Zeppelin Raids on London
The Kaiser allowed the bombing of London docks from February 1915, but no raids took place on London until May.
- 1915 May 31. Captain Linnarz commanded LZ.38 on the first London raid. Flying from Evere LZ.38 crossed the English coast. London police were warned of an incoming raid around 23:00; a few minutes later small incendiaries began to fall. The devices were a simple metal canister filed with a mix of thermite, tar, and benzol; the exterior was wrapped in tarred rope and a simple fuse was fitted. The first device fell on a house at 16 Alkham Road, others were scattered around residential streets as the Zeppelin flew south over Stoke Newington and then Hoxton. Two incendiaries fell on Shoreditch Empire Music Hall and as LZ.38 turned southeast explosive bombs were dropped on Spitalfields and a whiskey distillery in Commercial Road. Turning northeast the remaining load was dropped on Stepney, Stratford and finally, around 23:30, five bombs fell on Leytonstone. LZ.38 then headed back towards Southend, crossing the coast near Foulness. In total some 120 devices were dropped, totaling 3,000 pounds (1,400 kg), including 91 incendiaries, 28 bombs and two 'grenades'. 7 people were killed, 35 were injured; forty-one fires were started, burning out seven properties.
- 1915 Aug 10. The short summer nights discouraged further raids for some months. L.10 became the first Navy airship to reach London. L.10 was misnavigated, mistaking the reservoirs of the Lea Valley for the Thames, and consequently dropping the bombs on Walthamstow and Leytonstone. 10 people were killed, 48 injured,
- 1915 Sep 7/8 Two Army Zeppelins successfully bombed London, SL.2 dropped bombs on the Isle of Dogs, Deptford, Greenwich and Woolwich. LZ.74 was forced to drop weight on its approach and scattered 39 bombs over Cheshunt, before heading on to London and dropped devices on Bermondsey, Rotherhithe and New Cross. 18 people were killed and 28 injured,
- 1915 Sep 9. L.13 reached London, approaching over Golders Green, Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Mathy began bombing around 22:40. Amongst the bomb-load was a 300 kilograms (660 lb) device, the largest yet carried by a significant margin. It exploded on Bartholomew Close, did much property damage, gouged a crater eight feet deep and killed two men. The raid took 22 lives and injured 87. The wavering line of destruction through central London caused damage estimated at £530,787
- 1915 Oct 13. . L.15 continued on to London and began bombing over Charing Cross, the first bombs striking the Lyceum Theatre and the corner of Exeter and Wellington Streets, killing 17 and injuring 20. Further bombs were dropped on Holborn, as the airship neared Moorgate it was engaged by a new 75 mm gun sited at the Honourable Artillery Company. L.15 quickly recognised this new threat and dumped ballast, dropped only three more bombs (one landing on Aldgate High Street causing much damage) before departing, having suffered some engine damage from the shells
- 1916 Au 24/25/ The sixth successful London raid, thirteen Navy Zeppelins were launched and Heinrich Mathy's L.31 reached London, flying above low cloud, thirty-six bombs were dropped in ten minutes on West Ferry Road, Deptford Dry Dock, the station at Norway Street and homes in Greenwich, Eltham and Plumstead. 9 people were killed, 40 injured
- 1916 Sep 2/3. The Army's LZ.98 and the newly commissioned SL.11 reached London. SL.11 came in over Foulness with the intention of looping around and attacking the capital from the north-west. The craft dropped a few bombs over London Colney and South Mimms. At about 01:50 it was picked up by a searchlight over Hornsey and subjected to an intense but ineffective barrage. Sl.11 was lost in cloud over Wood Green but rediscovered by the searchlights at Waltham Abbey as it bombed Ponders End.
- 1916 Sep 23/24. L.31 approached London from the south, dropped a few bombs on Kenley and Mitcham and was picked up by a number of searchlights. Forty-one devices were then dropped in rapid succession over Streatham, killing 7 and wounding 27. More bombs were dropped on Brixton before crossing the river and dropping ten bombs on Leyton, killing another 8 people and injuring 30. L.31 then headed home. Also coming in from the south was L.32, running late due to engine problems, it dropped a few bombs on Sevenoaks and Swanley before crossing Purfleet at about 01:00.The Zeppelin then came under anti-aircraft fire as it dropped bombs on Aveley and South Ockendon. L.33 dropped a few incendiaries over Upminster before losing its way and making a number of turns, heading over London and dropping bombs on Bromley at around midnight. As the bombs began to explode, the Zeppelin was hit by an anti-aircraft shell despite being at 13,000 feet (4,000 m). Dropping bombs now to shed weight, a large number fell on homes in Botolph Road and Bow Road.
- 1916 Oct 1. L.31 under the experienced Heinrich Mathy, on his fifteenth raid, reached London. Approaching from Suffolk, L.31 was picked up by the searchlights at Kelvedon Hatch around 21:45; turning away, the craft detoured over Harlow, Stevenage and Hatfield before cutting its engines and drifting with the wind over Hertford. It dumped its bombs
- 1917 Oct 19/20. L.45 was trying to reach Sheffield, instead it dropped bombs on Northampton and London. Undetected and with no warning its bombs did great damage – the first few fell on Hendon Aerodrome but the rest, dropped at random from 16,000 feet (4,900 m), struck in Piccadilly, Camberwell and Hither Green
- And that was the last raid on London
Clytie Hunt