19 January 2015

First Great War Zeppelin Raid

Today, 19 January 2015, marks the 100th anniversary of an evening bombing raid by German Zeppelin airships on the Norfolk towns of Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn. Four people were killed and damage was more than £7,000, perhaps half a million in today's money.

In Great Yarmouth the victims were shoemaker Samuel Alfred Smith, age 53, and Martha Mary Taylor, age 72. In King's Lynn the victims were Alice Maud Gazeley, age 26, and Percy Goate, age 14. I was surprised to find these WW1 civilian causalities are not commemorated in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission records.

Find contemporary photos of the damage caused in these raids at http://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2015-01-19/zeppelin-raid-on-norfolk-100-years-ago-set-blitz-precedent/ and a couple of ghost composites at http://www.invisibleworks.co.uk/great-war-zeppelin-raids/


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