Zeppelin raids, Gothas and 'Giants' Britain's First Blitz - 1914 -1918

Ian Castle looks at the World War One air raids on Britain - the First Blitz

Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk

This second raid by ‘height-climber’ Zeppelins again proved ineffective. Six Zeppelins set out hoping to reach London but the winds at high altitude were against them. Only four reached England: L.40, L.42, L.43 and L.45. None got even close to London.

L.40, commanded by Kptlt Erich Sommerfeldt, came inland at 12.18am over Kessingland on the Suffolk coast. Heading towards Norwich on a north-west course, at about 12.45am L.40 dropped a 300kg HE bomb near the village of Little Plumstead, about five miles east of the city. This resulted in some broken windows in two cottages and a greenhouse. Continuing on a course roughly to the north, L.40 dropped a fuel tank at Horstead and another at Worstead. Having passed North Walsham, at 1.00am Sommerfeldt dropped an HE bomb at Knapton that tore down telegraph wires for a distance of 50 yards. L.40 then passed out over the coast at Mundesley and was later heard dropping 14 bombs out at sea. Nearing home L.40 managed to climb into cloud and escape an attack by a Curtiss H-12 ‘Large America’ flying boat sent out from RNAS Yarmouth.

Kptlt Martin Dietrich commanding L.42 came inland over Walton-on-the-Naze in Essex at 12.20am and heading west passed Colchester before following a meandering course over Essex and Suffolk at a height of 18,700 feet. At 1.30am Dietrich dropped an incendiary about a mile outside Halstead without effect. About 35 minutes later he dropped an HE and an incendiary at Radwinter, both landing about 500 yards from the church but again without effect. Heading north L.42 approached Newmarket at about 2.30am and five minutes later, just west of Mildenhall, dropped an HE bomb on West Row Fen at least a quarter of a mile from the nearest cottage. Three minutes later another HE bomb burst harmlessly on a grass track just over a mile from Lakenheath. Continuing north, L.42 crossed into Norfolk and at 2.40am dropped five HE bombs at Hockwold. Two fell on a meadow owned by Frederick Rickard, smashing some windows and roof tiles at his house. Two more exploded on Charles Thompson’s wheat field. Two minutes later two HE bombs landed at Weeting Heath without causing damage. Moments later two HE fell at Cranwich, where one failed to detonate and the other exploded harmlessly, then an incendiary dropped at Ickburgh without burning.The final two bombs, both incendiaries, landed in fields at Hilborough at about 2.47am. Dietrich headed north to the coast and left Norfolk between Weybourne and Sheringham at 3.25am. L.42 flew into a heavy storm on the return flight, being struck by lightning three times, but she made it home safely.