"The first death happened in Cooper Road at the house of a man called Samuel Legget who had five children. Thanks! Two airships were shot down by the defending aircraft: L 34 was brought down in flames off the coast at There were no further raids in 1916 although the Navy lost three more craft, all on 28 December: SL 12 was destroyed at The losses during 1916 caused the Germans to increase the ceiling of their airships. Elsewhere, there was sentiment from some in Germany for the Zeppelin to bring terror and panic to the streets and to strike at the enemy’s heart: London. The incendiary bombs were dropped to enable the pilots to navigate to their chosen locations Great Yarmouth and Kings Lynn where they dropped their bombs.A total of nine people were killed and some buildings were damaged.
This increased the ceiling to over 4,900 m (16,000 ft). Five turned back over the North Sea and the rest were met by heavy anti-aircraft fire and fighter aircraft over the The first night raid by the Gothas took place on 3 September against Chatham, as an experiment by five aircraft.
Once alight the airships fell to the ground. Zeppelins had fired the imagination of the German people and they were a source of pride, fascination and wonder.Depictions of the British public scanning the skies for Zeppelins was a popular theme, as people took to the streets to watch for the arrival of the raiders. Now Britons were not only dying on the battlefields of Flanders but also in their beds at home.For the next couple of months Zeppelins would hit towns across the east - Southend, Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds were all attacked and six more people were killed.
"We were all out there - as far as I remember it was cheerful, but probably the grown-ups were absolutely petrified. Four aircraft from Rfa 501 took off, one turning back before reaching England and casualties and damage were light. A number of baby boys born in September 1916 were named after the pilot or even after the crash site at Cuffley.This is a popular postcard of VC recipient Robinson (left) and his fellow “Zeppelin strafers”, Frederick Sowrey (right) and Wulstan Tempest. Sign up to receive our newsletter! This was first achieved by lightening the existing craft, principally by removing one of the engines.
Measures such as improved anti-aircraft guns, linked searchlight stations and co-ordinated aircraft squadrons began to challenge the raiders. Eighty defensive sorties were flown and one Giant was attacked by five aircraft, one attack succeeding in disabling an engine.Rfa 501 attacked by itself again on 16 February, four aircraft reached England, one carrying a 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) bomb which, aimed at On 12 March, five Zeppelins attempted a raid on the Midlands: headwinds caused them to mistake their position and two dropped their bombs in the sea, the rest bombing the Hull area with little effect, their commanders thinking that they were over By the middle of March, the Gotha squadron was once again ready to attack England but had to support the The last and largest aeroplane raid of the war took place on the night of 19 May 1918, when 38 Gothas and 3 Giants took off against London.
But the effect of the raid on a population who were used to battles being fought by soldiers on the battlefield was immense.Morale dropped and people feared further raids and believed that a German invasion would follow.Further raids were carried out on coastal towns and London during 1915 and 1916. On the morning of January 19th 1915 two German Zeppelin airships, the L3 and L4 took off from Fuhlsbüttel in Germany.