Zeppelin Blitz

by Neil Storey

  Having traversed Suffolk and Bedfordshire, L-32 was heading across Hertfordshire, following the railway line past Cheddington to Tring at 2.25 a.m.; this was at the same time as the catastrophic attack on SL-11. The commander of L-32, whose aim was evidently to approach London from the north-west along the line of the LNWR, which the Zeppelin commander had found at Leighton Buzzard, now turned abruptly off to the east. He went slowly for a while, probably considering the situation, and then apparently determined to make for home after having dropped the rest of his bombs at some location which he could have plausibly represented as London.

  On his return from this mission, Peterson claimed that, after leaving London on his port bow, he saw the destruction of SL-11 and then went into London and dropped bombs on ‘Kensington and the City’. It is evident, from the movements of his ship, that he knew this was not the case. On a clear night, London, with its searchlights and guns in full action, would be quite unmistakable from a Zeppelin which was less than 30 miles distant from the outer ring of defences.

  Instead of approaching the metropolis, he went off to the east and, in the neighbourhood of Hertford, dropped the bombs that he claimed he had thrown at Kensington. At 2.45 a.m., L-32 had passed near Redbourn and Harpenden from east to west and at 2.54 a.m. he dropped five HE and eleven incendiary bombs on Hertford Heath, killing two horses. A minute later, sixteen HE and eight incendiary bombs were dropped at Great Amwell, killing a pony and breaking the windows of three dwelling houses. About two minutes after that, two more HE bombs were dropped near Ware, to no effect.

  L-32 then made off east-north-east over Suffolk. At 3.35 a.m. she verified her position and turned north-east to Stowmarket, which she passed at 3.45 a.m., followed by Bungay at 4 a.m., Somerleyton at 4.15 a.m. She went out to sea at Corton at about 4.15 a.m. The noise of her engines were heard from the Cross Sand light vessel at 4.20 p.m.

  L-21, under Oberleutnant zur See Kurt Frankenberg, crossed the coast at Mundesley at 10.20 p.m. She was invisible in the clouds, so she was not fired at although she sounded to be just 5,000–6,000ft up. She steered a south-westerly course, passing Knapton at 10.25 p.m., between North Walsham and Aylsham at 10.40 p.m., Buxton Lamas at 11 p.m. and Drayton, north-west of Norwich, at 11.15 p.m.

  At 11.35 p.m. she was at Attleborough, in company with L-16. The two, however, soon parted company, but for some time kept on the same parallel course at a distance of about 6 miles from each other.

  L-21 then proceeded across Suffolk, dropping a petrol tank at Stanton, and went on to traverse Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire where, when passing Hitchin at 2.25 a.m. she saw the glare of the burning SL-11. She at once turned homewards at high speed, beginning to drop her bombs as she went. Two incendiary bombs were dropped at Dunton, east of Biggleswade, at about 2.40 a.m. and a third at Hatley Park, near Gamblingay, a few minutes later. At 3 a.m. L-21 dropped an HE bomb on North Fen, Sutton, doing no damage, and then turned north-west, dropping one HE and one incendiary bomb on Horselode Fen, Chatteris, which fell in fields and only damaged a few wheat sheaves and some mangold wurzels. She then headed north-north-east, past Doddington at 3.15 a.m. and March at 3.20 a.m.

  Crossing back into Norfolk, the Zeppelin dropped one HE and one incendiary bomb at Tilney St Lawrence at about 3.35 a.m. She then dropped two HE bombs to the west and two incendiaries to the north of King’s Lynn at 3.40 a.m., also with no result.

  As L-21 passed over Wolferton (3.40 a.m.), she dropped a single incendiary followed by seven HE bombs. As the Zeppelin travelled away from Wolferton in the direction of Dersingham at 3.45 a.m., she was estimated to be some 6,000ft up and was engaged by a 75mm gun of the Royal Naval Mobile Brigade at Sandringham. It fired twelve rounds at her, the second of which was claimed to have been a hit.

  As she passed over Dersingham, L-21 dropped seven HE and two more incendiary bombs, causing serious damage to six houses and minor damage to eight others at Dodd’s Hill. Three people were injured, one of whom, Violet Ellen Dungar (36) subsequently died of her injuries. At Snettisham, four HE and three incendiaries were dropped (3.50 a.m.), followed by six HE and four incendiaries at Sedgeford (4 a.m.) and one incendiary at Thornham, before the Zeppelin finally passed out to sea.

  The death of Violet Dungar, like so many details about the air raids, could not be reported in any newspapers. But the Dersingham burial register bears mute testimony to the local tributes given to her as the Reverend Arthur Rowland Grant, the rector of Sandringham and domestic chaplain to the king, conducted the service. In addition to Grant’s entry in the register, the local rector, Reverend Robert Lewis, annotated that she ‘Died of wounds inflicted by a Zeppelin bomb.’

  L-14, under Hauptmann Kuno Manger, made landfall east of Wells at about 9.50 p.m., dropped an incendiary bomb and passed inland east of Burnham Market at 9.55 p.m. At 10 p.m. she was south of Thornham, and then seems to have either stopped her engines or circled for half an hour. She was next heard of at Ringstead at 10.30 p.m., where she dropped a single HE bomb, causing no damage.

  She moved out west over the Wash to Terrington Marsh where, at about 10.55 p.m., she dropped an incendiary bomb. She then circled south of King’s Lynn, near Wiggenhall at 11.10 p.m. and then travelled northwards, east of King’s Lynn to Gayton, where she dropped two HE bombs at about 11.30 p.m. She turned south by Wormegay Fen, dropping an HE bomb at about 11.35 p.m., followed by three HE bombs on the Warren at Shouldham. No damage was caused by any of these bombs.

  Manoeuvring south-west, L-14 passed over Downham Market at 11.45 p.m., Upwell at 11.55 p.m. and at 12.15 a.m. she was near Yaxley. She dropped an incendiary bomb which did no damage at Upwood.

  At 2.25 a.m., when the destruction of SL-11 occurred, L-14 must have been between Thaxted and Dunmow, about 25 miles from the scene. Her commander must have seen what happened and immediately turned for home, dropping his bombs at random.

  One HE bomb landed at Little Bardfield and one at Finchingfield at 2.30 a.m., with no results. Lavenham received two HE bombs at about 2.45 a.m., followed a few minutes later by one HE at Thorpe Morieux and one at Brettenham, none of which did any damage. At about 2.50 a.m. two incendiary bombs were thrown near Drinkstone and, at 2.55 a.m., four HE and one incendiary were dropped upon Buxhall, damaging crops but nothing further. Five minutes later five HE bombs followed near Haughley, with the same result. No more bombs were thrown on land.

  L-14 passed over Diss at 3.10 a.m., Long Stratton at 3.15 a.m., Shotesham at 3.20 a.m., Blofield at 3.30 a.m., and Wroxham at 3.45 a.m. She headed back over the sea at Bacton at 4.05 a.m. pursued by an aeroplane, but she could not be picked up by the searchlights owing to the thick and low clouds.

  SL-8, under Kapitänleutnant Guido Wolff, crossed the Norfolk coast and made landfall north of Holkham at 11.05 p.m. She dropped two incendiary bombs at Burnham Thorpe at 11.15 p.m., but caused no damage. She then went west, and afterwards turned south to the neighbourhood of Wendling at 11.40 p.m. and Swaffham at 12.20 a.m. At 12.30 a.m. she passed Downham Market and turned south, crossing into Cambridgeshire where she dropped an incendiary bomb at Littleport, followed by six incendiary bombs on Oxlode Fen, near Downham-in-the-Isle, with no effect.

  Traversing the Fens, but dropping no bombs, it was assumed that the commander of SL-8, although some 50 miles away, must have seen the glare of the destruction of SL-11 at 2.25 a.m. Like the other airship commanders, he immediately made off at high speed and was thought to have followed the long, straight line of the Bedford Levels, the twin canals of which extend in a direct line for a distance of 22 miles from Earith Bridge, in Cambridgeshire, to Downham Market.

  Once back over Norfolk, the airship started dropping bombs again, with three HE and three incendiary bombs thrown on Congham at 3 a.m., breaking windows and tiles in two cottages. One incendiary was dropped at Harpley Dams, Flitcham, two or three minutes later. SL-8 then turned north-east, to East Rudham and, at 3.05 a.m., dropped three HE bombs followed by an incendiary bomb at Helhoughton and five more HE bombs at
Syderstone and South Creake, where four cottages suffered damage to windows and tiles. At 3.15 a.m. one HE bomb was dropped on Great Walsingham and two shortly afterwards at Wighton, to no effect. At 3.20 a.m. the airship went out to sea at Cley, dropping one HE bomb on land and eight into the sea as she went.

  L-24, under Kapitänleutnant Robert Koch, came inland near Trimingham at about 12.30 a.m. and dropped a flare at Gunton soon after. At 12.40 a.m. she was at Blickling and turned west, passing Saxthorpe at 12.45 a.m. She dropped two HE bombs at Briston at 12.50 a.m., which caused no damage.

  The Zeppelin then turned north, dropping an incendiary bomb at Plumstead, near Holt, and appearing shortly after 1 a.m. over Bacton, where she was fired upon without result. The airship moved north near the coast, and was fired at by the Royal Naval Mobile AA Brigade 3-pdr gun as the Zeppelin passed Mundesley at 1.12 a.m. Her height there was estimated at only 4,000ft. On being fired at, she circled north and dropped five HE bombs on the beach just below high tide, at the base of the cliff on which the gun stands, and within 60–100 yards of it. No damage was done.

  The airship turned inland and dropped two incendiary bombs at Trunch at about 1.25 a.m., followed by thirteen HE and twenty-seven incendiary bombs at Ridlington at 1.30 a.m. Remarkably, not one of them caused any damage and nobody was injured.

  It was thought that the Zeppelin had been drawn to drop its bombs at the last two locations by the flares that had been lit for the landing strip at Bacton Aerodrome. The airship then approached Bacton from the south-west, and was fired on again by the two 75mm guns and the 3-pdr of the RNAS. Visibility was, however, so bad owing to low clouds and mist, that she was only momentarily picked up and was not hit. Her height was estimated at 6,000–8,000ft, rising as she went out to sea at Bacton.

  L-30, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Horst von Buttlar, arrived at Southwold, Suffolk, at 10.40 p.m. and flew over Blythburgh at 10.49 p.m. She was west of Wrentham at 10.58 p.m. when she was picked up by the Pulham searchlight and immediately turned north-east, dropping nine HE and twelve incendiary bombs as she did so. These caused damage to two farmhouses and injured one man.

  Two minutes later, she passed Mettingham and dropped eight HE bombs and one incendiary bomb on Bungay Common, killing two cows and injuring three others. At 11.15 p.m. L-30 dropped six HE Bombs at Ditchingham, smashing glass and displacing tiles, followed three minutes later by four HE bombs at Broome, which smashed some windows.

  The Zeppelin went off north-east to the coast, was fired at by anti-aircraft guns at Fritton, and then passed out to sea south of Great Yarmouth at about 11.25 p.m. Two direct hits were claimed by the Fritton guns, but L-30 returned to her base safely without any appreciable loss of speed.

  L-11, under Korvettenkapitän Viktor Schütze, approached Great Yarmouth from the north-east at 10 p.m. and passed over the St Nicholas lightship at 10.05 p.m. Five minutes later, she dropped several bombs in the sea and, at 10.15 p.m., came overland, dropping one HE and one incendiary bomb about ½ mile north-west of Southtown Station. Both landed on marshy ground and did no damage. She was engaged by anti-aircraft guns which opened up on her and then went out to sea again, dropping more bombs as she went.

  She moved south along the coast and, at 11.30 p.m., came in again north of Lowestoft, circling round to the northward and coming under fire from the AA guns of No. 5 Mobile AA Brigade at Fritton and Lowestoft. She at once went out to sea without having dropped any bombs, and proceeded further down the coast.

  At 1.10 a.m. she dropped one white and one red rocket east of Golf House gun, Felixstowe, circled back towards Shingle Street at 1.50 a.m., was off Felixstowe again at 2.05 a.m. and off Landguard at 2.20 a.m. Turning north, she passed up Harwich harbour, dropping three HE and one incendiary bombs, all of which fell in the water. When illuminated by the searchlights and fired on at 2.30 a.m., she quickly disappeared into the clouds, turned north-east over Walton and went off up the coast, finally going out to sea north of Aldeburgh at 2.50 a.m. The only damage done at Harwich consisted of a few windows broken by concussion, and a roof penetrated by a fragment of an AA shell.

  L-23, with Kapitänleutnant Wilhelm Ganzel in command, passed over the Lynn Well light vessel at 10 p.m., and threw a calcium flare, afterwards altering course to the south-east. She approached the Norfolk coast at Snettisham and, at about 10.15 p.m., threw several incendiary bombs which fell into the sea. Of these, three were later recovered and brought ashore at Snettisham.

  L-23 then made across the Wash in a westerly direction and crossed the coast at Kirton Fen, where she dropped an HE bomb at 10.40 p.m., which slightly damaged a farmhouse and killed some poultry. This was followed by an incendiary bomb at Kirton Holme at 10.45 p.m., two at Swineshead and another at Gosberton at 10.48 p.m.

  At this point the Zeppelin suddenly turned about and made northward, dropping four HE bombs and one incendiary on Boston at 10.54 p.m. There was little doubt that lights had attracted the bombs. The signal box of the Great Northern Railway station was damaged, and a workshop and office were also affected at the gasworks. One house was partially wrecked, and glass broken or doors blown in on seventy-five houses. The pier and the sluice doors of the River Witham were damaged, but not so severely as to interfere with the working of the doors. One man was killed, and two men and one woman injured. Three of the casualties were incurred out in the open.

  The Zeppelin went off to the southward, past Holbeach at 11.10 p.m. and Tydd at 11.25 p.m. She then turned west, and was west of Wisbech at 11.30 p.m. and east of Spalding 10 minutes later, going round north-eastwards towards the Wash. She dropped an incendiary bomb at Weston, north-east of Spalding, which did no damage. At 11.45 p.m. she passed Holbeach again, going north-east, and at 11.55 p.m. was over the Wash on her way homeward. She dropped the rest of her HE bombs, twenty-two in number, into the sea.

  L-13 crossed the Lincolnshire coast south of Cleethorpes at 10.56 p.m. After hovering a few minutes just off the town, she harmlessly dropped six HE bombs at Humberston at 11 p.m. She then turned south-west past Utterby at 11.10 p.m. and Ludford at 11.16 p.m. Here, she turned north-west to Tealby, east of Market Rasen at 11.22 p.m. After going over Walesby at 11.29 p.m., she headed south-west again to Market Rasen by 11.36 p.m.

  She now resumed her westerly course and, at 11.40 p.m., dropped an incendiary bomb at Caenby which did no damage. At 11.50 p.m. she was heard at Harpswell and Hemswell, east of Gainsborough, and at 12.10 a.m., now going north, she dropped five HE bombs and five incendiary bombs at East Stockwith. Two cottages were demolished, and a woman died of shock. In the opposite village of West Stockwith a large amount of glass was broken.

  The Zeppelin now turned south along the valley of the Trent, to Morton where, at 12.15 a.m. four incendiary bombs were dropped, to no effect. She then circled round to the east, and north to the neighbourhood of Epworth, where she was recorded at 12.30 a.m.

  Making south-west to Bawtry at 12.40 a.m., she passed south of Tickhill at 12.47 a.m. and, bearing round to the south-east, reached and bombed Retford at 12.56 a.m. All lights had been out in the town for some time, and local opinion ascribes its discovery to the railways. However this may be, the town was found and suffered considerably. Fifteen HE bombs and four incendiaries were dropped. Two bombs fell on the Corporation Gas Works and, their fragments piercing three gasometers, ignited and destroyed them. Glass was broken in the manager’s house and works office. Eight houses were seriously damaged, a small fruit warehouse demolished, and glass broken in the Weslyan schoolroom and sixty-seven other houses in various parts of the town. Three women were injured.

  The Zeppelin proceeded off towards Gainsborough and, at 1.05 a.m., dropped an HE bomb at Lea, south of the town, which did no damage. Passing on eastwards, she was near Claxby and Normanby-le-Wold, north of Market Rasen, at 1.20 a.m., and then went north-east and dropped an incendiary bomb at Aylesby, west of Grimsby, at 1.25 a.m. She went out to sea at Donna Nook at 1.30 a.m.

  L-22’s movements are more difficult to
trace, as she seems to have been flying at very high altitude. At 10.10 p.m. she was in the neighbourhood of Skegness and Wainfleet, and at 10.30 p.m. she was reported at sea off Sutton, where she dropped bombs into the sea. Traversing Lincolnshire, L-22 crossed the Humber near Killingholme at 12.35 a.m. and at 12.42 a.m. the raider was sighted east of Hull and the guns at Marfleet and Sutton opened fire on her. At 12.46 a.m. she dropped three HE bombs on open fields in the parish of Flinton, 7 miles north-east of Hull, which caused no harm. At 12.50 a.m. she passed Burton Constable, and at 12.55 a.m. left the coast at Aldbrough. At about 1.35 a.m. she was heard to drop her remaining bombs out at sea.

  Aftermath

  The statement from Berlin published in the German and European newspapers regarding this raid fell, as ever, rather short of the truth. After proclaiming ‘another successful attack’ on London it went on to claim:

  Souvenir pins made out of wire from the SL-11, the first Zeppelin brought down, 3 September 1916, given by the War Office to the British Red Cross Society to raise funds.

  Other Zeppelins attacked factories and fortifications at Norwich, where strong explosions and fires were caused. Searchlight batteries and industrial works in Oxford, Harwich, Boston and on the Humber were bombed and numerous fires caused there. In Yarmouth the gas works and aerodrome were attacked and a battery silenced.

  There was no mention of the loss of the SL-11.

  23/24 September 1916

  Eleven Zeppelins headed off on 23 September, but L-16 and L-24 had to turn back when they were halfway across. Nine Zeppelins were left to raid England between the Humber, London and the south coast of Kent. The main feature of the raid was an attack on London by the three newest Zeppelins of the German air fleet, two of which fell to the London AA defences.