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Silent but deadly

Historian Richard Pullen recalls the forgotten Zeppelin raids over Lincolnshire of the First World War

Afew days ago, I met up with Cliff Clover, an old friend I haven't seen for a long time. Cliff is a Great War historian and an expert on Zeppelins.
A few years back, he even wrote a book on the subject, Zeppelins over the Eastern Counties. Talking to Cliff, I was struck by how little is known about these early air raids, especially when compared to the raids that took place during the Second World War.

The Zeppelin raids were a more hit and miss affair than the organised raids of the war but many people were killed or injured by the airships and the bombs landed much closer to home than many of us may think.

Lincoln Cathedral has always provided a good aerial navigation point for both friend and foe alike and the commanders of the "Zepps" were no different.

On September 16, 1916, a Zeppelin passed over Lincoln and dropped a bomb in a garden in Washingborough and another three in fields between the railway line and the Lincoln to Greetwell road.

Nobody was injured in Washingborough during this raid but the next day the ferry across the River Witham was so overwhelmed with sightseers that it became overloaded and capsized, drowning the 17-year-old Ernest Robinson, of Carlton Road, and George Melson, of Winnowsty Lane, who was just 7 years of age.

Although nobody in Lincoln or Washingborough may have died directly due to the action of the Zeppelin on the night of the September 16, the raid as a whole ended with 36 people dead, 126 injured and two Zeppelins brought down.

Other raids over Lincolnshire resulted in bombs being dropped on many Lincolnshire towns and villages, which among others included Fiskerton, Boston, Scartho, Cleethorpes, Metheringham, Navenby, Blankney, Doddington, Skellingthorpe and Little Sutton.

Perhaps among the most poignant losses of the Zeppelin raids were the lives lost in Cleethorpes on the early morning of April 1, 1916.

Seven Zeppelins set out to bomb London that night, but due to engine problems, one of them, the L22, commanded by Captain Max Dietrich, only made it as far as Newark on Trent before turning back for home.

Wanting to rid itself of its dangerous load the Zeppelin made for Cleethorpes and let loose with its bombs.

Most of these bombs landed without doing a great deal of damage but one 25lb bomb landed directly on the town's baptist chapel.

Normally, the chapel would have been empty at this time in the morning, but on that morning the place of worship was full of soldiers from 3rd Battalion the Manchester Regiment, who were billeted there.

Of the men billeted there, 31 were killed and of the survivors, only four escaped without injury and that was only because they had been playing cards in the cellar.

Of the men killed, three had only been in the Army for a few days and two of them were due for discharge as they had served 21 years in the Army.

It is terrific that we today are making so much of an effort to commemorate our Second World War aviation history, but we must not forget the sacrifice made during the less well known air war of 1914-18.

Zeppelins Over the Eastern Counties was written by Cliff Clover and is published by Barny Books.


Read more: http://www.thisislincolnshire.co.uk/Silent-deadly/story-19535408-detail/story.html#ixzz2ZckdbLN9
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