Raid 21 - 9 - 10 August 1915
The Raid
Five airships set off, L13 reached the mouth of the Thames then turned back with engine problems.
L9 was seen off the Yorkshire coast. Soldiers at Skipsea shot at it with rifles and planes did manage to intercept it but the airship was able to avoid them in the fog over the sea. This was repeated a couple of times and it seems the commander might have lost his bearings. He followed the Humber and saw lights at Goole so headed for there. The first bombs were dropped at 11.15pm, starting at the docks and going through the town, a lot of damage was done and fires started.
The airship then went inland dropping more bombs near Market Weighton but did no damage. The L9 was then seen near Beverley then went out to sea.
L11 – Came in over Lowestoft and circled round back out to sea. When it came back in it did drop bombs, first near the Grand Hotel then in Lovwell Road where a woman was killed and houses and shops were destroyed. The airship dropped more bombs on the town before heading back out to sea.
L10 – came in over Aldeburgh and travelled over East Anglia on a quite random route. No bombs were dropped until they tried to bomb the ships in the Thames about the Nore. More bombs were dropped on the aviation ground at Eastchurch but the only damage was done to windows.
L12 came in near Westgate and headed to Dover were it stayed for an hour. The bombs were finally dropped in the harbour with some slight damage being done to Admiralty pier.
It was the maiden voyage for L13, unfortunately there seems to have been engine problems off the Kent coast so the bombs were dropped off Sandwich.
Victims & Damage
In Goole it was estimated £7,000 of damage was done. The Official report has this to say about the victims:
‘One man, nine women and six children were killed; two women seriously, and two men, two women and five children slightly injured. All were persons in poor circumstance and all the men were civilians.’
It is possible this is phrased in response to the German report on the raid quoted below.
The damage in Lowestoft was estimated as £4,971. Most of the damage was to houses and shops.
In total the damage estimate for this raid was £11,971
Summary
It seems amazing that not long after Hull had been badly attacked nearby places were still not blacked out. The Official Report says Goole was still showing lights and that’s why they believe the bombs were dropped there.
The Official Report contains the report issued in Berlin:
In spite of violent efforts to offer resistance, bombs were dropped on British warships in the Thames, on the London docks, the torpedo base at Harwich and important establishments on the Humber. Good results could be observed. The airships returned from their successful enterprise.
Weather – Cloudy & dull with some rain.
Response – L9 was engaged by planes off the coast by Hull but the fog and cloud meant they were able to avoid them. Planes took off from Great Yarmouth in response to L11’s raid on Lowestoft but the fog and cloud meant they were not able to find the airship.
L12 was hit by anti aircraft defences at Dover, it headed back over the channel loosing hight so it was only just above the water. She was taken under tow into Ostend harbour, providing a target for British planes. The airship had to be scrapped.
Bombs – 89
Injured – 21
Raid details taken from Air Raids, 1915, Airship Raids August - September 1915, Complied by the Intelligence Section, General Headquarters, Home Forces, published June 1918. (National Archive AIR/1/2123)
Photos
Header Photo - From Goole First World War Research Group
Newspaper Quotes:
Hull Daily Mail 14 August 1915 from The British Newspaper Archive
Lowestoft Journal 14 August 1915 from The British Newspaper Archive