Raid 40 - 5 - 6 March 1916
The Raid
The raid was 3 airships who only went to Hull and did not venture any further. The weather was not good so that could have been a reason.
L14 – Appeared off Flambourgh Head and followed the railway to Hull then turned inland to Beverley. Dropped some bombs in fields then turned back to Hull.
At 12.30am dropped its load of bombs on the Albert Docks that had no defences.
L11 – Came in near Grimsby then was seen going towards Lincoln, the weather was bad with snow and ice so turned and went to Hull. The bombs were dropped an hour after L14. The first bomb was dropped on the Earles Shipyards and then followed river towards Killingholme.
L13 – Seen off the Lincolnshire coast and seemed to be looking for a target. Left the coast and cut across East Anglia passing over Cambridge and Dunmow. Seen heading out over Deal and looks like no bombs were dropped.
Victims & Damage
There was a lot of damage, four terraces were destroyed. Houses, shops, a café, pub and offices were seriously damaged. Alms-houses were damaged by fire. The glass roof of the station damaged and the windows of Holy Trinity Church were destroyed. There was also serious damage to the docks and smashed windows all over the town.
1 man was killed in Killingholme, 9 men, 4 woman and 5 children were killed in Hull.
Summary
The Official Report says that this raid is noteworthy for its deliberate and concentrated attack on Hull. It was believed the raid was in retaliation for the bringing down of the L19 on the 31st January and for the captain of the trawler not picking up the shipwrecked crew. This was the first airship raid since.
Hull actually had an air raid alert system of whistles set up to raise the alarm but there weren’t any shelters.
There were no defences in Hull and a RFC car was attacked a couple of days after the raid where the locals thought they had been left undefended. Letters and articles appear in the press and questions where asked about it in the House of Commons.
Weather – The weather was bad with some snow showers. Its believed in the official report that this is why the airships only bombed Hull and didn’t go any further.
Response – There was AA fire when the airships went in the vicinity, there were no AA guns in Hull.
One RNAS plane managed to get up but the snow and icy conditions were ‘highly unfavourable’
Bombs – 111
Killed – 18
Injured – 50
Raid details taken from Air Raid 1916 5th to 6th March 1916 Complied by the Intelligence Section, General Headquarters, Home Forces, published January 1917. (National Archive AIR/1/2123)
Header Photo - Campbell St from ww1hull.com