Raid 47 - 24 - 25 April 1916
The Raid
Eight airships set off, 6 of them crossed the coast, one for Lincolnshire, four stayed over Norfolk and one went to Suffolk.
The L16 wandered round over Norfolk before dropping a bundle of German illustrated papers near Thetford. The airship circled Thetford for another 20 minutes before heading off towards Mildenhall then back over Newmarket. 18 bombs were dropped in a line from the Heath to Warren Hill Station on the Bury Road. The airship then went a high speed over Bury St Edmunds and Thetford and out over the sea.
The L21 came in over Lowestoft having dropped 2 bombs in the sea. It headed straight to Stowmarket where one of the AA guns claimed to get a direct hit. It looked like there was a cloud of smoke but it is thought it was the emission of the water ballast. The AA guns achieved their goal and the munitions works weren’t bombs, they were dropped in a nearby field with no damage. The airship then went over Norfolk and out over Bacton.
The next airship, the L22, came in over Caister where it dropped 3 bombs breaking some windows. It then went over the broads and dropped 9 bombs on Ridlington, After this it went back to Bacton where it attacked the RNAS station.
L11 also came in over Bacton, bombs were dropped over Dilham. After this it headed back to Bacton where it seems to have been hit by AA fire and one ballon was pierced by a shell.
The L13 was seen over North Norfolk but was not seen to drop any bombs.
The last airship over was the L17 and this was the airship that went in over Lincolnshire. 3 bombs were dropped on Alford and then headed back out to sea.
There was a Naval bombardment on Yarmouth and Lowestoft where the L9 and L21 seems to have been observing. The L6 and L7 were also seen with the naval squadron but didn’t approach the coast.
Victims & Damage
In Newmarket several houses were damaged and Bedford Lodge racing stables in Bury Road was badly damaged, a race horse called Coup de Main was killed. One person was injured near the station.
In Ridlington the church windows were broken and a farm cottage partially wreaked a cottage. The same airship broke windows in Bacton and damaged the Searchlight.
The L11 had broken glass and roof on a farm and the cottages in Dilham, Norfolk. One woman died of shock
Summary
The Official report says that the German Admiralty reported Cambridge was bombed and they believe when the L14 was over Thetford it was trying to get its bearing which was wrong so they thought Newmarket was Cambridge.
The Official report also says the German Admiralty reported it had bombed Lincoln which is the bombs which were dropped on Alford.
The AA guns had quite a good night and seem to have damaged 2 of the airships.
Weather – The weather over Britain was wet and winds of 40 – 50 miles an hour but over the continent the weather was better which is why they believe the airships made the raid.
Response – The AA guns responded in Bacton and Stowmarket and did their job, they didn’t bring an airship down but they did damaged a couple of them.
One plane went up from Thetford but they didn’t see an airship.
Bombs – 107
Killed – 1
Injured – 1
Raid details taken from Air Raids 1916 24th April to 3 May 1916, Compiled by the Intelligence Section, General Headquarters Home Forces, March 1917
Header Photo – Bedford Lodge 1917 from www.greyhoundderby.com