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Remembered Today:

First Zeppelins shot down


Guest Simon Bull

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Which cemetery were they buried in originally? and why were they moved?

Great Burstead churchyard, I believe, and then moved in the 1960s to the German cemetery at Cannock Chase, along with the crews of three other German airships, L31, L48 and SL11. The move was part of the German war graves organisation's (VDK) concentration of German war graves in the UK.

There are several other pals who have written on this subject in previous threads and know the details of this story far better than I do.

Mick

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I was skulking around the church, I assume it was St MAry Magadelene, in Great Burstead, I found WW2 burials but no reference to the L32

John

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  • 2 months later...

Huge crowds made a day of visiting the crash site of L32. The aftermath of the crash is described by Henry Williamson, right at the end of “The Golden Virgin”:

“They made their way to Snail’s Hall Farm, where the Zeppelin’s empty frame lay glittering like part of the Crystal Palace in the bright sunlight of the hot day as it straddled two burnt fields across a scorched hedge, broken in the middle where it had sunk down upon an oak tree. It was seven hundred feet long.....Approaching the buckled frame, they saw the white corrosion of fire on the aluminium girders and cross members, and the oak tree, forty feet high, with all its branches crushed around the trunk.” The hero blags his way into the barn where the bodies are laid out: “Two rows of bodies lay on straw. Their faces looked to have been tarred, and the tar to have cracked, revealing old red paint beneath. Their thick greatcoats were frizzled, their long felt boots grew black lichen. The arms and legs were those of dummies, ready to dangle loose about skulled faces with stubbed ears and noses, and flat eyes. He counted twenty one. The twenty second corpse, lying apart, was not burned. Grass stuck to the Iron Cross in the buttonhole of the reefer jacket. “He’s the commander, sir,” said the sergeant. “He was picked up in the field, some way off the airship. There’s the impression, six inches deep in the ground, where he was plonked down....”

Williamson goes on to describe attending the funeral 3 days later. The procession went from the farm to Great Burstead church: “On a lorry, covered by a black pall, lay twenty-one coffins. Behind them was a trailer pulled by a second lorry, bearing the coffin of the commander....The mass grave was in one corner of the churchyard, beside a small pit for the commander”. Six RFC officers carried the commander’s coffin. Williamson saw the crew as fellow-sufferers in the war; the Vicar however evidently did not, changing “our dear departed brothers” in the service to “these men here departed”

I visited Great Burstead today to try and locate the site, calling first at the churchyard. There is no mass grave here, as the graves were relocated in 1966 to the military cemetery at Cannock Chase, so I am informed by Ms. Sylvia Kent, courtesy of Monsieur Google. (Sylvia Kent also advises that bits of L32 are on show in Billericay museum, and that the farmer had to wait 3 years for compensation for his trampled crops.) Nevertheless I did look around the churchyard to see if there was an obvious site, but there is none - the churchyard is extensive, and there is a massive cemetery extension next door.

The location of Snail’s Hall Farm was easily found on the net by omitting the apostrophe - here it is: http://www.simonpg.com/spitty/snails.htm. Image-googling Snail’s (with or without apostrophe) Hall Farm will find a stereograph of the crash site of L32 and of the impression left by the commander. Great Burstead has evidently grown considerably since 1916, and not for the better. Nevertheless, Snail’s Hall Farm is still there, miraculously still with farmland, albeit a modern building now, but still with the same name. What looks like an old barn by the main house has been converted to a separate dwelling. There is no access to the grounds without knocking and asking (which I didn’t do), but from a little way up Green Farm Lane, the left road of the fork in which Snail’s Hall Farm rests, one can get a good look at the farmland from a gate by the roadside. There is a hedge of oaks - perhaps the same one L32 came down onto.

Without either trespassing, enquiring at the farm, or doing further research locally, this is about as close to the crash site as we are going to get. Nevertheless it is encouraging to see that it is still in existence and evidently in much the same form as it was in 1916.

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  • 8 years later...
  • 2 months later...

Hi All

For anybody interested . The Silver Cup presented to Leefe Robinson by Hornchurch Council, together with the Silver Pen Tray presented to him by the Children of the `Cottage Homes` at Hornchurch, are now on long term loan to the Purfleet Heritage Museum in Essex, where they can be viewed, in advance of an Exhibition to be held in 2016 to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the shooting down of the 3 Zeppelins from Suttons Farm (Hornchurch) Airfield. We also have available 2 of the `Wakefield` Medals commemorating the shooting down of Zepp L15 by the Purfleet Gunners.

Bernard

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  • 6 months later...

Tempest, who dispatched L31, later ended up on 100 Squadron (the pioneer night bombing squadron on the Western Front) as a Flight Commander, then C.O. Doubtless his experience of night flying with 39 (HD) Sqn served him well when he went to 100. Sowrey too, went to 100 in 1917, where he too served as a Flight Commander.

I wrote a short article for the 100 Squadron Association newsletter last year on those early Zepp raids over the UK, as they were the catalyst for the formation of 100 Squadron. If anyone would like to read it, I can either cut and paste it here, or email it to anyone interested :)

All the best,

Greg

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The picture shows the wreckage of a Zeppelin that lies in a field at Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, guarded by a sentry, on October 2 1916.

March 1916 is perhaps best known for the start of military conscription to make up for the enormous loss of men on the Western Front. On March 5, a snowstorm in fierce winds was followed by another menace a night raid by three Zeppelins. The German airships had planned to bomb the shipyards at Rosyth, on the Firth of Forth, but strong headwinds blew them south and one airship finished up in Kent, where it dropped its bombs, fortunately without harm.

The other two Zeppelins reached Hull, which was easy to target with its snow-covered streets in contrast to the darkness of the nearby Humber. The city was defenceless as the Zeppelins took their time, dropping bombs and incendiaries, badly damaging a ship and destroying many buildings one blast wrecked 20 houses in a single street. All told, 18 people were killed and 52 injured in the raid. The weather later that month grew worse. A blizzard on March 27 left nine people dead, mainly from exposure, and much of the country was a foot deep in snow, with snowdrifts up to 20ft high. It was particularly nerve-racking for troops on leave from the Western Front. The men returning to the front had mixed feelings about their detention on this side fear of possible trouble on rejoining their regiments and a certain pleasure at the enforced extension of leave. The railway companies gave the troops a printed statement to explain their delays. For soldiers just starting their leave, the long journey home was deeply frustrating as their hours at home were reduced.

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One officer at the front who was not sorry Zeppelins were over London..

October 26, 1915

An officer in the Berkshires wrote: Since I last wrote our battalion has had the severest test that can ever be set to any body of men, and the price paid was enormous. We have been in what were, perhaps, two of the most terrible battles ever fought.

We were ordered to lead the attack on September 25 and so were in the very front of the charge. Within four hours we had captured four lines of the German trenches and two field guns. We remained isolated under heavy shell fire for three days and nights without food or water. Then we were relieved and went back, as we thought to rest, but at the end of three days we were ordered back again and thrown into another attack. It is a miracle how I escaped, for although I was with the Commanding Officer and did not go right into the charge, yet the artillery fire was so heavy that it became almost impossible to exist anywhere. The strain of the last month has been so great and so intense that my nerves are nearly shattered; it was a heartbreaking sight to see so many fine men, amongst whom were one’s friends with whom one had lived continually for a whole year, falling like trees torn up by a gale.

I see from the papers that Zeppelins have dropped bombs on London again. I cannot even say that I am sorry. It is the only thing that reminds the people at home that the war is still continuing. If only they were sufficiently awake to realise one-hundredth part of what our men suffer out here, how differently they would behave! I was interested to read what the newspapers said about the great push on September 25. The first one I picked up disgusted me. This is what I read, “There was no need to read the newspapers this morning, in the tubes and trains everybody could see the victory smile.” I can assure you that there were very few “victory smiles” on the battlefield.

I foresee a prolonged winter campaign, and I thank you very much for the warm clothing you sent. They will be a great blessing the next time we go back to the trenches. At present we are billeted in a town some distance from the front. This is indeed an acid test of one’s patriotism. If it were not seated right down in bedrock, I am afraid it would soon vanish. Men suffer just as much, if not more, for their beliefs as they did in the Middle Ages.

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  • 4 years later...

L32 came down across Billericay high street at low altitude, just above, the town is set in a hill about 320', from eye witnesses at that time, the captain had swung the ship around, it was burning from both ends, one witness said as it passed her house window rattling, it sounded like a passing train hissing, as it passed burning parts of fabric and aluminium fell to the ground for up to miles, L32 heading down hill now, to Greens Farm Lane, which is close to South Green in Great Burstead, it missed the road, tail end catching on an oak tree, whole ship ploughed into the ground.

Werner the Captain, well he actually jumped, still holding the ships log, looks like locals took the log, the machine gun was found nearby along with the gondola, locals seeing the burning hulk started to come from all around, one couple walking across a field tripped over one crew member.

The crew were all placed in a barn called High Barn, no longer there, 2 days later Royal Flying Corps took the bodies to Great Burstead Church, they were interned 27/9/1916, Captain was burried separately.

In late 1960s all the bodies of the crew were exhumed and re buried at Staffordshire German Military Cemetery.

The original site at Great Burstead I have discovered, its concrete borders intact, but over grown and forgotten, the site of the crash I have seen, it's all as it was farm land.

 

I was born and live here so I know the area well, the bus stop has a memorial on Greens farm lane, from the bus stop.

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L32 came down across Billericay high street at low altitude, just above, the town is set in a hill about 320', from eye witnesses at that time, the captain had swung the ship around, it was burning from both ends, one witness said as it passed her house window rattling, it sounded like a passing train hissing, as it passed burning parts of fabric and aluminium fell to the ground for up to miles, L32 heading down hill now, to Greens Farm Lane, which is close to South Green in Great Burstead, it missed the road, tail end catching on an oak tree, whole ship ploughed into the ground.

Werner the Captain, well he actually jumped, still holding the ships log, looks like locals took the log, the machine gun was found nearby along with the gondola, locals seeing the burning hulk started to come from all around, one couple walking across a field tripped over one crew member.

The crew were all placed in a barn called High Barn, no longer there, 2 days later Royal Flying Corps took the bodies to Great Burstead Church, they were interned 27/9/1916, Captain was burried separately.

In late 1960s all the bodies of the crew were exhumed and re buried at Staffordshire German Military Cemetery.

The original site at Great Burstead I have discovered, its concrete borders intact, but over grown and forgotten, the site of the crash I have seen, it's all as it was farm land.

 

I was born and live here so I know the area well, the bus stop has a memorial on Greens farm lane, from the bus stop.

20210120_140607.jpg

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Was it not Tempest, who went to visit the scene of his triumph the next day, who was refused access by a picquet?  He had to pay a shilling to make use of a viewpoint on a neighbouring farm?  Sometimes one can feel quite uncharitable about behaviours on the home front!

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Buller Turner, I never heard of that until now, I can well understand how the locals would feel, especially when the Zeppelins were seen as baby killers at the time, with killing mainly civilians, I read a story from the same book, where a local bicycle repair owner, obtained a large piece of L32, displayed it on his counter, did a roaring trade in flat tyres, then the old bill heard about it, sent him to court, the owner said all the money he made was lost in fines

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39 Squadon's final success was the shooting down of a Gotha by Arkle and Stagg in 1918. The aircraft crashed at Roman Road in East Ham and the three crew also jumped to their deaths to avoid the flames. On that occasion the Squadron's adjutant provided Arkle with a pass to view the site. This pass still survives in the IWM's collection. The crash was next to the sewer outfall pipe, which was contained in a high embankment. As the combat occurred over the Whitsun Bamk Holiday weekend, the embankment was used by huge crowds to view the crash site on the Monday, and is shown in contemporary photographs.

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Doing a browse and come across this post.

It reminded me of an entry in my grandfathers diary when he was recovering from wounds in a Chelsea hospital.

He wrote "The zeppelin ( Schutte-Lanz SL 11) was brought by Robinson who is or was rather "gone on " Isa. Curious!"

My question is - who was "Isa" A celebrity, film star, singer ??. Hoping someone on GWF will have an inkling. I searched but found nothing.

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22 hours ago, Pb69 said:

memorial on Greens farm lane

Thanks for the photo Pb69.

It looks a bit neglected - I wonder who is responsible for it?

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Zeppelin LZ21 Z VI

This Zeppelin came down even earlier after being by small arms fire when it attacked the Belgian city of Liège in the night of 05/06 August 1914. 

Nine civilians were killed in the bombardment

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Hello yes I guess I am responsible for the upkeep, the church volunteers do there best around the church yard which is vast, to be honest I only just discovered it, its faw west so off the main footpaths, I would like to get the town council to recognise its importance, I will forward an enquiry, it's of Historical importance

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19 minutes ago, Interested said:

Hi Pb69,

Good to hear you are willing to take this forward - hope it gets the attention it deserves.

Good luck.

Yes I was not sure if there was much interest, but considering the crew were buried here from 1916 - 1966, and the structure is in place, it's worth bringing up with the powers that be

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  • 1 month later...

Stow Maries Airdrome Museum has a lot of information on the Zeppelin raids and 37Sqdn Home Defence .It also has pieces pieces of these airships on display and history of the raids.Unfortunately its closed at the moment but will open in the future

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1 hour ago, GROBBY said:

Stow Maries Airdrome Museum has a lot of information on the Zeppelin raids and 37Sqdn Home Defence .It also has pieces pieces of these airships on display and history of the raids.Unfortunately its closed at the moment but will open in the future

An Excellent place been before, did not realise it had Zeppelin pieces

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  • 2 weeks later...

Some tidbits from German newspapers (not sure how trustworthy they are).

 

At the funeral for the crew of the airship that crashed at Potter's Bar, the commander's coffin was inscribed "Commander Mathy, died on service 1 October 1916." They were buried at the same graveyard as the crew from the Cuffley crash. Many police were present but not much public. During the funeral, there was a flyover over the churchyard. The German article says these details come from the London Daily Chronicle.

 

After the zeppelin crash at Cuffley, several milk dealers were accused of selling fake milk. It was ostensibly discovered due to its high water content. They mounted the defense that the cows had been so traumatized by the appearance and noise of the zeppelin that they stampeded around the field, thereby affecting the quality of the milk. The court found this to be a reasonable explanation and dismissed the complaints against them.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I just chanced on this thread and thought you might like to see this photo I have of my grandfather standing in front of the Graf Zeppelin. He was born in 1907 and looks to be late teens or so. 

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6C796BF1-30B8-4C54-B329-B8F3CCAD6887.jpeg

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