Zeppelin's in the Black Country
The Zeppelin was a type of rigid airship which was created in the early 1900’s by a German named Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin. The outlined ideas however, were created in 1874 and the formulated ideas in detail were created by 1893. It was first flown commercially in 1910, and carried over 34,000 passengers on over 1500 flights. After the World War I outbreak, the Zeppelin’s were used as bombers and scouts. They were operated by the army and navy in two completely separate divisions. During World War I, the main use was for visual missions for the Navy. During bomb missions, especially London, they weren’t particularly useful and had more of a psychological effect rather than a military effect.
On 31st January/1st February 1916, at night, 9 airships of the Reichskreigsmarine (Imperial German Navy) went from their bases on the North East Coast of Germany with plans to bomb the West Midlands and the South. The L21 and L19 bombed the Black Country, killing 35 people. One Zeppelin bombed Bradley, Bilston, which killed Maud (who was 24) and William Fellows (who was 23). They were walking alongside the Canal when they heard a Zeppelin airship. They took shelter in a pumping station. A bomb dropped a few feet away, killing William instantly. Maud was then taken to the ‘Old Bush Inn’ and had treatment on her right side, leg and back. However, she did not recover from these injuries and died on the 12thFebruary from blood poisoning. After this Zeppelin attack, they went ahead to bomb Walsall and Wednesbury. The airships then returned to their base at Nordhollz at around 10:45pm. The route of the airship was via Narborough, King’s Lynn, Grantham, Nottingham, Derby and Stafford, and then turned south. The Zeppelin came to Wolverhampton at 7:45pm and then went on to Dudley. But the airship became lost and the Captain claimed he was in Liverpool and bombed docks, harbour works and factories.