The German Empire conducted a strategic bombing campaign against the United Kingdom throughout the First World War. After some initial attacks by seaplanes, the main campaign began in January 1915 with airships. Until the Armistice of 11 November 1918, the (Navy Aviation Department) and (Imperial German Flying Corps) mounted over fifty bombing raids. The raids were generally referred to in Britain as Zeppelin raids but Schütte-Lanz airships were also used. In the autumn of 1916 the Flying Corps abandoned airship raids in favour of bomber aircraft, although the Navy persisted with airships until the end of the war. Although London was the main focus for the raids, many other towns were hit, either as secondary targets or as the result of navigation errors. In all, more than 1,400 people were killed in the raids with almost 3,500 people injured and causing damage amounting to nearly £3 million, for the loss of thirty airships and sixty-two large aeroplanes.
1914
Early German long-range bombing
On 6 August 1914, the German Army Zeppelin Z VI bombed the Belgian city of Liège, killing nine civilians. Ten more died in a night attack on Antwerp on 25 August and 2 September. In the first month of the war, Germany formed the ("Ostend Carrier Pigeon Detachment"), a cover name for an elite air unit, commanded by Wilhelm Siegert, to be used for the bombing of the Channel Ports, when new long-range aircraft became available. During the opening months of the war, a German pilot flying a regularly dropped bombs on Paris. The first raid consisted of five small bombs and a note demanding the immediate surrender of Paris and the French nation. Before the stabilisation of the Western Front, German aircraft made a number of raids on Paris, slightly damaging Notre Dame Cathedral. The first bombing raids on England were nuisance raids carried out against Channel ports. By mid October 1914 Londoners were already fearing a Zeppelin raid and all lights were hidden at night. German press reports mention a raid carried out on 27 October but there is no British record of an incident on this date.
First attack on Britain
The first raid that was undoubtedly made on Britain was on 21 December; the weather was dull with a slight wind from the south and rain showers. At the Friedrichshafen FF.29 seaplane no. 203 from , carrying four bombs, flown by Stephan von Proudzynski and his observer () Ludwig von Frankenberg und Proschlitz, dropped two bombs into the sea near the Admiralty Pier in Dover. On 24 December the weather was cloudy, slightly misty with a north-easterly breeze. Proudzynski and Fankenberg in FF.29 no. 204, appeared high over Dover. Tommy Terson looked up from his garden in Leyburne Road as he was picking Brussels sprouts for his Christmas dinner and an object in the sky rushed past, his garden exploded and knocked him down, causing him superficial injuries. As he got up he saw a crater where his sprouts had been. The windows of the houses near the explosion had been broken and a neighbour, James Banks, up a ladder collecting holly, had been thrown to the ground. The aircraft dropped a bomb near Dover Castle, which broke some glass. A British pilot took off but failed to find the aircraft.
Christmas Day was fine with a light breeze from the south-south-west. At Proudzynski and Fankenberg reappeared in FF.29 no. 203 over Sheerness at and were fired on by anti-aircraft guns as they flew up the Thames, pursued by three aircraft that had taken off from bases at Eastchurch and the Isle of Grain. A Vickers F.B.4 (Gunbus no. 664) of 7 Squadron Royal Flying Corps (RFC), flown by Second-Lieutenant Montagu Chidson and the gunner, Corporal Martin, overtook the raider near Erith and attacked over Purfleet. Both aircraft were engaged with 22 rounds by anti-aircraft guns and took evasive action. The Vickers machine gun carried by the F.B.4 jammed and Martin resorted to a carbine, loaded with nine rounds of incendiary ammunition, reserved for attacks on airships. Martin hit the FF.29 three times around the cockpits. The German pilot dived away; the British aircraft suffered an engine failure and glided down to land at Eastchurch. On the return journey the German pilot dropped two bombs harmlessly at Cliffe station and flew out to sea.
1915 German plans
Proposals to bomb Britain were first made by Paul Behncke, deputy chief of the German Naval Staff, in August 1914. The proposals were backed by Alfred von Tirpitz, who wrote that,
New year raids The campaign was approved by the Kaiser on 7 January 1915, who at first forbade attacks on London, fearing that his relatives in the British royal family might be injured. Following a failed attempt on 13 January 1915, which was abandoned because of the weather, the first successful attempt took place on the night of 19/20 January 1915. Two Zeppelins were to attack targets near the Humber estuary but were diverted south by strong winds and dropped their bombs on Great Yarmouth, Sheringham, King's Lynn and the surrounding Norfolk villages. Two British aircraft took off but failed to find the airships; four people were killed and 16 injured. Monetary damage was estimated at £7,740 ().
The raid prompted alarmist stories about German agents using car headlights to guide Zeppelins to their targets. The first Navy attempts to bomb London, made by L8, failed due to poor weather. The first attempt was made on 26 February but was abortive due to headwinds. A second attempt ended when the airship flew below the cloud base to check its position and found itself over Belgian army positions near Ostend. The Zeppelin was riddled by small-arms fire and landed near Tienen, where it was destroyed by high winds. A four-airship raid by the Army on 17 March ran into fog and was abandoned, one airship bombing Calais and being damaged on landing. On 20 March the three remaining Army airships set off to bomb Paris and one was lost on the return journey. Two Navy raids failed due to bad weather on 14 and 15 April, and it was decided to delay further attempts until the more capable P-class Zeppelins were in service.
The Army received the first P-class Zeppelin, LZ38 ( Erich Linnarz), that raided Ipswich on 29/30 April and Southend on 9/10 May. An Imperial Order dated 12 February authorised the bombing of the London docks, which was interpreted by the German General Staff as permission to bomb targets east of Charing Cross. This interpretation was formally accepted by the Kaiser on 5 May 1915. LZ 38 also attacked Dover and Ramsgate on 16/17 May, where, over Dover at it was illuminated by searchlights, the first such event in the war. Anti-aircraft fire induced Linnarz to dump his bombs on Oxney, to no effect. Flight Sub-Lieutenant Redford Mulock, a Canadian member of the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS), flew an Avro carrying two incendiary bombs and two hand-grenades from Westgate-on-Sea and caught up with LZ 38 as it bombed. Linnarz ordered the Zeppelin to climb rapidly before Mulock could attack and turned north, floating above the Goodwin Sands, where engine-trouble forced him to turn for home. Mulock followed the Zeppelin, climbing steadily to , as far as the West-Hinder lightship but could not catch up.
LZ38 attacked Southend again on 26/27 May, dropping seventy bombs, killing three people and wounding three, with no damage to buildings. Five aircraft rose to intercept and failed to find the airship, two being damaged on landing. These four raids killed six people and injured six, causing property damage estimated at £16,898. RNAS aircraft had twice tried to intercept LZ 38 but it out-climbed the aircraft or was already at too great an altitude for the aircraft to intercept; the B.E.2 had a rate of climb of about .
On the night of 30/31 May, Linnarz commanded LZ38 on the first London raid; LZ37 was also to be part of the raid but was damaged early on and returned to Namur. Flying from Evere LZ38 crossed the English coast near Margate at before turning west over Southend. London police were warned of a raid around ; a few minutes later small incendiaries began to fall. These devices, weighing , were filled with thermite and the exterior was wrapped in tarred rope. About 120 bombs were dropped on a line from Stoke Newington south to Stepney and then north toward Leytonstone. Seven people were killed and 35 injured; 41 fires were started, burning out seven properties and the damage was assessed at £18,596.
Aware of the difficulties that the Germans were experiencing in navigation, the government issued a D notice prohibiting the press from reporting anything about attacks not mentioned in official statements. Earlier press reports had contained detailed information about where bombs had fallen. Fifteen sorties were flown against the raiders, only one of which managed to make visual contact with an airship. No ground-based guns fired and no searchlights found the airship; one British pilot was killed on landing.
The naval airships also tried to raid London; on 4 June strong winds led the commander of L10 to misjudge his position and bomb Gravesend. L9 was also blown off course by the weather on the night of 6/7 June, attacking Hull instead of London and causing considerable damage. On the same night a raid by three Army Zeppelins also failed because of the weather; as the airships returned to Evere they ran into RNAS aircraft flying from Veurne in Belgium. LZ38 was destroyed on the ground and LZ37 was intercepted in the air by Reginald Warneford in a Morane Parasol, who dropped six Hales bombs on the Zeppelin, setting it on fire. LZ37 crashed into the convent school of Sint-Amandsberg; two nuns and all but one of the Zeppelin's crew died. Warneford was awarded the Victoria Cross for his achievement and Zeppelins were withdrawn from their bases in Belgium.
After an ineffective attack by L10 on Tyneside on 15/16 June the short summer nights discouraged further raids for some months and the remaining Army Zeppelins were reassigned to the Eastern and Balkan fronts. The Navy resumed raids on Britain in August. On 9/10 August, four Zeppelins were directed against London; none reached its target and L12 was damaged by ground fire near Dover and came down in the sea off Zeebrugge. Despite eight attacks by RNAS aircraft, the airship was towed into Ostend where it was dismantled. The four-Zeppelin raid was repeated on 12/13 August; again only one airship, L10, made landfall, dropping its bombs on Harwich.
A third four-Zeppelin raid tried to reach London on 17/18 August but two turned back with mechanical problems, one bombed Ashford, Kent in the belief it was Woolwich and L10 became the first Navy airship to reach London. L10 was beset by navigational errors, mistaking the reservoirs of the Lea Valley for the Thames and bombing Walthamstow and Leytonstone. Ten people were killed, 48 injured and property damage was estimated at £30,750. Anti-aircraft guns were fired at L10 and a few aircraft took off in pursuit but the Zeppelin suffered no damage. L10 was destroyed a little over two weeks later when it was struck by lightning, caught fire off Cuxhaven and was lost with all hands.