LONDON 1917-18 The bomber blitz CAMPAIGN • 227 LONDON 1917-18 The bomber blitz IAN CASTLE ILLUSTRATED BY CHRISTA HOOK Series editor Marcus Cowper CAMPAIGN • 227 LONDON 1917-18 The bomber blitz IAN CASTLE ILLUSTRATED BY CHRISTA HOOK Series editor Marcus Cowper First published in Great Britain in 2010 by Osprey Publishing, DEDICATION Midland House, West Way, Botley, Oxford 0X2 OPH, UK Dedicated to the memory of William 'Bill' Stone (1900-2009), Henry 44-02 23rd St, Suite 219, Long Island City, NY 11101, USA Ailing ham (1896-2009) and Henry 'Harry' Patch (1898-2009), the last three E-mail: [email protected] surviving UK-based veterans of World War I who all passed away during the preparation of this book. © 2010 Osprey Publishing Ltd All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, no part of this publication may be I would like to express my thanks to a number of individuals who have reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form contributed to this project. As ever Colin Ablett has been most generous or by any means, electronic, electrical, chemical, mechanical, optical, with access to his extensive library, and thanks are due to Claire Frankland photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the Museum of London Docklands and Caroline Brick of the London of the copyright owner. Enquiries should be addressed to the Publishers. Transport Museum for answering my tricky questions. I would also like to thank Martin Worel in Austria for his help with German translations and Marton Szigeti in Germany whose great knowledge of the 'Giant' bombers A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. proved invaluable. And for the colour artwork that illustrates this book I must express my gratitude to the artist, Christa Hook, who has translated my simple ideas and thoughts into beautiful works of art. ISBN: 978 1 84603 682 8 E-book ISBN: 978 1 84908 299 0 Unless otherwise stated all photographs used in this book are from my own collection. Editorial by llios Publishing Ltd, Oxford, UK (www.iliospublishing.com) Page layout by: The Black Spot Index by Sandra Shotter ARTIST'S NOTE Typeset in Sabon and Myriad Pro Readers may care to note that the original paintings from which the Maps by Bounford.com colour plates in this book were prepared are available for private sale. 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Imperial War Museum www.iwm.org.uk CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 4 The road to war CHRONOLOGY 7 OPPOSING COMMANDERS 9 German commanders . British commanders OPPOSING PLANS 13 German plans . British plans THE 1917 RAIDS 18 The campaign begins . London's first daytime raid . Reaction and response The second daylight raid - Saturday 7 July . London makes ready . An English summer The'daylight'defences tighten . The switch to night bombing . Defensive improvements The Harvest Moon Offensive . The arrival of the'Giants' . A brief respite The bombers return . The failure of the firestorm . A success in the sky Preparations for a new year THE 1918 RAIDS 66 The Long Acre tragedy . The night of the'Giants' . Chelsea - the 1,000kg bomb 'A fine piece of shooting' . The Aurora Borealis Raid . The agony of the'Giants' The Whitsun raid . Summary THE SITES TODAY 91 ORDER OF BATTLE FOR THE LONDON AIR RAIDS 92 FURTHER READING 94 INDEX 95 INTRODUCTION On the night of 1 October 1916 a lone Zeppelin cautiously approached London from the north. Kapitanleutnant Heinrich Mathy, the most successful of the Zeppelin commanders, steered his ship, L.31, stealthily towards the capital, hoping to avoid the gun defences that lay across his path. Just as he approached Cheshunt a searchlight pierced the blackness and illuminated the great bulk of the monstrous raider. More searchlights locked on and within minutes anti-aircraft guns began barking their defiance into the sky. Attracted by the blast of the guns and the flash of their exploding shells, a number of Home Defence pilots patrolling the approaches to London turned to investigate. Swooping into the attack in his BE2c, 2nd Lieutenant Wulstan Tempest launched two unsuccessful attacks, but after his third L.31 glowed 'red inside like an enormous Chinese lantern and then a flame shot out'. It was the end. L.31 crashed to earth at Potters Bar in Hertfordshire, the press relishing the fact that the burning wreckage fell, impaled on a stout English oak. At the beginning of the war the threat posed by Germany's airship fleet caused great concern and for the first 18 months of the conflict Britain had little in the way of an effective response. But the introduction of explosive and incendiary bullets, capable of igniting the highly inflammable hydrogen lifting gas, turned the tide and the destruction of L.31 had been Germany's fourth The tangled wreckage of Zeppelin L.31 at Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, on the morning of 2 October 1916. This fourth loss in the space of a month spelt the end of the Zeppelin threat to London. 4 loss in the space of a month. Although the British authorities could not know it at the time, the threat of Zeppelin raids on London was over. (For details of Germany's airship offensive against London see Osprey Campaign 193: London 1914-17: The Zeppelin Menace.) However, the effect on morale of bombing London remained a great prize for Germany. Despite its losses, their Navy remained committed to the development of airships to counter Britain's improved defences, but the Army, disillusioned, turned its attention to the potential offered by aeroplanes to carry an effective bomb load to London. It was a change of direction that signalled the advent of London's first blitz. THE ROAD TO WAR This was not the first time Germany had planned to launch a bomber offensive against London. In the early weeks of the war, as the German Army pushed the Allies back and the 'race to the sea' was under way, Wilhelm Siegert, commander of the army's Flieger Batallion Nr. 4 proposed the creation of a force to open a strategic bombing campaign against the hub of the British Empire and seat of its government. The limited range of the aircraft available at that time meant any bombing unit required a base close to the French coastal port of Calais, which offered the shortest route to London. Confident of reaching that goal the Oberste Heeresleitung (Army High Command, OHL) approved the creation of a force for the task, allowing Siegert to select the best pilots and observers, and within a few weeks they were formed at an airfield about 10km (6 miles) south of Ostend, at Ghistelles (Gistel) in occupied Belgium. Formed under the name, Fliegerkorps der Obersten Heeresleitung, this highly secret unit adopted Evolution of the Englandgeschwader the unlikely code-name Brieftauben Abteilung Ostende - the Ostend Carrier Pigeon Detachment November 1914 - to disguise its identity. But when, in November Fliegerkorps der Obersten Heeresleitung (OHL) 1914, the German advance was brought to a (Brieftauben Abteilung Ostende) halt with Calais out of reach, Siegert's plan was shelved but not forgotten, for plans were December 1915 already progressing to build new longer-range Kampfgeschwader 1 der OHL (Kagohl 1) aircraft - the Grosskampfflugzeug (large battle aeroplane) series, the G-type - capable of August 1916 reaching London from bases in Belgium. Kagohl 1 The activities of the Ostend squadron refocused on targets closer at hand, bombing targets behind the Allied lines, until the spring of Halbgeschwader 1 Halbgeschwader2 1915 when it briefly redeployed to the Eastern Front before returning in July 1915. In December March 1917 the squadron became Kampfgeschwader 1 der Kampfgeschwader 3 der OHL (Kagohl 3) OHL - Battle Squadron 1 of the Army High (Englandgeschwader) Command - generally abbreviated to Kagohl 1. For the next eight months Kagohl 1 flew bombing November 1917 missions, reconnaissance patrols and escort duties Bombengeschwader 3 der OHL (Bogohl 3) over Verdun and later the Somme until, in August 1916, its six Kampfstaffeln (flights) - abbreviated to Kasta - were split into two separate Halbgeschwader (half squadrons). Halbgeschwader 1 remained on the Somme while Halbgeschwader 2 redeployed to the Balkans. A reorganization of Germany's army air service in late 1916 saw the appointment of Ernst von Hoeppner as its supreme commander. He felt confident that the weapon was now available - G-type bombers - to resurrect plans shelved two years earlier for an aeroplane bombing campaign against London. And the unit selected to carry out this mission - Kampfgeschwader 3 der OHL (Kagohl 3) - he formed from the nucleus of Halbgeschwader 1. His decision came at a point when the German Army had already concluded that increasing Zeppelin losses made further attempts on London by that means impossible, a decision stubbornly rejected by the naval airship authorities. And just at this time, as Germany was planning this new means of striking at the morale of the British population, Britain, convinced that the menace of the Zeppelin raids was over, began reducing its home defences to support the growing demands for manpower on the Western Front and in other theatres. A few months later, largely unopposed, German bombers were flying over the streets of London in broad daylight trailing death and destruction in their wake. CHRONOLOGY 1917 5 March Hauptmann Ernst Brandenburg appointed commander of Kagohl 3 (Englandgeschwader). 25 May First attempted daylight raid on London, redirected on Folkestone. 5 June Daylight raid on Sheerness and Shoeburyness. First Gotha shot down. 13 June First daylight raid on London by Gotha bombers. Highest casualties from a single raid (162 killed, 426 injured). 19 June Brandenburg injured in crash resulting in amputation of a leg. 23 June Hauptmann Rudolph Kleine appointed commander of Kagohl 3. 7 July Second and final daylight raid on London. 19 July Release of first part of Smuts' report on Home Defence. 8 August Major-General Ashmore appointed commander of LADA. 17 August Release of second part of Smuts' report, recommending creation of a single air service. 28 August Home Defence Group upgraded to Home Defence Brigade. 4/5 September First night-time raid on London. 6 September Smuts' report on night raids. 22 September Arrival of Rfa 501 in Belgium flying R-type 'Giants'. 24 September Beginning of Harvest Moon Offensive. The first of five raids on London in eight days. 29 September First London raid involving both Gotha and 'Giant' aircraft. 1/2 October Last raid of Harvest Moon Offensive. 31 October/ Seventh night raid on London. 1 November December Kagohl 3 re-designated Bogohl 3. 6 December Eighth night raid on London. 12 December Rudolph Kleine killed in action. Temporary command of Bogohl 3 passes to Oberleutnant Richard Walter. 18 December Ninth night raid on London. Highest material damage inflicted in an aeroplane raid (£225,000). 1918 January Britain establishes an Air Ministry. 28/29 January Tenth night raid on London. A bomb in Long Acre causes the most casualties in the capital inflicted by a single bomb (38 killed, 85 injured). 29/30 January Eleventh night raid. February Ernst Brandenburg returns to command of Bogohl 3. 16 February Twelfth night raid. First 1,000kg bomb dropped on London. 17 February Thirteenth night raid on London - carried out by a single 'Giant'. 7/8 March Fourteenth night raid on London. 1 April Formation of the Royal Air Force. 19/20 May Fifteenth night raid on London - the Whitsun Raid. Largest and final raid of the war (total: two day and 15 night raids). 8