--- title: "Zeppelin Raids in WWI: The First Battle of Britain" description: "Speaking in front of the House of Commons, Sir Winston Churchill reassured his audience that any enemy aircraft approaching the British coasts would have been promptly attacked by fighter planes, described as a 'swarm of truly formidable bumblebees.' This description may evoke images of the steely Prime Minister in WWII, reassuring the British public that the RAF would take care of their German enemies in the Battle of Britain. But when he delivered that speech, Churchill was not yet Prime Minister. He was First Lord of the Admiralty. The year was 1914. And the enemy craft he was referring to included fleets of majestic, lighter-than-air Zeppelin airships. This is the story of the largely overshadowed, but not forgotten, First Battle of Britain, when German Zeppelins bombed the United Kingdom during WWI.\n\n## Key Takeaways\n- Kaiser Wilhelm II authorised the first Zeppelin bombing raid over Britain on 7 January 1915, and the first attack struck Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn on 19 January, killing shoemaker Samuel Smith — the first British civilian to die in an air raid.\n- Germany deployed 115 airships during WWI, of which 53 were destroyed and 24 damaged beyond repair, with Strasser's crews losing 40% of their personnel over a campaign spanning 3 years and 8 months.\n- Lieutenant Rex Warneford achieved the first aerial destruction of a Zeppelin on 6 June 1915 over Evere, Belgium, by diving and dropping six bombs onto LZ 37's roof.\n- The introduction of Brock, Pomeroy, and Buckingham incendiary bullets in 1916 — previously banned under the 1868 St Petersburg declaration for anti-personnel use — proved decisive in defeating Zeppelins.\n- Lieutenant William Leefe Robinson scored the first Zeppelin shootdown over English soil on 2-3 September 1916, destroying SL 11 with Brock and Pomeroy rounds over Hertfordshire.\n- The Silent Raid of 19 October 1917 saw 11 Height Climbers fly so high they were neither seen nor heard, but five were downed on the return journey by British and French fighters.\n\n## Hydrogen-Filled Cigars: The Zeppelin as a Weapon of War\n\nBy late 1914, it was clear that the Great War would not be over by Christmas. The horrors of modern trench warfare were already apparent to all nations involved, soldiers and civilians alike. But British citizens, far from the Western Front, felt safe from German incursions on their island nation. Direct attacks from the air in particular still appeared as something out of an H.G. Wells science fiction novel. And yet, from the early stages of the war, the German military was already considering the use of dirigible airships for tactical and strategic bombing raids. These airships were colloquially known as 'Zeppelins,' after the name of their inventor and main manufacturer, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin. These crafts were about 158 metres long, could carry a load of 9,000 kg, and their propellers could reach a speed of 84 kilometres per hour. The main structure was a cigar-shaped aluminium frame, covered in an envelope containing balloons filled with hydrogen. Hydrogen is a gas lighter than air, and it was the key for the Zeppelin's ability to reach altitudes up to 20,000 feet in relatively short time. Hydrogen is also highly flammable, which posed a constant risk to crews when exposed to enemy attacks. But the airships were well defended, with their five machine guns and deadly payload of bombs. Moreover, designers felt that high altitudes would protect Zeppelins from both anti-aircraft and fighter plane attacks. At the start of the Great War, the German military could rely on seven Zeppelins, six owned by the Army and one by the Navy. The initial Army experience was disappointing, as they lost half their fleet to anti-aircraft guns. The Navy, instead, was eager to invest in these weapons. The Navy's air service, headed by Corvette Captain Peter Strasser, was enthusiastic about the capabilities of Zeppelins for reconnaissance missions. Towards the end of 1914, Strasser insisted with his superiors that the airship could be used also for strategic bombing missions: in other words, targeting the British Isles to sow panic, crush morale, and disrupt industrial production. After initial reluctance, on the 7th of January 1915, German Kaiser Wilhelm II authorised the first bombing raid over the United Kingdom.\n\n## The First Raids: Great Yarmouth, King's Lynn, and Paris\n\nThe first Zeppelin raid over Britain was conducted on the night of the 19th of January 1915. Two airships, L3 and L4, left their base near Hamburg that morning, aiming to bomb the ports of Hull and Grimsby. But bad weather forced a change of plans, and the Zeppelins approached the towns of Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn instead. At around 21:00 hours, L3 dropped her ten bombs over a working-class district. The explosions sent pieces of splinter flying, one of them decapitating shoemaker Samuel Smith. He would be the first British civilian in history to die in an air raid. And more quickly followed. L3's and L4's deadly precipitations claimed three further lives that night, including that of 14-year-old Percy Goate. Subsequent attempts to bomb Britain all failed, mainly due to bad weather. But in the meanwhile, the Germans did succeed in hitting Paris. On the 21st of March, two airships killed 23 Parisians. Paris may have appeared as an easy target, due to its proximity to the German front lines. However, Zeppelins had to fly over 320 km of enemy territory, exposed to constant anti-aircraft fire. On the other hand, the approach to London, flying over open water, was much safer for the Kaiser's crews. That is why Captain Strasser sought permission from Wilhelm II to bomb the British capital. The Kaiser was initially reluctant, as he feared a bomb could kill one of his cousins — the British Royal family. But he eventually gave his consent, after French air raids struck German territory. And so it was that Londoners discovered the terror of death, raining from a lacerated sky. On the night of the 30th of May, airship LZ 38 dropped some 1,500 kg of bombs over North London, killing 7 and wounding 35. The psychological effect was immediate, shocking, and lasting. British citizens had now realised that not even the English Channel, nor their mighty Navy, could protect them from a technologically advanced enemy.\n\n## Fighting Back: Allied Attempts to Counter the Zeppelin Threat\n\nOn the night of the 6th of June 1915, one brave pilot proved that the daunting dirigibles were not invincible. Lieutenant Rex Warneford took on airship LZ 37 over the skies of Evere, Belgium, as she was returning to base. His first attack was repelled by the machine gunners on board, but he continued to pursue his foe, slowly climbing to 13,000 feet. Then, he dived towards LZ 37, dropping six bombs on her roof, thus sealing her fate. Warneford had earned his victory thanks to a great dose of determination, and an even greater helping of luck. It would remain an isolated incident for several months. Allied craft and weaponry were just inadequate to counter the Zeppelin threat. The average fighter plane at the time could fly faster than a Zeppelin, but only in a straight line. If a German airship dropped its ballast, it could climb to close to 20,000 feet in a few minutes. A fighter flying diagonally could reach that altitude only in half an hour, allowing for the airships to escape out of reach. Private contractors tried to address the problem by pitching new fighter models to the Government, specifically designed to reach high altitudes in a short time. Most of these prototypes proved disappointing, crashing during test flights. The most promising model was the PB 31 Nighthawk, developed by the Pemberton-Billing factory. The Nighthawk had a quadruplane configuration — four wings — and was equipped with two Lewis machine guns and a searchlight. But when tested, the Nighthawk took two hours to reach 10,000 feet. It was another failure, quickly abandoned. In parallel, the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service sought to address the lack of adequate weapons. Standard bullets, even when hitting a Zeppelin, would zip through the outer envelopes and hydrogen balloons, failing to ignite the flammable gas. The military introduced two new weapons, the 'Ranken dart' and the 'Farnborough fiery grapnel.' The dart was a cylindrical bomb with a pointy metal tip, designed to penetrate within the Zeppelin outer envelope. It could have been effective, but it required the fighter pilot to soar above the airship before dropping it — a nigh impossible task. The grapnel was a grappling hook, to be towed by a plane with a long line. The pilot was expected to 'hook' the dirigible from above, like a small boat fishing for a whale. Once the grapnel made contact, it triggered an incendiary device. Both weapons proved ineffective and were also abandoned. The answer was to go for simplicity: equip fighter plane machine guns with explosive and incendiary bullets, able to ignite the hydrogen in a fiery blaze. This type of ammunition had been prohibited in 1868 by the St Petersburg declaration. But the ban applied only to anti-personnel use. The British air services had initially forbidden their use against enemy planes. But in 1916 they agreed to a partial lift on the ban, allowing their use against Zeppelins. Several types of explosive and incendiary ammunition were introduced, such as the Brock, Pomeroy, and Buckingham bullets, which would later claim a string of victories against the giants of the sky.\n\n## Terror Over London: The 1915 Bombing Campaign\n\nOn 9th August, the German Navy launched another large raid with five Zeppelins, of which one was set to hit London. This airship experienced engine problems and had to return to base, while the other four craft targeted the Humber area. Zeppelins L10 and L11 dropped their bombs on Lowestoft and the Isle of Sheppey. Their raids claimed only one victim and seven injured. The material damage was estimated at only £2.50 at the time. L12's mission also turned out to be disappointing, as it was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Dover. The dirigible began leaking hydrogen and returned to base at Ostend, where it eventually burst into flames. The fifth Zeppelin, L9, dropped its payload over the town of Goole, near Hull. This raid was more effective than the others, killing 16 and wounding 11. L10 and L11 returned to England on the 17th of August. And this time, L10 managed to reach the most prized of targets: London. The first bomb fell at 22:32, and the last at 22:43. Most explosives fell around the Lea Bridge Road, demolishing four flats and setting St Augustine's church on fire. The 11 minutes of terror killed 10 civilians and left 48 wounded. London was hit again on the night between the 7th and 8th of September, by two Army Zeppelins, SL2 and LZ 74. SL 2 appeared over south-east London at about 22:50. In a matter of minutes, she dropped at least 12 incendiary and high explosive ordnance, injuring 11 Londoners and killing 7. Five of the victims were all members of the same family, the Beecheys. LZ 74 hovered over the City shortly after midnight, killing 11 and wounding 10. Defences proved completely ineffective, as anti-aircraft guns and two BE2c fighter planes scored only two minor hits. London would suffer again the following night, when Navy Zeppelin L13 bombed the city from 22:45 to 02:00. Whilst floating over central London, she dropped 13 High Explosive and 45 incendiary bombs, setting ablaze or heavily damaging several buildings. This was the most devastating attack so far, as it left at least 33 wounded and 21 dead, of which four were children. The shock and excitement brought about by the giant hovering machines of death was recorded by the pupils of Princeton Street Elementary School. One of them, signing as 'J. Marriage,' wrote in a school essay: 'On Wednesday night at quarter to eleven I was woke up by my mother who said \"Don't be frightened, the Germans are here.\" I ran to see what was the matter and in the sky there was a silvery coloured thing in the shape of a cigar. It stood there for about five minutes, dropping bombs and going in a circle for about two times. The National Hospital for children with paralysis were screaming with fright, for every window was broken. In Leather Lane, there were a wife and two children killed, of a policeman, and he has gone silly.' On the night of the 13th of October, L15 bombed Covent Garden around 21:30. A single High Explosive hit killed 17 and injured 21, before the airship turned northwards sowing more destruction along its path. In total, L15 left behind 25 killed and 60 wounded that night. T. Allen wrote: 'At 9.25 o'clock, I heard a loud bang … Soon after the banging had ceased, I went to Chancery Lane and there saw a sight that filled me with horror. In the Strand and Aldwych, a large amount of damage was done, and people say that lumps of flesh were found sticking to the walls and posts.' His schoolmate, I. McHenry, recorded the inadequacy of air defences: 'I heard a terrible bang, and the word zeps came back to my mind … (I) rushed to the window, opened it, and jumped out into the parapet. ... No sooner had I got out when bang – bang, two more bombs followed in quick succession … Boom – crash – boom, came the answer from our guns … but I am sorry to say that they did not find their destination.'\n\n## 1916: Strasser's Largest Expeditions and the First Shootdown Over England\n\nThe year 1916 did not start well for the Zeppelins. The Germans lost four airships during the Battle of Verdun, which prompted the Army to discontinue their tactical use. But Strasser and the Navy insisted on their effectiveness in strategic bombing raids. To prove his point, Strasser organised the largest expedition to date, on the 31st of January. He personally boarded L11 to lead a total of nine Navy Zeppelins over the English North and Midlands, seeking to strike high-value targets such as Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, and Nottingham. Due to poor visibility, none of these cities were hit, but the large fleet exacted a heavy toll, killing 70 civilians and injuring 113. A larger party returned on 31st March: ten airships headed towards London, but mechanical issues forced most of them back. One of them, however, managed to score a lucky hit, dropping a bomb over an Army facility in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire. Thirty-one soldiers died, but press censorship forced The Times to report that 'a village of no military significance' had been hit. Two days later, German dirigibles struck at their northernmost targets thus far: L14 and L22 dropped 23 bombs on Leith and Edinburgh, in Scotland. The first bombs landed in and around Leith Docks, killing one man in his bed. Another bomb crashed through the roof of a house, fell into the room of an old woman, and then into the flat underneath, where it burst into flames. Reportedly, the legendary little old lady calmly got out of bed and poured water through the hole, putting out the fire. In Edinburgh, a total of 24 bombs hit the south side, killing 7 residents. Despite the shock and carnage brought about by the Zeppelins, one Mrs. Smith was reported as giving birth during the raid. The baby was later registered as 'Catherine O'May Campbell Raida Smith.' After another raid in London in August, Strasser mounted another large-scale attack. On the 2nd and 3rd of September 1916, 14 airships dropped more than 500 bombs over an area covering the length of England, from Nottinghamshire in the North to London and Essex in the South. The damage inflicted was relatively low compared to other raids: 4 dead and 12 wounded. This raid is noteworthy for another reason: on this occasion, a British fighter pilot first downed an enemy Zeppelin over English soil. Airship SL 11 was not technically a Zeppelin, as it had been manufactured by a rival company, Schuette-Lanz, which used wooden frames instead of aluminium. The commander, Army Captain Wilhelm Schramm, had failed to score any relevant target north-east of London, when shortly after 2:25 in the morning his craft was ambushed. Lieutenant William Leefe Robinson attacked three times with his fighter plane, using recently introduced Brock and Pomeroy rounds. His third attack was a hit, and the hydrogen inside SL 11 caught fire. The flaming, wounded dragon came crashing down over Hertfordshire. Captain Schramm and his entire crew died in the wreckage. The loss of SL 11 prompted the German Army to withdraw its ships from further bombing raids. But Strasser and the Navy soldiered on, carrying out more attacks throughout the rest of 1916. This doggedness proved to be counterproductive, as the British were improving their defensive capabilities. On the 23rd of September, the Navy lost L33 and L32 to anti-aircraft fire and fighter attacks. By the end of the year, Strasser had lost a total of six airships.\n\n## Height Climbers, the Silent Raid, and the Death of Strasser\n\nBy 1917, the German high command was reconsidering the effectiveness of Zeppelins, preferring to invest in the new Gotha and Giant bomber planes. Strasser, however, proved once again his stubbornness. To him, the answer was to improve the current airships, by developing lighter models able to climb well beyond the reach of British fighter craft. These were known as 'Height Climbers,' able to climb above 20,000 feet. This, however, proved to be a double-edged sword. In order to reduce weight, these Climbers had to shed much of their armament. Plus, at such high altitudes, extreme cold and thin oxygen hampered both the engines and the crew's ability to function. Four successive expeditions from March to May did very little damage. By contrast, a single mission of 21 Gotha bombers caused 95 victims, of which 18 were allied troops — mostly Canadian — stationed at Shorncliffe, in Kent. On the 17th of June, Zeppelins L42 and L48 tried to replicate the success of their Gotha counterparts, bombing a Royal Navy ammunitions store in Ramsgate, also in Kent. But L48 was later attacked in rapid succession by four crafts of the Royal Flying Corps, over the coast of Suffolk. Each plane emptied their machine gun drums, equipped with explosive and incendiary bullets. After being hit by Lieutenant Watkins, L48 finally caught fire, crashing in the fields outside Theberton. A force of 11 Height Climbers returned on the night of the 19th of October. They flew at such altitude that their approach was neither seen nor heard. This became known as 'the Silent Raid.' This attack involved the South of England and the Midlands, where it reaped 36 victims and 55 wounded. On the return journey, the Height Climbers were attacked by British and French planes, who succeeded in downing five airships. Zeppelin L55 climbed to the record altitude of 24,000 feet to escape the onslaught. But the lack of oxygen impaired the crew's ability to manoeuvre, and eventually she crash-landed in central Germany. The end of the era of airships was fast approaching. On the 5th of August 1918, Peter Strasser led in person the next big raid on Britain, at the head of five Height Climbers. The commander flew on his most advanced Zeppelin, the L70, which he hoped could fly missions over New York. Strasser's technological marvel was due to meet its match, though: an Airco DH4 fighter plane, manned by gunner Robert Leckie and pilot Egbert Cadbury — from the family of famous chocolate manufacturers. Leckie scored a series of lucky hits, setting L70 ablaze and sending her crashing into the sea, off the Norfolk coast. The entire crew perished. Corvette Captain Peter Strasser, chief proponent of the Zeppelin strategic raids on Britain, was dead. The German Navy staged a last attack on the 25th of August 1918, which was, expectedly, a complete failure. The four Zeppelins involved did not inflict any damage, and one of them was shot down by the Royal Flying Corps.\n\n## Legacy and Impact: A Precedent for Total War from the Air\n\nThe German military had deployed 115 airships by armistice day, the 11th of November 1918, of which 53 were destroyed and 24 damaged beyond repair. Their missions over British territory had caused 577 casualties and caused a profound psychological impact on the Entente allies. So much so that the Treaty of Versailles demanded that the Germans hand over all the remaining Zeppelins. However, the raids had also highlighted the flaws of the dirigibles. Their bombing accuracy was poor, they were prone to malfunction, badly exposed to bad weather, and vulnerable to cheap incendiary rounds. Over a campaign spanning 3 years and 8 months, Strasser's crews had lost 40% of their personnel and inflicted relatively little material damage, equating to only 20% of the cost to build the airship fleet. By contrast, the Gotha and Giant bomber planes had proved more effective, claiming 836 victims over a 12-month campaign. The Entente had also invested in their own bomber raids, which had claimed 740 German civilian casualties. All in all, the damage inflicted by WWI bombing raids paled in comparison to the apocalyptic toll exacted by analogous campaigns in the wars to come. But the Zeppelins, however quickly obsolete, had established a precedent. Living far away from the front would not be a guarantee of safety any longer. In a modern war, fought from the air, nothing and no one would ever be safe again.\n\n## Frequently Asked Questions\n\n### Why did Germany choose Zeppelins for strategic bombing rather than conventional aircraft?\n\nDesigners believed that Zeppelins' high-altitude capability — up to 20,000 feet — would protect them from both anti-aircraft guns and fighter planes, which at the time could fly faster in a straight line but needed roughly half an hour to climb diagonally to that altitude, allowing a Zeppelin to escape. Their large payload capacity of up to 9,000 kg and the five machine guns defending them made them appear, at least initially, like a formidable strategic weapon.\n\n### What made the Zeppelin raids so psychologically shocking for British civilians?\n\nBritish citizens had believed the English Channel and the Royal Navy made their island safe from direct attack. When the first bombs fell on Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn on January 19, 1915, killing shoemaker Samuel Smith — the first British civilian ever to die in an air raid — the illusion shattered. Contemporary school essays record the panic at seeing a cigar-shaped silver object hovering over London, dropping bombs in circles while anti-aircraft guns failed to find their mark.\n\n### How did the British eventually develop an effective countermeasure against Zeppelins?\n\nStandard bullets failed to ignite hydrogen inside Zeppelin balloons. The breakthrough came in 1916 when the British partially lifted a ban on incendiary ammunition — previously prohibited under the 1868 St Petersburg declaration — allowing the use of Brock, Pomeroy, and Buckingham bullets against airships. Lieutenant William Leefe Robinson used these rounds on September 2–3, 1916, to destroy SL 11 over Hertfordshire, the first Zeppelin downed over English soil, prompting the German Army to abandon its bombing campaign.\n\n### What were the \"Height Climbers\" and why did they fail as a solution?\n\nHeight Climbers were lightened Zeppelin models developed from 1917 to fly above 20,000 feet — beyond the reach of British fighters. To reduce weight they shed most of their armament. But the extreme altitudes caused severe problems: thin oxygen impaired crews, engines malfunctioned in the cold, and bombs were scattered by fierce upper winds. During the Silent Raid of October 19, 1917, eleven Height Climbers crossed England unseen and unheard, yet five were shot down on the return journey by British and French fighters.\n\n### What was the overall military cost and legacy of the Zeppelin campaign?\n\nGermany deployed 115 airships over the course of the war, of which 53 were destroyed and 24 damaged beyond repair. Strasser's crews lost 40 percent of their personnel over a campaign spanning three years and eight months, inflicting 577 British civilian casualties — only 20 percent of the cost to build the fleet. By contrast, Gotha bomber planes achieved 836 victims in a single 12-month campaign. Despite their obsolescence, the Zeppelins established the modern precedent that no civilian population, however distant from the front, could consider itself safe from aerial attack.\n\n## Related Coverage\n- [The Evolution of Naval Special Forces: From World War II to Modern Day](https://warfronts.pub/military-history/naval-special-forces-evolution)\n- [The Origins of Naval Special Warfare: Unconventional Warfare from World War II to the Present](https://warfronts.pub/military-history/origins-of-naval-special-warfare)\n- [The US Navy SEALs: Origins, Evolution, and Modern Operations](https://warfronts.pub/special-operations/us-navy-seals-origins-and-evolution)\n- [Operation Unthinkable: Churchill's Alternative](https://warfronts.pub/analysis/operation-unthinkable-churchills-alternative)\n- [The US Navy SEALs: From WWII Scouts to Elite Special Operations Force](https://warfronts.pub/military-history/us-navy-seals-origins-and-evolution)\n\n## Sources\n1. \n2. \n3. \n4. \n5. \n6. \n7. \n8. \n9. \n10. \n11. \n12. \n13. \n14. \n15. \n16. \n17. \n18. \n19. \n20. \n21. \n22. \n\n[1]: https://books.google.ch/books?id=5qoXEAAAQBAJ&pg=PP1&dq=Strategy+without+Slide-Rule&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjQydCazsP5AhWWLOwKHdrTB-YQ6AF6BAgLEAI#v=onepage&q=churchill&f=false\n[2]: https://www.iancastlezeppelin.co.uk/\n[3]: https://www.iancastlezeppelin.co.uk/9/10-aug-1915\n[4]: https://www.iancastlezeppelin.co.uk/17-aug-1915\n[5]: https://www.iancastlezeppelin.co.uk/7/8-sep-1915\n[6]: https://www.iancastlezeppelin.co.uk/8/9-sep-1915\n[7]: https://www.iancastlezeppelin.co.uk/13/14-oct-1915\n[8]: https://www.iancastlezeppelin.co.uk/31-jan-1916\n[9]: https://www.iancastlezeppelin.co.uk/2/3-sept-1916\n[10]: https://www.iancastlezeppelin.co.uk/16/17-june-1917\n[11]: https://www.iancastlezeppelin.co.uk/5/6-august-1918\n[12]: https://www.westernfrontassociation.com/world-war-i-articles/the-first-air-raid-great-yarmouth-by-bob-wyatt/\n[13]: https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/learning/first-world-war/zeppelin-air-raid-on-edinburgh-1916\n[14]: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/zeppelin-raids/#:~:text=Zeppelin%20raids%20were%20called%20off,been%20killed%20in%20air%20raids\n[15]: https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/World-War-One-Zeppelin-Raids/\n[16]: https://www.history.co.uk/article/terror-from-the-air-the-german-zeppelin-raids-of-1915-1918\n[17]: https://www.westernfrontassociation.com/world-war-i-articles/zeppelins-over-norfolk/\n[18]: https://www.firstworldwar.com/airwar/bombers_zeppelins.htm\n[19]: https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/media/1922/grww1_5a_background_information_on_air_raids_in_ww1-59816.pdf\n[20]: https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/voices-of-the-first-world-war-zeppelins-over-britain\n[21]: https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/impressions-airship-raids-over-london-schoolchildren\n[22]: https://history.blog.gov.uk/2015/01/19/air-raid-casualties-in-the-first-world-war/\n\n" url: https://warfronts.pub/article/zeppelin-raids-wwi-first-battle-of-britain.md canonical: https://warfronts.pub/article/zeppelin-raids-wwi-first-battle-of-britain datePublished: 2026-03-04 dateModified: 2026-03-04 author: - name: Simon Whistler url: https://warfronts.pub/author/simon-whistler publisher: Warfronts image: "https://media.warfronts.pub/cdn-cgi/image/width=1600,height=900,fit=cover,quality=80,format=auto/articles/oZPgAzf9kUU/hero.jpg" type: NewsArticle contentHash: 98a435346eb7aae6c17ec9ef3acc3602d711d47b79cf45c318aa55892e003401 tokens: 7229 summaryUrl: https://warfronts.pub/article/zeppelin-raids-wwi-first-battle-of-britain.md.summary.md --- Speaking in front of the House of Commons, Sir Winston Churchill reassured his audience that any enemy aircraft approaching the British coasts would have been promptly attacked by fighter planes, described as a 'swarm of truly formidable bumblebees.' This description may evoke images of the steely Prime Minister in WWII, reassuring the British public that the RAF would take care of their German enemies in the Battle of Britain. But when he delivered that speech, Churchill was not yet Prime Minister. He was First Lord of the Admiralty. The year was 1914. And the enemy craft he was referring to included fleets of majestic, lighter-than-air Zeppelin airships. This is the story of the largely overshadowed, but not forgotten, First Battle of Britain, when German Zeppelins bombed the United Kingdom during WWI. ## Key Takeaways - Kaiser Wilhelm II authorised the first Zeppelin bombing raid over Britain on 7 January 1915, and the first attack struck Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn on 19 January, killing shoemaker Samuel Smith — the first British civilian to die in an air raid. - Germany deployed 115 airships during WWI, of which 53 were destroyed and 24 damaged beyond repair, with Strasser's crews losing 40% of their personnel over a campaign spanning 3 years and 8 months. - Lieutenant Rex Warneford achieved the first aerial destruction of a Zeppelin on 6 June 1915 over Evere, Belgium, by diving and dropping six bombs onto LZ 37's roof. - The introduction of Brock, Pomeroy, and Buckingham incendiary bullets in 1916 — previously banned under the 1868 St Petersburg declaration for anti-personnel use — proved decisive in defeating Zeppelins. - Lieutenant William Leefe Robinson scored the first Zeppelin shootdown over English soil on 2-3 September 1916, destroying SL 11 with Brock and Pomeroy rounds over Hertfordshire. - The Silent Raid of 19 October 1917 saw 11 Height Climbers fly so high they were neither seen nor heard, but five were downed on the return journey by British and French fighters. ## Hydrogen-Filled Cigars: The Zeppelin as a Weapon of War By late 1914, it was clear that the Great War would not be over by Christmas. The horrors of modern trench warfare were already apparent to all nations involved, soldiers and civilians alike. But British citizens, far from the Western Front, felt safe from German incursions on their island nation. Direct attacks from the air in particular still appeared as something out of an H.G. Wells science fiction novel. And yet, from the early stages of the war, the German military was already considering the use of dirigible airships for tactical and strategic bombing raids. These airships were colloquially known as 'Zeppelins,' after the name of their inventor and main manufacturer, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin. These crafts were about 158 metres long, could carry a load of 9,000 kg, and their propellers could reach a speed of 84 kilometres per hour. The main structure was a cigar-shaped aluminium frame, covered in an envelope containing balloons filled with hydrogen. Hydrogen is a gas lighter than air, and it was the key for the Zeppelin's ability to reach altitudes up to 20,000 feet in relatively short time. Hydrogen is also highly flammable, which posed a constant risk to crews when exposed to enemy attacks. But the airships were well defended, with their five machine guns and deadly payload of bombs. Moreover, designers felt that high altitudes would protect Zeppelins from both anti-aircraft and fighter plane attacks. At the start of the Great War, the German military could rely on seven Zeppelins, six owned by the Army and one by the Navy. The initial Army experience was disappointing, as they lost half their fleet to anti-aircraft guns. The Navy, instead, was eager to invest in these weapons. The Navy's air service, headed by Corvette Captain Peter Strasser, was enthusiastic about the capabilities of Zeppelins for reconnaissance missions. Towards the end of 1914, Strasser insisted with his superiors that the airship could be used also for strategic bombing missions: in other words, targeting the British Isles to sow panic, crush morale, and disrupt industrial production. After initial reluctance, on the 7th of January 1915, German Kaiser Wilhelm II authorised the first bombing raid over the United Kingdom. ## The First Raids: Great Yarmouth, King's Lynn, and Paris The first Zeppelin raid over Britain was conducted on the night of the 19th of January 1915. Two airships, L3 and L4, left their base near Hamburg that morning, aiming to bomb the ports of Hull and Grimsby. But bad weather forced a change of plans, and the Zeppelins approached the towns of Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn instead. At around 21:00 hours, L3 dropped her ten bombs over a working-class district. The explosions sent pieces of splinter flying, one of them decapitating shoemaker Samuel Smith. He would be the first British civilian in history to die in an air raid. And more quickly followed. L3's and L4's deadly precipitations claimed three further lives that night, including that of 14-year-old Percy Goate. Subsequent attempts to bomb Britain all failed, mainly due to bad weather. But in the meanwhile, the Germans did succeed in hitting Paris. On the 21st of March, two airships killed 23 Parisians. Paris may have appeared as an easy target, due to its proximity to the German front lines. However, Zeppelins had to fly over 320 km of enemy territory, exposed to constant anti-aircraft fire. On the other hand, the approach to London, flying over open water, was much safer for the Kaiser's crews. That is why Captain Strasser sought permission from Wilhelm II to bomb the British capital. The Kaiser was initially reluctant, as he feared a bomb could kill one of his cousins — the British Royal family. But he eventually gave his consent, after French air raids struck German territory. And so it was that Londoners discovered the terror of death, raining from a lacerated sky. On the night of the 30th of May, airship LZ 38 dropped some 1,500 kg of bombs over North London, killing 7 and wounding 35. The psychological effect was immediate, shocking, and lasting. British citizens had now realised that not even the English Channel, nor their mighty Navy, could protect them from a technologically advanced enemy. ## Fighting Back: Allied Attempts to Counter the Zeppelin Threat On the night of the 6th of June 1915, one brave pilot proved that the daunting dirigibles were not invincible. Lieutenant Rex Warneford took on airship LZ 37 over the skies of Evere, Belgium, as she was returning to base. His first attack was repelled by the machine gunners on board, but he continued to pursue his foe, slowly climbing to 13,000 feet. Then, he dived towards LZ 37, dropping six bombs on her roof, thus sealing her fate. Warneford had earned his victory thanks to a great dose of determination, and an even greater helping of luck. It would remain an isolated incident for several months. Allied craft and weaponry were just inadequate to counter the Zeppelin threat. The average fighter plane at the time could fly faster than a Zeppelin, but only in a straight line. If a German airship dropped its ballast, it could climb to close to 20,000 feet in a few minutes. A fighter flying diagonally could reach that altitude only in half an hour, allowing for the airships to escape out of reach. Private contractors tried to address the problem by pitching new fighter models to the Government, specifically designed to reach high altitudes in a short time. Most of these prototypes proved disappointing, crashing during test flights. The most promising model was the PB 31 Nighthawk, developed by the Pemberton-Billing factory. The Nighthawk had a quadruplane configuration — four wings — and was equipped with two Lewis machine guns and a searchlight. But when tested, the Nighthawk took two hours to reach 10,000 feet. It was another failure, quickly abandoned. In parallel, the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service sought to address the lack of adequate weapons. Standard bullets, even when hitting a Zeppelin, would zip through the outer envelopes and hydrogen balloons, failing to ignite the flammable gas. The military introduced two new weapons, the 'Ranken dart' and the 'Farnborough fiery grapnel.' The dart was a cylindrical bomb with a pointy metal tip, designed to penetrate within the Zeppelin outer envelope. It could have been effective, but it required the fighter pilot to soar above the airship before dropping it — a nigh impossible task. The grapnel was a grappling hook, to be towed by a plane with a long line. The pilot was expected to 'hook' the dirigible from above, like a small boat fishing for a whale. Once the grapnel made contact, it triggered an incendiary device. Both weapons proved ineffective and were also abandoned. The answer was to go for simplicity: equip fighter plane machine guns with explosive and incendiary bullets, able to ignite the hydrogen in a fiery blaze. This type of ammunition had been prohibited in 1868 by the St Petersburg declaration. But the ban applied only to anti-personnel use. The British air services had initially forbidden their use against enemy planes. But in 1916 they agreed to a partial lift on the ban, allowing their use against Zeppelins. Several types of explosive and incendiary ammunition were introduced, such as the Brock, Pomeroy, and Buckingham bullets, which would later claim a string of victories against the giants of the sky. ## Terror Over London: The 1915 Bombing Campaign On 9th August, the German Navy launched another large raid with five Zeppelins, of which one was set to hit London. This airship experienced engine problems and had to return to base, while the other four craft targeted the Humber area. Zeppelins L10 and L11 dropped their bombs on Lowestoft and the Isle of Sheppey. Their raids claimed only one victim and seven injured. The material damage was estimated at only £2.50 at the time. L12's mission also turned out to be disappointing, as it was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Dover. The dirigible began leaking hydrogen and returned to base at Ostend, where it eventually burst into flames. The fifth Zeppelin, L9, dropped its payload over the town of Goole, near Hull. This raid was more effective than the others, killing 16 and wounding 11. L10 and L11 returned to England on the 17th of August. And this time, L10 managed to reach the most prized of targets: London. The first bomb fell at 22:32, and the last at 22:43. Most explosives fell around the Lea Bridge Road, demolishing four flats and setting St Augustine's church on fire. The 11 minutes of terror killed 10 civilians and left 48 wounded. London was hit again on the night between the 7th and 8th of September, by two Army Zeppelins, SL2 and LZ 74. SL 2 appeared over south-east London at about 22:50. In a matter of minutes, she dropped at least 12 incendiary and high explosive ordnance, injuring 11 Londoners and killing 7. Five of the victims were all members of the same family, the Beecheys. LZ 74 hovered over the City shortly after midnight, killing 11 and wounding 10. Defences proved completely ineffective, as anti-aircraft guns and two BE2c fighter planes scored only two minor hits. London would suffer again the following night, when Navy Zeppelin L13 bombed the city from 22:45 to 02:00. Whilst floating over central London, she dropped 13 High Explosive and 45 incendiary bombs, setting ablaze or heavily damaging several buildings. This was the most devastating attack so far, as it left at least 33 wounded and 21 dead, of which four were children. The shock and excitement brought about by the giant hovering machines of death was recorded by the pupils of Princeton Street Elementary School. One of them, signing as 'J. Marriage,' wrote in a school essay: 'On Wednesday night at quarter to eleven I was woke up by my mother who said "Don't be frightened, the Germans are here." I ran to see what was the matter and in the sky there was a silvery coloured thing in the shape of a cigar. It stood there for about five minutes, dropping bombs and going in a circle for about two times. The National Hospital for children with paralysis were screaming with fright, for every window was broken. In Leather Lane, there were a wife and two children killed, of a policeman, and he has gone silly.' On the night of the 13th of October, L15 bombed Covent Garden around 21:30. A single High Explosive hit killed 17 and injured 21, before the airship turned northwards sowing more destruction along its path. In total, L15 left behind 25 killed and 60 wounded that night. T. Allen wrote: 'At 9.25 o'clock, I heard a loud bang … Soon after the banging had ceased, I went to Chancery Lane and there saw a sight that filled me with horror. In the Strand and Aldwych, a large amount of damage was done, and people say that lumps of flesh were found sticking to the walls and posts.' His schoolmate, I. McHenry, recorded the inadequacy of air defences: 'I heard a terrible bang, and the word zeps came back to my mind … (I) rushed to the window, opened it, and jumped out into the parapet. ... No sooner had I got out when bang – bang, two more bombs followed in quick succession … Boom – crash – boom, came the answer from our guns … but I am sorry to say that they did not find their destination.' ## 1916: Strasser's Largest Expeditions and the First Shootdown Over England The year 1916 did not start well for the Zeppelins. The Germans lost four airships during the Battle of Verdun, which prompted the Army to discontinue their tactical use. But Strasser and the Navy insisted on their effectiveness in strategic bombing raids. To prove his point, Strasser organised the largest expedition to date, on the 31st of January. He personally boarded L11 to lead a total of nine Navy Zeppelins over the English North and Midlands, seeking to strike high-value targets such as Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, and Nottingham. Due to poor visibility, none of these cities were hit, but the large fleet exacted a heavy toll, killing 70 civilians and injuring 113. A larger party returned on 31st March: ten airships headed towards London, but mechanical issues forced most of them back. One of them, however, managed to score a lucky hit, dropping a bomb over an Army facility in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire. Thirty-one soldiers died, but press censorship forced The Times to report that 'a village of no military significance' had been hit. Two days later, German dirigibles struck at their northernmost targets thus far: L14 and L22 dropped 23 bombs on Leith and Edinburgh, in Scotland. The first bombs landed in and around Leith Docks, killing one man in his bed. Another bomb crashed through the roof of a house, fell into the room of an old woman, and then into the flat underneath, where it burst into flames. Reportedly, the legendary little old lady calmly got out of bed and poured water through the hole, putting out the fire. In Edinburgh, a total of 24 bombs hit the south side, killing 7 residents. Despite the shock and carnage brought about by the Zeppelins, one Mrs. Smith was reported as giving birth during the raid. The baby was later registered as 'Catherine O'May Campbell Raida Smith.' After another raid in London in August, Strasser mounted another large-scale attack. On the 2nd and 3rd of September 1916, 14 airships dropped more than 500 bombs over an area covering the length of England, from Nottinghamshire in the North to London and Essex in the South. The damage inflicted was relatively low compared to other raids: 4 dead and 12 wounded. This raid is noteworthy for another reason: on this occasion, a British fighter pilot first downed an enemy Zeppelin over English soil. Airship SL 11 was not technically a Zeppelin, as it had been manufactured by a rival company, Schuette-Lanz, which used wooden frames instead of aluminium. The commander, Army Captain Wilhelm Schramm, had failed to score any relevant target north-east of London, when shortly after 2:25 in the morning his craft was ambushed. Lieutenant William Leefe Robinson attacked three times with his fighter plane, using recently introduced Brock and Pomeroy rounds. His third attack was a hit, and the hydrogen inside SL 11 caught fire. The flaming, wounded dragon came crashing down over Hertfordshire. Captain Schramm and his entire crew died in the wreckage. The loss of SL 11 prompted the German Army to withdraw its ships from further bombing raids. But Strasser and the Navy soldiered on, carrying out more attacks throughout the rest of 1916. This doggedness proved to be counterproductive, as the British were improving their defensive capabilities. On the 23rd of September, the Navy lost L33 and L32 to anti-aircraft fire and fighter attacks. By the end of the year, Strasser had lost a total of six airships. ## Height Climbers, the Silent Raid, and the Death of Strasser By 1917, the German high command was reconsidering the effectiveness of Zeppelins, preferring to invest in the new Gotha and Giant bomber planes. Strasser, however, proved once again his stubbornness. To him, the answer was to improve the current airships, by developing lighter models able to climb well beyond the reach of British fighter craft. These were known as 'Height Climbers,' able to climb above 20,000 feet. This, however, proved to be a double-edged sword. In order to reduce weight, these Climbers had to shed much of their armament. Plus, at such high altitudes, extreme cold and thin oxygen hampered both the engines and the crew's ability to function. Four successive expeditions from March to May did very little damage. By contrast, a single mission of 21 Gotha bombers caused 95 victims, of which 18 were allied troops — mostly Canadian — stationed at Shorncliffe, in Kent. On the 17th of June, Zeppelins L42 and L48 tried to replicate the success of their Gotha counterparts, bombing a Royal Navy ammunitions store in Ramsgate, also in Kent. But L48 was later attacked in rapid succession by four crafts of the Royal Flying Corps, over the coast of Suffolk. Each plane emptied their machine gun drums, equipped with explosive and incendiary bullets. After being hit by Lieutenant Watkins, L48 finally caught fire, crashing in the fields outside Theberton. A force of 11 Height Climbers returned on the night of the 19th of October. They flew at such altitude that their approach was neither seen nor heard. This became known as 'the Silent Raid.' This attack involved the South of England and the Midlands, where it reaped 36 victims and 55 wounded. On the return journey, the Height Climbers were attacked by British and French planes, who succeeded in downing five airships. Zeppelin L55 climbed to the record altitude of 24,000 feet to escape the onslaught. But the lack of oxygen impaired the crew's ability to manoeuvre, and eventually she crash-landed in central Germany. The end of the era of airships was fast approaching. On the 5th of August 1918, Peter Strasser led in person the next big raid on Britain, at the head of five Height Climbers. The commander flew on his most advanced Zeppelin, the L70, which he hoped could fly missions over New York. Strasser's technological marvel was due to meet its match, though: an Airco DH4 fighter plane, manned by gunner Robert Leckie and pilot Egbert Cadbury — from the family of famous chocolate manufacturers. Leckie scored a series of lucky hits, setting L70 ablaze and sending her crashing into the sea, off the Norfolk coast. The entire crew perished. Corvette Captain Peter Strasser, chief proponent of the Zeppelin strategic raids on Britain, was dead. The German Navy staged a last attack on the 25th of August 1918, which was, expectedly, a complete failure. The four Zeppelins involved did not inflict any damage, and one of them was shot down by the Royal Flying Corps. ## Legacy and Impact: A Precedent for Total War from the Air The German military had deployed 115 airships by armistice day, the 11th of November 1918, of which 53 were destroyed and 24 damaged beyond repair. Their missions over British territory had caused 577 casualties and caused a profound psychological impact on the Entente allies. So much so that the Treaty of Versailles demanded that the Germans hand over all the remaining Zeppelins. However, the raids had also highlighted the flaws of the dirigibles. Their bombing accuracy was poor, they were prone to malfunction, badly exposed to bad weather, and vulnerable to cheap incendiary rounds. Over a campaign spanning 3 years and 8 months, Strasser's crews had lost 40% of their personnel and inflicted relatively little material damage, equating to only 20% of the cost to build the airship fleet. By contrast, the Gotha and Giant bomber planes had proved more effective, claiming 836 victims over a 12-month campaign. The Entente had also invested in their own bomber raids, which had claimed 740 German civilian casualties. All in all, the damage inflicted by WWI bombing raids paled in comparison to the apocalyptic toll exacted by analogous campaigns in the wars to come. But the Zeppelins, however quickly obsolete, had established a precedent. Living far away from the front would not be a guarantee of safety any longer. In a modern war, fought from the air, nothing and no one would ever be safe again. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Why did Germany choose Zeppelins for strategic bombing rather than conventional aircraft? Designers believed that Zeppelins' high-altitude capability — up to 20,000 feet — would protect them from both anti-aircraft guns and fighter planes, which at the time could fly faster in a straight line but needed roughly half an hour to climb diagonally to that altitude, allowing a Zeppelin to escape. Their large payload capacity of up to 9,000 kg and the five machine guns defending them made them appear, at least initially, like a formidable strategic weapon. ### What made the Zeppelin raids so psychologically shocking for British civilians? British citizens had believed the English Channel and the Royal Navy made their island safe from direct attack. When the first bombs fell on Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn on January 19, 1915, killing shoemaker Samuel Smith — the first British civilian ever to die in an air raid — the illusion shattered. Contemporary school essays record the panic at seeing a cigar-shaped silver object hovering over London, dropping bombs in circles while anti-aircraft guns failed to find their mark. ### How did the British eventually develop an effective countermeasure against Zeppelins? Standard bullets failed to ignite hydrogen inside Zeppelin balloons. The breakthrough came in 1916 when the British partially lifted a ban on incendiary ammunition — previously prohibited under the 1868 St Petersburg declaration — allowing the use of Brock, Pomeroy, and Buckingham bullets against airships. Lieutenant William Leefe Robinson used these rounds on September 2–3, 1916, to destroy SL 11 over Hertfordshire, the first Zeppelin downed over English soil, prompting the German Army to abandon its bombing campaign. ### What were the "Height Climbers" and why did they fail as a solution? Height Climbers were lightened Zeppelin models developed from 1917 to fly above 20,000 feet — beyond the reach of British fighters. To reduce weight they shed most of their armament. But the extreme altitudes caused severe problems: thin oxygen impaired crews, engines malfunctioned in the cold, and bombs were scattered by fierce upper winds. During the Silent Raid of October 19, 1917, eleven Height Climbers crossed England unseen and unheard, yet five were shot down on the return journey by British and French fighters. ### What was the overall military cost and legacy of the Zeppelin campaign? Germany deployed 115 airships over the course of the war, of which 53 were destroyed and 24 damaged beyond repair. Strasser's crews lost 40 percent of their personnel over a campaign spanning three years and eight months, inflicting 577 British civilian casualties — only 20 percent of the cost to build the fleet. By contrast, Gotha bomber planes achieved 836 victims in a single 12-month campaign. Despite their obsolescence, the Zeppelins established the modern precedent that no civilian population, however distant from the front, could consider itself safe from aerial attack. ## Related Coverage - [The Evolution of Naval Special Forces: From World War II to Modern Day](https://warfronts.pub/military-history/naval-special-forces-evolution) - [The Origins of Naval Special Warfare: Unconventional Warfare from World War II to the Present](https://warfronts.pub/military-history/origins-of-naval-special-warfare) - [The US Navy SEALs: Origins, Evolution, and Modern Operations](https://warfronts.pub/special-operations/us-navy-seals-origins-and-evolution) - [Operation Unthinkable: Churchill's Alternative](https://warfronts.pub/analysis/operation-unthinkable-churchills-alternative) - [The US Navy SEALs: From WWII Scouts to Elite Special Operations Force](https://warfronts.pub/military-history/us-navy-seals-origins-and-evolution) ## Sources 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. [1]: https://books.google.ch/books?id=5qoXEAAAQBAJ&pg=PP1&dq=Strategy+without+Slide-Rule&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjQydCazsP5AhWWLOwKHdrTB-YQ6AF6BAgLEAI#v=onepage&q=churchill&f=false [2]: https://www.iancastlezeppelin.co.uk/ [3]: https://www.iancastlezeppelin.co.uk/9/10-aug-1915 [4]: https://www.iancastlezeppelin.co.uk/17-aug-1915 [5]: https://www.iancastlezeppelin.co.uk/7/8-sep-1915 [6]: https://www.iancastlezeppelin.co.uk/8/9-sep-1915 [7]: https://www.iancastlezeppelin.co.uk/13/14-oct-1915 [8]: https://www.iancastlezeppelin.co.uk/31-jan-1916 [9]: https://www.iancastlezeppelin.co.uk/2/3-sept-1916 [10]: https://www.iancastlezeppelin.co.uk/16/17-june-1917 [11]: https://www.iancastlezeppelin.co.uk/5/6-august-1918 [12]: https://www.westernfrontassociation.com/world-war-i-articles/the-first-air-raid-great-yarmouth-by-bob-wyatt/ [13]: https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/learning/first-world-war/zeppelin-air-raid-on-edinburgh-1916 [14]: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/zeppelin-raids/#:~:text=Zeppelin%20raids%20were%20called%20off,been%20killed%20in%20air%20raids [15]: https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/World-War-One-Zeppelin-Raids/ [16]: https://www.history.co.uk/article/terror-from-the-air-the-german-zeppelin-raids-of-1915-1918 [17]: https://www.westernfrontassociation.com/world-war-i-articles/zeppelins-over-norfolk/ [18]: https://www.firstworldwar.com/airwar/bombers_zeppelins.htm [19]: https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/media/1922/grww1_5a_background_information_on_air_raids_in_ww1-59816.pdf [20]: https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/voices-of-the-first-world-war-zeppelins-over-britain [21]: https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/impressions-airship-raids-over-london-schoolchildren [22]: https://history.blog.gov.uk/2015/01/19/air-raid-casualties-in-the-first-world-war/ <!-- youtube:oZPgAzf9kUU -->