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airships
Tag
(42)
1914
August
04
German airships over Brussels
Contemporary chronicles state that on the night of 4 August 1914 two German airships flew over Brussels. For the first time the war took to the air.
23
Zeppelin Z VIII shot down in the Vosges
On 23 August 1914 the German army airship Z VIII, hit by ground fire while flying over French troops, came down in a forest near Badonviller.
29
Zeppelin Z V shot down near Mława
At the end of August 1914 the German airship Z V, hit by the Russians during a raid on the station at Mława, made a forced landing. Its crew was captured.
September
22
First British air raid on Germany
On 22 September 1914 Royal Naval Air Service airmen took off from Antwerp to bomb the airship sheds at Düsseldorf and Cologne. Fog got in their way.
October
08
Second British air raid on Germany
On 8 October 1914 RNAS pilot Reginald Marix bombed a shed in Düsseldorf and destroyed the airship Z IX. Spenser Grey failed to find his target at Cologne.
November
21
British raid on Friedrichshafen
On 21 November 1914 three Royal Naval Air Service aircraft from Belfort bombed the Zeppelin works at Friedrichshafen. One of the pilots was taken prisoner.
December
15
Key event
German airship off the English coast
On 15 December 1914 a German airship was sighted off the Humber estuary. It was the first confirmed presence of an enemy aircraft off the English coast.
25
Cuxhaven raid
On 25 December 1914 seven British seaplanes took off from ships off Heligoland to bomb the Zeppelin sheds. They failed to find their target.
1915
January
19
Key event
First airship raid on England
On 19 January 1915 the airships L 3 and L 4 bombed Great Yarmouth, King's Lynn and Norfolk villages. Four people died. It was the first airship raid on England.
24
Airship PL 19 shot down off Libau
At the end of January 1915 the German airship PL 19, damaged after a raid on Libau, came down in the Baltic. Seven airmen were taken prisoner by the Russians.
February
17
Loss of airships L 3 and L 4
On 17 February 1915 engine failure and a snowstorm forced airships L 3 and L 4 down in Denmark. L 3 burned on Fanø; L 4 vanished at sea with four men.
March
21
First airship raid on Paris
On the night of 20–21 March 1915 two German airships bombed Paris and its suburbs. Z X, damaged by fire from the ground, crashed on the way back.
May
31
Key event
First airship raid on London
In the night of 31 May – 1 June 1915 the German airship LZ 38 bombed east London. Seven people were killed, including children, and 35 were injured.
June
07
Warneford destroys airship LZ 37
On 7 June 1915 British airman Reginald Warneford bombed the airship LZ 37 in mid-air over Ghent. The burning wreck fell on a convent in Sint-Amandsberg.
August
10
Loss of airship L 12
On the night of 9–10 August 1915 guns at Dover hit airship L 12. It came down in the sea, was towed to Ostend and was bombed there by RNAS airmen.
October
13
Airship raid on Theatreland
On the evening of 13 October 1915 the airship L 15 bombed London's Theatreland. The raid by five airships killed 71 people and injured 128.
December
17
Loss of the airship LZ 39
On 17 December 1915 Russian artillery hit the German airship LZ 39 over Rovno. The crew managed to land near Lutsk, but the ship could not be saved.
1916
January
29
Last airship raid on Paris
On the night of 29–30 January 1916 the airship LZ 79 bombed Belleville and Ménilmontant, killing more than 20 people. It was the last airship raid on Paris.
31
Airship raid on the Midlands
On the night of 31 January–1 February 1916 nine naval airships sent against Liverpool bombed the Midlands instead. 70 people were killed and 113 injured.
February
02
Loss of Zeppelin L 19
On 2 February 1916 the airship L 19, back from a raid on the Midlands, sank in the North Sea. The trawler King Stephen refused to help; 16 airmen died.
16
War Office takes over air defence
On 16 February 1916 the air defence of London passed from the Admiralty to Field Marshal John French, and soon after that of the whole country.
21
Airship LZ 77 shot down
On the evening of 21 February 1916 a French anti-aircraft gun shot down the airship LZ 77 near Revigny, flying behind Verdun. None of the crew survived.
March
31
Zeppelin L 15 shot down
On the evening of 31 March 1916 anti-aircraft guns on the Thames hit the airship L 15. It fell into the sea off the estuary and its crew were taken prisoner.
May
03
Loss of Zeppelin L 20
On 3 May 1916 the airship L 20, out of fuel after a raid on Scotland, crashed in a fjord near Stavanger. Norway interned the crew.
04
Destruction of airship L 7
On 4 May 1916 off the coast of Schleswig the British cruisers Galatea and Phaeton shot down the airship L 7. The submarine E31 picked up seven surviving airmen.
05
Airship LZ 85 shot down
On 5 May 1916 HMS Agamemnon shot down the German airship LZ 85 over Salonika. It fell into the Vardar marshes and the crew were captured.
September
02
Key event
Airship raid and the downing of SL 11
On the night of 2–3 September 1916, 16 airships set out for London. Lieutenant Leefe Robinson shot down SL 11 over Cuffley, and the rest of the raid collapsed.
23
Airship raid and the shooting down of L 32 and L 33
On the night of 23/24 September 1916 naval airships bombed London and Nottingham. L 32 fell in flames near Billericay, and L 33 came down in Essex.
October
01
Shooting down of airship L 31
On the night of 1–2 October 1916 Wulstan Tempest shot down L 31 near Potters Bar, killing Heinrich Mathy, the most famous German airship commander.
November
27
Zeppelin raid and the shooting down of L 34 and L 21
On the night of 27–28 November 1916 naval airships attacked northern England. L 34 fell in flames off Hartlepool, and at dawn L 21 was lost off Lowestoft.
1917
March
08
Death of Ferdinand von Zeppelin
On 8 March 1917 Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin died in Berlin, aged 78. He created the rigid airships with which Germany bombed England and France.
17
Airship L 39 destroyed
At dawn on 17 March 1917, after a failed raid on England, French anti-aircraft guns shot down the airship L 39 over Compiègne. The whole crew was killed.
May
14
Destruction of airship L 22
At dawn on 14 May 1917 a British flying boat from Great Yarmouth shot down the naval airship L 22 near Terschelling. All 21 airmen were killed.
June
14
Destruction of airship L 43
On the morning of 14 June 1917 a British flying boat from Felixstowe shot down the naval airship L 43 near the island of Vlieland. The whole crew was killed.
17
Destruction of airship L 48
Early on 17 June 1917 British airmen shot down the new airship L 48 over Suffolk. It fell near Theberton. Sixteen men were killed and three survived.
August
21
Destruction of airship L 23
On 21 August 1917 off Denmark a Sopwith Pup flown off the cruiser HMS Yarmouth shot down the airship L 23. The whole crew was killed.
October
19
The Silent Raid
On the night of 19 October 1917 eleven airships set out for England. A bomb fell on Piccadilly Circus, and a gale carried four of them over France.
November
21
Flight of the airship L 59
On 21 November 1917 the airship L 59 left Bulgaria with supplies for Lettow-Vorbeck. Recalled over Sudan, it returned after a 95-hour flight.
1918
March
11
Airship raid on Naples
On the night of 10–11 March 1918 the German airship L 59, flying from Bulgaria, bombed Naples. Sixteen people were killed; the military targets were unharmed.
April
12
Last airship raid with casualties
On the night of 12–13 April 1918 five German airships bombed central England, killing seven in Wigan. It was the last airship raid to cause casualties.
August
05
Last Zeppelin raid
On 5 August 1918 five naval airships set out for England. A British DH.4 shot down L 70 over the sea, killing Peter Strasser, the head of the airship service.
11
Destruction of L 53
On 11 August 1918 off Terschelling a Camel launched from a lighter towed by a destroyer shot down L 53, the last Zeppelin shot down in the war.