. . . Innocent people had been made to suffer through malicious attacks which could not in any way affect the outcome of the war. It pleases the All Highest in Germany to make England suffer in this way. It really is murder but it is no use bringing in such a verdict…
As it became clear that their zeppelin raiders were vulnerable to incendiary bullets, German planners shifted their emphasis to a new delivery system, the Gotha GIV Bomber. For daylight raids, they were capable of carrying six 50kg bombs on external racks. In May 1917 30 of the Gothas had been allocated for missions against England
The first daylight raid on the capital by Gotha bombers took place on 13 June 1917. It caused 162 deaths and 426 injuries, the most by any single air raid on Britain. This attack left lasting memories.
As the formation of 14 Gothas bore down on the capital, the noise they created was immense, yet many of those watching, staring skywards on that warm, hazy summer’s morning, presumed them to be British, and cheered enthusiastically as they passed.
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| Loading a Gotha |
Word of the approaching formation reached Home Defence headquarters, and aircraft took to the skies as the first anti-aircraft (AA) gun opened fire from Romford in Essex at 11:24 a.m.
The Englandgeschwader [English Squadron] dropped a few bombs over east London, then, as the squadron reached Regent’s Park, Attack leader Hauptmann Ernst Brandenburg fired a signal pistol and the formation turned back to the east, setting a direct course to the city of London.
The Gothas dropped 118 high-explosive bombs on the capital, 72 landing within a one-mile radius of Liverpool Street Station. Those bombs killed 162 and injured another 426, the highest toll from any single raid on Britain since the beginning of the war. Among the many tragic stories to emerge that day, there was one above all others that left an indelible mark on the city.
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| Funeral for Victims of the 13 June Gotha Raid |
One 50kg high-explosive bomb struck Upper North Street School in Poplar. It penetrated three storeys before exploding in an infants’ class on the ground floor of the building. Desperate rescuers pulled the lifeless, mangled bodies of 18 children from the wreckage; another 28 emerged bearing cruel injuries.
Mounting Gotha losses through the summer, however, forced a switch to night bombing in September 1917. Between June 1917 and May 1918 Gotha bombers—joined by the massive R-type Staaken “Giants” (Riesenflugzeug)—attacked London on seventeen occasions and also bombed many south-eastern coastal towns. The last aeroplane raid of the war—aimed at London—occurred on the night of 19/20 May 1918. Zeppelins made one final, futile attack against Britain on the night of 5/6 August.
Sources: Encyclopedia 1914-18; the Western Front Association; Military-History.org
Here is an extract about a Gotha raid on London from the March 6, 1918 letter written by New York Herald correspondent Don Martin to his daughter.
ReplyDelete“Last night at half past eleven, [I was] not even dreaming of an air raid – there was no moon and the night didn’t seem to be clear – when there was a bang of guns – the maroons. With the manager of the [Herald] office, we went to the Savoy Hotel. We stood for fifteen minutes on the Waterloo Bridge to see if we could see any operations in the air. We saw nothing but stars. When the barrage started, we went into the hotel and I remained there. The “all clear” was not given till a quarter to two in the morning. About two Gothas out of seven or eight got by the English fliers and the barrage and dropped bombs on the outlying sections. No bomb landed within four miles of the Savoy. The official reports tonight are that about 16 were killed and 50 injured. No big buildings were hit but several dwellings were destroyed and women and children were killed. This is a fine bit of warfare to wage! It seems that the night was clear and the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, provided light enough to guide the Gothas over the city.”
This and other letters by WWI war correspondent Don Martin are` now available on Amazon in the book “In Their Own Words, Writings of war correspondent Don Martin and his 11-year-old daughter Dorothy. An intimate view of WWI” edited by James Larrimore.
Raymond Fredette wrote the book on this subject. The Sky on Fire.
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