by Neil Storey
LZ-74 then crossed the Thames, travelled slowly south-east and was next reported over Peckham Rye, then at Honor Oak Park and Bromley. Turning north-east LZ-74 was again in company with the airship SL–2, at about 12.35 a.m. near Chislehurst, but at a considerably greater height. Here, following her sister ship, LZ-74 set her course for the north-east, passed Bexley Heath and crossed the river to Purfleet at 12.55 a.m.
She was then engaged by a 3in gun, which fired two rounds, and a pom-pom which fired nine. The raider was flying at an estimated height of 10,000ft and a speed of 40mph. No hits were observed, and the ship went on via Laindon at 1.07 a.m. to Chelmsford at 1.12 a.m. She was seen at Broomfield at the same time turning from north to north-east to follow the railway. She went on parallel with the line at a distance of a mile or two south of it, past Witham at about 1.40 a.m., Tiptree at 1.45 a.m., Colchester at 1.55 a.m. and Mistley at 2.05 a.m. Here she followed the railway and the River Colne to Harwich, where she passed at 2.12 a.m., two minutes after SL-2. She was only heard but not seen, and was not fired at.
LZ-74 then went out to sea, over the Cork lightship at 2.18 a.m. and returned to Belgium, passing over part of Holland.
8/9 September 1915
Naval Zeppelins L-9, L-13, L-14 and army airship LZ-77 were all involved in sorties on 8 September.
At approximately 1 p.m. messages were intercepted from four German airships that they only had ‘HVB’ on board. Intelligence knew what that meant – a copy of a German code book known as HVB (Handelsschiffsverkehrsbuch) that served as the official instrument of correspondence in the German Mercantile Marine had been captured in Austria early in the war, and another copy had been fished up later from the sea by a Lowestoft fishing trawler. The Germans knew that the code book had been compromised but continued to use it, with frequent changes of ciphering key, in official correspondence. When Zeppelin commanders set off on a raid, however, they always left behind the more confidential naval signal book, a fact they reported by wireless message, using the phrase ‘Only HVB on board.’ These signals were frequently intercepted and were seen as a good indicator that Zeppelins were then setting out from Germany to raid Britain.
L-9, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Odo Loewe, came in over the Yorkshire coast about 9.15 p.m. at Port Mulgrave, between Whitby and Kettleness. She went westward to near Mickleby and then north over Hinderwell to Staithes, where she circled and carried on westward to Ings House. Arriving there at about 9.30 p.m., she dropped her first bomb, an incendiary, which caused no damage. A petrol tank was dropped at the same time.
A HE bomb was dropped at West Loftus with the same negative result, and the Zeppelin turned northwards, dropping four incendiary bombs near Carlin How, two in Scarfe’s Field and two in Watson’s Garden. None caused any harm. At 9.35 p.m. L-9 was over Skinningrove, where she dropped her main load of bombs, nine HE and twelve incendiaries, aiming them at the iron works. The water main and electric light cables were broken, two railway trucks partly burnt, a concrete step way at the jetty broken and other minor damage done. An incendiary bomb hit the top of the benzol house, which fortunately was composed of concrete, and so it did not penetrate, while an HE bomb dropped within 10ft of it, doing much of the damage mentioned above, but not injuring the house. Had this bomb hit the benzol house or tanks, which contained 45,000 gallons of benzol the greater part of the works would, in all probability, have been destroyed. Another HE bomb narrowly missed the TNT stores. No casualties were caused, the workmen having taken refuge in the neighbouring mines and elsewhere on the first alarm.
After circling above the works while dropping the bombs, L-9 then made off in the direction of Hinderwell, which she passed at 9.40 p.m., going towards Kettleness. There, she turned south and finally went out to sea at 9.45 p.m. near Sandsend. Three RNAS aeroplanes went up from Redcar Aerodrome in pursuit. Unfortunately, the atmosphere was hazy with Middlesbrough smoke, and the Zeppelin could not be seen, though one pilot searched for L-9 for 1½ hours.
The Intelligence report noted, ‘that the benzol and other plant at the Skinningrove Iron Works was largely erected by German contractors and German workmen; there can be little doubt, therefore, that the enemy possessed full information as to the nature and topography of the works and that the raid was aimed at Skinningrove only.’
L-13, under Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Mathy, was first heard at sea off the Norfolk coast, north of Holkham at 7.35 p.m. where some armed trawlers opened fire upon her. She went out to sea again, and was seen coming back overland at Brancaster at 8.05 p.m. Mathy was feeling his way to the mouth of the Wash, which he did not reach until 8.25 p.m. He then turned, followed the coast and passed over Hunstanton at 8.30 p.m., near Sedgeford at 8.35 p.m., then went out to sea again and was seen by a fishing boat.
At 8.45 p.m., L-13 was over the mouth of the Lynn Cut, where the Zeppelin was observed by the SS Annandale going slowly up the river. For a full four minutes she stopped at an elevation of 1,500–2,000ft to observe her position. At 8.49 p.m. she started again, passing between King’s Lynn and Terrington St Clement where she picked up the course of the Ouse near Wiggenhall St Germans. Mathy then set his course following the river and railway to Downham Market at 9 p.m., he followed the Bedford Level and headed for London where he dropped fifteen high explosive bombs across Golder’s Green, in Middlesex. These bombs were probably intended for the aviation ground at Hendon. Five incendiary bombs were first thrown all together in a field adjoining Decoy Farm, followed by an HE bomb in another field close by, owned by the Express Dairy Company. No real damage was done.
An incendiary bomb fell on waste ground at the corner of Leeside Crescent and Prince’s Park Avenue, and two in a wood adjoining Leeside Crescent, about 70 yards from Alba and Russell Gardens. These were followed by an incendiary bomb through the roof of an empty house in Highfield Road and one in the garden at the rear of 19 Alba Gardens. The last bomb thrown here was an HE that fell into a garden between Alba Gardens and Russell Gardens. The incendiary did very little damage but the second HE blew out the windows of a large number of houses. There were no casualties.
L-13 pursued her course over north-west London at a slow speed, passing presumably over Child’s Hill, Frognal, Belsize Park, Primrose Hill and the north-east corner of Regent’s Park to the neighbourhood of Euston Station, where she resumed her bombing with serious results. At 10.45 p.m. she dropped three incendiary bombs, two of which fell between Woburn Place and Upper Bedford Place and one in Russell Square, at the junction of Woburn Place and Southampton Row. A hotel in Bedford Place was slightly damaged by fire.
A HE bomb was dropped in the centre of Queen’s Square breaking all the windows in the square, but luckily causing no serious harm to the buildings which included several hospitals. Five incendiary bombs fell in Osmond Yard, followed by others in East Street, Emerald Street, Theobald’s Yard and Lamb’s Conduit Passage where, at 10.49 p.m., an HE bomb was also dropped. A good deal of damage was done until the fires caused by them could be extinguished. One man was killed and sixteen other people injured in Lamb’s Conduit Passage.
The HE bomb wrecked a public house in Red Lion Street and the premises of the National Penny Bank. Owing to the belief in Germany that the Bank of England was damaged, if not destroyed, in this raid, a photograph of this minor banking establishment was confidently claimed in the German press as proof of the belief.
The Zeppelin next threw one HE and one incendiary bomb between Bedford Row, breaking a large number of windows and destroying a house in Jockey’s Fields which was used as a cycle club, and injuring four women.
At 10.51 p.m. she dropped seven incendiary bombs, two of them on Raymond Buildings, Gray’s Inn, one in Gray’s Inn Road and four between Clerkenwell Road and Portpool Lane, followed by one HE off Leather Lane. The incendiary bombs caused several fires, as before, and the HE bomb killed four children (one an infant), and injured six adults and one child in Laney’s Buildings, Portpool Lane, besides severely damaging the buildings.
After crossing the boundary of the City at about 10.56 p.m., L-13 passed over Smithfield Market, where three incendiary bombs fell in the roadway south of Central Avenue, and dropped one HE bomb (estimated to have been 300kg) and three incendiary bombs in Bartholomew Close without damaging the ancient and celebrated church, though most of the buildings in the close, and some in Little Britain, were damaged by fire or explosion. Two men were killed, and a boy and two women were injured.
Ten incendiary bombs were next dropped between Noble Street and Aldermanbury, occasioning the heaviest damage inflicted during a Zeppelin air raid on Britain. Several blocks of business premises in Silver Street, Wood Street, Addle Street and Aldermanbury were either entirely burnt out or seriously damaged by fire, the worst sufferers being Messrs Ward, Sturt & Sharpe, wholesale hosiers of Wood Street and Silver Street. The total damage to their premises and stock, chiefly woollen, cotton and silk goods amounted to £207,000.
L-13 dropped an HE and an incendiary bomb between Aldermanbury and the Guildhall. One block of offices was badly damaged, and most of the windows in Aldermanbury were broken. Two incendiary bombs were then dropped in Basinghall Street, beyond the Guildhall, which was not harmed. Several buildings in Love Lane and Basinghall Street were affected by fire, smoke and water. An incendiary bomb fell in Coleman Street.
L-13 bore off in a north-easterly direction towards Liverpool Street Station, on the way dropping three incendiary bombs on the searchlight at Salisbury House, between London Wall and Finsbury Circus; they fell on the roof and were at once extinguished. These were followed by an HE bomb on London Wall Buildings, Bloomfield Street, which wrecked the London Territorial Force Record Offices. A further HE bomb fell at the corner of Bloomfield Street and Liverpool Street, destroying a motor omnibus, and killing three men and injuring several others.
A HE bomb landed in Sun Street Passage between Broad Street and Liverpool Street Stations, blowing up the pathway, damaging a brick railway arch and severely injuring one man. This was the last bomb thrown in the City during the raid. The next HE bomb fell on the Great Eastern Railway, north of Liverpool Street Station, damaging about 20ft by 10ft of permanent way and some arches used as stores. The last fell in Norton Folgate, destroying another motor omnibus, killing nine people (including the driver) and injuring ten, besides doing a great deal of injury in that street and Shoreditch High Street, where the Electric Light Transmitting Station was also damaged, though the machinery was untouched.
L-13 was seen over Old Street, then went off slowly north, over Dalston and Tottenham to Edmonton where she suddenly rose from about 8,500ft to a height of over 10,000ft and disappeared, emitting a cloud of greenish-grey vapour (water ballast). This was immediately after a shell, probably fired from Parliament Hill, appeared to burst very close to her. It was apparently the only shell that got anywhere near L-13. Firing had begun about the time the Zeppelin dropped its first bomb in Queen’s Square and ceased suddenly after her disappearance, which was observed at the same time by all stations. It appears that the raider was fired upon by every gun of the London defences, including those at Woolwich and Erith, 11 miles away from Liverpool Street, the furthest south-easterly point reached by L-13.
A HE bomb (estimated to have been 300kg) and three incendiary bombs were dropped on Bartholomew Close, London, by L-13, damaging many of the buildings by fire or explosion. Two men were killed, and a boy and two women were injured here on 8 September 1915. (IWM)
Motor omnibus destroyed by the HE bomb dropped by L-13, which fell at the corner of Bloomfield Street and Liverpool Street, killing three men and injuring several others, during the raid of 8 September 1915. (IWM)
A certain amount of damage, none of it serious, was caused by AA shells in Hoxton, Bethnal Green, Mile End Road, East and West Ham, Canning Town and Poplar, chiefly, no doubt, by the Woolwich gun and also at Lambeth, Kentish Town, Highgate, Holloway and Highbury. No fatalities are attributed to the firing, but two women and two children were injured by fragments of shell.
The total number of casualties was 109 – thirteen men, three women and six children killed. Forty-eight men (including three firemen), twenty-nine women and ten children were injured (two women and two children were injured by AA shells). All casualties were civilians.
After the sudden disappearance of the raider, L-13 was momentarily seen near Cheshunt at about 11.20 p.m., east of Hatfield at around 11.25 p.m. and east of Buntingford at 11.40 p.m. She dropped a small balloon to which was attached an electric battery at Elmdon and, at 11.55 p.m., circled round Saffron Walden. She then went off in a north-easterly direction towards Newmarket, west of which town she was seen at approximately 12.20 a.m. Twenty minutes later, she was near Bury St Edmunds and at 1.20 a.m. she was at Wymondham. At 1.30 a.m. she passed Norwich, Martham at 1.45 a.m. and then passed out to sea between Caister and Yarmouth shortly before 2 a.m.
The total number of guns, listed as the Defences of London, engaged in the raid were as follows:
Plumstead Marshes
one 1-pdr QF gun and one 3in QF
Royal Arsenal
two 6-pdr QF guns
Erith
one 6-pdr QF gun
Abbey Wood
one 6-pdr QF gun
Plumstead Common
one 13-pdr gun
Royal Albert Docks
one 13-pdr gun
Nine Elms
one 6-pdr QF gun
Blackheath
one 3in 20cwt gun
Clapton
one 3in 20cwt gun
Gresham Street
one 1-pdr gun
Green Park
one 3in 20cwt gun
Waterloo
one 1½-pdr gun
Temple
one 6-pdr gun
York Road
one 6-pdr gun
Finsbury Park
one 6-pdr gun
West Ham
one 3in 20cwt gun
St Helens
one 1-pdr gun
Honor Oak
one 3in 20cwt gun
Parliament Hill
one 3in 20cwt gun
Foreign Office
one 6-pdr gun
Crown Agents
one 1-pdr gun
Tower
one 3in 20cwt gun
Cannon Street
one 1-pdr gun
An interview with Mathy was published by the German-American correspondent, Karl von Wiegand, shortly afterwards in America in which Mathy boasted of his exploits. L-13 is made to appear to have come much lower down than she did in reality, and even suggests he had considerable difficulty in avoiding a collision with St Paul’s. The real height the Zeppelin maintained during the raid was more like 8,500ft (as opposed to the height of St Paul’s dome, which is 365ft tall). Mathy gave no idea of the real height and when questioned on the point discreetly refused to ‘give the English his range; they shoot quite well enough already.’
Mathy also took credit to himself for not having bombed St Paul’s, although the ‘English had established a battery under its shelter’. It is evident from the interview that Mathy knew perfectly well where he was, he steered his course parallel to the river and probably identified St Paul’s, the Tower Bridge and Liverpool Street Station. He tried to bomb the two latter structures and the Bank of England, but was never near enough to the bridge to attack it. After bombing Liverpool Street the Zeppelin had passed quite slowly northward, as if her crew were contemplating their work at leisure and without the slightest fear of being hit by the shells that were bursting below. Until suddenly, one large burst had seemed to reach her upon which she threw out her water ballast and shot upwards, there
by eluding the searchlights, and made off at high speed.
It later transpired that a 300kg bomb, the first ever used on England, was dropped by L-13 on London in this raid. It was a ‘Liebsgabe’ (love-gift) from the bomb factory to the Zeppelin.
A curious relic of the raid was a scraped ham bone, dropped in a bag attached to a small parachute from L-13 north of London, which landed in Wrotham Park, Barnet. Round the shank was painted a band of German tricolour, and below on one side was a rude drawing of a Zeppelin dropping a bomb on the head of an elderly civilian in a stiff collar and black tie. He is represented full face and is labelled ‘Edwart [sic] Grey’ – Grey being The Rt Hon. Sir Edward Grey, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1905–16). On the other side of him is written ‘was fang ich, armer Teufel an?’ (which translates as ‘what shall I, poor devil do?’). On the other side of the bone is inscribed lengthways ‘Zum andenken an das ausgehungerte Deutschland’ (‘A memento from starved-out Germany’).
The crew members of L-13 wearing the ribbons of the Iron Cross with which they were decorated after the London raid of 8 September 1915, when they dropped the first 300kg bomb on British soil.
L-14, under the command of Kapitänleutnant der Reserve Alois Böcker, was first heard off the Haisborough lightship at 7.20 p.m., off Overstrand at 7.30 p.m. and was close to Cromer at 7.50 p.m. L-14 skirted the coast westward as far as Blakeney, where at 8.10 p.m. she came overland and developed engine trouble soon after turning inland near Cromer. Passing near Walsingham at 8.20 p.m. and Foulsham at 8.35 p.m., she then passed Bawdeswell at 8.40 p.m.
