passed over Southend east–west at 2.50 a.m., dropping four HE and a large number of incendiary bombs on the town as she went. Two of the HE bombs failed to explode. After leaving Southend the airship went over Leigh to Canvey Island where, at 3.05 a.m., the Zeppelin came under fire of the AA (anti-aircraft) guns at Thames Haven and at Curtis & Harvey’s Explosive Works, in Cliffe. There were 3in guns mounted at Cliffe and their fire, the volume of which was probably unexpected, straightaway turned the LZ-38, which appeared to be hit – although not vitally.

  The Zeppelin went back over Southend, dropping more incendiary bombs there at 3.10 a.m. She headed north-east towards Burnham, and went out to sea near the mouth of the Crouch. At 4.18 a.m. she passed the Kentish Knock light vessel, heading east. She passed near Sunk at 4.30 a.m. and by 5.15 a.m. she had moved south of the Shipwash, after which she headed towards the Outer Gabbard and out to sea. On returning to Belgium, she was found to have been holed twice aft by AA (anti-aircraft) fire, a shell having gone through her stern.

  A large number of incendiary bombs, estimated to be about ninety, were dropped on Southend but, owing to the energy of the fire brigade surprisingly little damage was done. A timber yard was burnt out and a number of small fires were started, all of which were brought under control, except for one in a dwelling house which was completely burnt out. A woman was killed and a man injured in this house. A private of the 10th Border Regiment was also injured in the town.

  The very heavy load of incendiary bombs carried by the airship was remarkable, as is the time at which the raid was carried out, just before dawn. As this time was not again chosen for a further raid, it was evidently deemed unsuitable for some reason. The height of the airship was unusual for this period, being estimated at 9,000–10,000ft, which is much higher than previously.

  Multi-view postcard showing the damage caused by the bombs dropped by LZ-38 on Southend, on 10 May 1915.

  During the raid a message was dropped on the town, written on a piece of cardboard in blue pencil: ‘You English. We have come and will come again soon. Kill or Cure. German.’

  17 May 1915

  LZ-38, with Hauptmann Linnarz, was spotted again seven days later at 12.30 a.m. hovering off North Foreland for some time,and appeared to have dropped some bombs in the sea. She then approached Ramsgate. On being fired at from drifters at sea, she first went east and then northwards and was off the Tongue lightship shortly after 1 a.m. At 1.40 a.m. she came overland again at Margate and flew across Thanet, reaching Ramsgate at 1.50 a.m.

  She dropped a number of bombs, apparently four HE and about sixteen incendiaries, on the town. One HE bomb struck the Bull and George Hotel, penetrating to the basement and blowing out the whole front of the building. A man and a woman who were on the second floor were seriously injured and died three days later; another woman was slightly injured. No other casualties were caused, though bombs fell all over the town and in the harbour. A few buildings and some fishing smacks were damaged. After throwing the bombs, the airship went out to sea under hot rifle fire and disappeared in the clouds.

  She then proceeded down the coast, and came inland again about 2.10 a.m. at Deal, where she hovered for a short time with propellers stopped. At 2.25 a.m., LZ-38 approached Dover and was engaged by the AA guns of the garrison. In all, five rounds of 6-pdr and twenty-eight rounds of 1-pdr ammunition were fired. On being caught by the searchlights and fired at, the airship at once rose to a height of at least 7,000ft, dropping bombs as she did so, and emitted a dense cloud of vapour in which she disappeared (this was a discharge of water ballast).

  The bombs fell at Oxney, 3½ miles from Dover. They were all incendiary, and thirty-three were found. No damage was done by any of them.

  The airship carried on north, was fired on by the guard ship in the Downs at 2.50 a.m., hovered about in the neighbourhood of the North Goodwins until 3.25 a.m. and then went back to Belgium after day had dawned. She passed over the British lines at Armentières at about 4.20 a.m.

  While over Ramsgate, the lights of London were discernible from the airship, but her commander’s instructions expressly forbade his venturing far inland and no attempt was made to raid London. The estimated value of the damage caused by the raid was £1,600.

  The aftermath of the HE bomb dropped by LZ-38 that made a direct hit upon the Bull & George Hotel, Ramsgate, 17 May 1915.

  Some of the burnt-out incendiary bombs recovered from around Ramsgate after the raid of 17 May 1915.

  German propaganda cartoon mocking the panic caused by Zeppelin air raids on London.

  26 May 1915

  LZ-38 and Hauptmann Linnarz paid their second visit to Southend on this night, several weeks later. The raid was clearly a repetition of his earlier reconnaissance of the route to London, special attention being paid to the mouth of the River Blackwater.

  At 9.18 p.m. LZ-38 passed Dunkirk going west, and at 10.30 p.m. appeared off Clacton-on-Sea. She then passed south-west via Bradwell-juxta-Mare at 10.50 p.m. to Southminster at 10.53 p.m. Here, she was fired on with fifty-seven rounds from a pom-pom.

  LZ-38 turned south to Burnham-on-Crouch shortly before 11 p.m., passing over Shoeburyness at 11.05 p.m., where the airship came under fire from a 3in AA gun and veered westwards to Southend. Here, at 11.13 p.m., she dropped twenty-three small HE bombs and forty-seven incendiaries. Two women were killed (one of them, unfortunately, from a fragment of AA shell), a girl was injured and several other people received minor injuries.

  LZ-38 went off to the north-east, and was again engaged by Shoeburyness AA fire at 11.20 p.m. (the 3in gun at Shoeburyness fired a total of twenty-four rounds HE and thirteen rounds of shrapnel). She passed Wakering at 11.25 p.m. then left via Burnham, where she was fired on with 200 rounds of rapid fire by A Company, 2nd/8th Battalion Essex Regiment, thence to Bradwell and out to sea at the mouth of the Blackwater at 11.45 p.m. The monetary damage caused by the raid was estimated at £947.

  It was noted that the small HE bombs were more like grenades, weighing about 5lb each. The GHQ report stated:

  These clearly had no other object than the killing or maiming of as many people as possible. Owing to their small size the damage they could inflict to well-built house property was relatively slight but as the casing of the bomb was serrated in the same manner as that of a Mills grenade, the explosion of such a bomb in a crowded thoroughfare or building would cause serious casualties.

  31 May 1915

  The First Raid on London

  LZ-38 was first reported on 31 May passing Dunkirk at 8.30 p.m. She crossed Calais at 8.55 p.m. and made for the North Foreland, passing Margate, where she was fired at with 500 rounds from the Maxim machine guns of the Southern Mobile RNAS section at 9.42 p.m. Other .45 Maxim machine guns of the Southern Mobile RNAS opened fire on her from Reculver at 9.50 p.m. and she seems to have moved over to the Essex shore. Here she was fired upon with twelve rounds of shrapnel shell by the 3in gun at Shoeburyness at 10.12 p.m.

  LZ-38 passed inland between Rochford and Rayleigh at 10.25 p.m., reaching Wickford at 10.35 p.m. Later, at 10.50 p.m., she pa
ssed Brentwood and then seems to have hesitated as to her course; her commander was evidently fixing his exact position with regard to London.

  LZ-38 then came straight in, passing between Woodford and Wanstead at 11.15 p.m. The airship was seen over London for the first time, about 400 yards away from Stoke Newington Station and, at this point, commenced dropping bombs at 11.20 p.m.

  The first bomb to drop in the Metropolitan Police area was an incendiary. It fell on 16 Alkham Road, Stoke Newington, penetrating into two bedrooms and destroying their contents by fire. The spot where this bomb fell is about 300 yards south-east of Stoke Newington Station and it may possibly have been aimed at the station. The next bomb was also an incendiary and it fell on 8 Chesholm Road, falling through the roof of the back bedroom but without doing any further damage. This was followed by three HE grenades that fell on 41, 43 and 45 Dynevor Road, Stoke Newington. At the first house the windows and doors were blown out, but nos 43 and 45 also had the back extensions of each house practically demolished and the rest of the doors and windows blown out.

  The airship then steered a course due south about 500–600 yards west of the main Kingsland–Stoke Newington road, which was doubtless visible. Bombs were then thrown in rapid succession, the next being an incendiary which fell at 27 Neville Road, Stoke Newington, completely gutting the premises. This was followed by an HE grenade, which landed in the roadway of Neville Road and failed to explode.

  An incendiary bomb fell on a shed at the rear of 21 Neville Road, but caused no fire, and another incendiary followed this at 47 Neville Road, falling through the roof to the floor below without causing any fire. Another incendiary bomb was dropped at 6 Allen Road, and this went through the roof of the house to the ground floor, gutting two rooms and injuring four children slightly. At 69 Cowper Road, an incendiary bomb fell into a small water tank without causing any serious damage, while at 71 Cowper Road another incendiary caused a small fire.