Research Notes – The Great War (6) The Dread Zeppelin

~ Meg

World War One saw both the introduction of, or the unprecedented use of a host of new deadly weapons. The submarine, for example, had been first used during the American Civil War. However, the First World War would see it become the great predator of the sea. Chemical weapons like chlorine and phosgene gas were deployed on a mass scale. The armored tank replaced the horse in the armies’ cavalries. And air warfare became a threat for the first time in history, bringing death and destruction to the doorsteps of the civilian population. No one was exempt from the ‘total war.’

German zeppelins were capable of traveling at speeds of 85 miles per hour and carrying up to 2 tons of payload. From the early days of the war, these new weapons of mass destruction were deployed in bombing raids on Liege, Antwerp and Paris. In January of 1915, the massive hydrogen filled war machines brought their deadly cargo to the shores of Great Britain, striking the coastal towns of Great Yarmouth and King’s Lynn.

German Zeppelin corps commander, Peter Strasser was quoted as saying, “Nowadays, there is no such thing as a noncombatant. Modern warfare is total warfare.” The German aim in targeting civilian populations was to frighten the British into leaving the war. They upped their game in May, 1915.

As if it were straight out of an H.G. Wells’ science fiction novel, a massive airship darkened the starlit night over London on May 31, 1915. The 650-foot-long zeppelin, the largest ever constructed to date, glided toward the British capital, using the light reflecting off the Thames River as its guide. From the trap doors beneath the gondola of the craft, German troops dropped 90 incendiary bombs and 30 grenades onto the homes of the sleeping citizens below. The break of dawn brought with it the reports of seven deaths and the injury of thirty-five. But more than that, fear gripped the city.

Early on, the zeppelin was nearly unstoppable. It flew higher than artillery could fire, even higher than the airplanes of the day could fly. The planes couldn’t even get close enough to use their machine guns to bring them down. And not wanting to panic the citizenry with robust air raid warnings, the civil authorities’ only action in the face of imminent attack, was to send policemen with whistles out into the streets on bicycles with the cry of “take cover.”

The worst air attack came on September 8, 1915 when a zeppelin targeted London’s financial center. The three ton bomb –the largest deployed so far– caused heavy damage and killed 22 people, including 6 children. Public outcry was enormous, the zeppelins were now referred to as “baby killers” and the people demanded that their government do more to protect them from the menace in the air.

In response to the uproar, anti-aircraft defenses were recalled from the front lines in France, massive searchlights were installed, blackouts were instituted and the water from the lake in St. James’ park was drained so as not to direct the airships to the gates of Buckingham Palace. Additionally, British scientists were put to work developing ways to target the zeppelins’ vulnerable areas, namely the highly flammable hydrogen cells that made the ships lighter than air.

By mid-1916, the game had finally changed. British planes were able to reach higher altitudes and explosive bullets were employed to rip through the outer fabric of the death ships to ignite the hydrogen cells within. And though the Germans tried to press on with their air raids, sailing the zeppelins at higher altitudes, the crews began to suffer from the frigid temperatures and oxygen deprivation.

When the airships were brought down they were brought down in spectacular fashion. For example on September 2, 1916, the largest fleet of zeppelins ever to target London droned toward the city. One of the silver ships was caught in the searchlights and Royal Flying Corps pilot William Leefe Robinson was sent to deal with it. Robinson took his plane over 11,000 feet and drew close enough to fire his guns with the explosive bullets, ripping open the skin and igniting the hydrogen within. The massive fireball plummeted from the sky and could be seen from over 100 miles away.

With Britain’s now superior technology, the dread zeppelin was no longer the threat it once was. By the end of the war, German airships had staged more than 50 attacks on Britain, but at a heavy price with 77 of their 115 craft either shot down or disabled. And although raids on London killed nearly 700 and seriously injured almost 2,000, Germany’s goal of breaking the will of the British people was not achieved.

Published by Meg

Easily amused, never bored and constantly distracted. My creative pursuits include writing, drawing, painting and photography.

28 thoughts on “Research Notes – The Great War (6) The Dread Zeppelin”

    1. Yes! They were quite fast but also very cumbersome. The crews were unprotected in the cockpits too so the cold and the altitude was a limiting factor in their effectiveness. Nevertheless, silent and deadly!

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  4. Really fascinating. I’ve studied a lot of history including the World Wars, but I never realized how important to the Germans those Zeplins were. They sound pretty terrible, targeting civilians like that, but it happened in WWII again with German planes. Thank goodness the Brit’s improved the technology of those first war planes enough that by the end of WWI, they could eliminate those Zepplins, and lessen their people’s deaths and injuries, at least until 1939. I remember a prof saying by the end of WWI the large battle tanks were also invented, but that neither side really new what to do with them until before WWII.

    Thanks for sharing.

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    1. That’s true about the tanks. And they were hindered on the battlefields by the complex trench system, too. In the second war, trench warfare was generally abandoned, allowing the movement of large artillery and battle tanks. It’s tragic that war is the ‘mother’ of invention. So many advances in technology are due to military ‘necessity.’ Thanks for reading Mandi, I’m glad you found it interesting! (It sounds bad to say ‘enjoy’ something like this!)

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    1. Drew, it’s absolutely fascinating. So much changed over the course fo the war, science and technology and societal attitudes, even the arts. I’m sure you’ll be swept up in the history when you read it!

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  7. Not sure if you’ve covered doodlebugs or if it’s on your list but I remember my grandparents talking about those – it seemed like they were the in the top five reasons for not getting off to sleep.

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    1. Oh the V rockets! I can imagine! I’m concentrating on WWI since my work in progress novel is set partly during the first war. I have posts planned about the gas warfare, the Spanish Flu, the pipers of the Scots army (the ‘ladies’ from hell) and a few others. I make a lot of detours in my research! I won’t use 80% of it for the book, but it gives one the ‘feel’ of the period to immerse in it!

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  8. Hi, I was intrigued to find your blog while checking the reader for posts featuring my birth-town (I still call it my hometown although I moved away during early adulthood).This is the first time I ever learnt of this particular history even though I lived very close to that area of King’s Lynn throughout my childhood and teenage years. I remember word of mouth history of early gas explosions in the town and that’s what sprang to mind when I found photos online of the devastation alleged to be caused by the Zeppelin bombings. Who knows. Truth is always stranger than fiction however much effort we put into making it up as we go along 🙂

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  9. Yes the Zeppelins definitely seemed to cause great fear and maybe our government of the time took advantage of that. We were taught that they were all experimental voyages and non-aggressive. No idea really re. potential coincidences. I was just surprised to come across this history 🙂 The info online these days appears convincing enough that it was real and those reports may indeed be accurate. I was growing up in the early days of the European Union and so it may be that teachings we received as kids might have been designed to counteract among younger generations those post-war feelings that older generations held.

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    1. That seems like a good explanation. Not to perpetuate feelings of nationalism when the countries are trying to unite in economic and strategic union. History is difficult to swallow – American history is no different especially in regard to its history of slavery and civil rights. If only the past would serve as a guide to not repeating mistakes, right?

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