Edinburgh and Leith.

[Fouro]

Did you know, that a century ago, an air raid in April 1916 by two German Zepplings on Edinburgh and Leith caused the deaths of thirteen people and injiries to 24 more.Many buildings were also extensively damaged.FOURO.

[j.sabourn]

My father used to recount his memorys as a young child of Zeppelins coming in over the North sea and dropping their grenades or whatever over the Tyne area with all its shipping. JS

[Fouro]

Re Number 1.
On the night of the 2nd and 3rd of April 1916, the two German airships the L14 and the L22 dropped 23 bombs on Leith and the city of Edinburgh. Reinhard Scheer had been appointed Commander in Chief of the German fleet at the end of February 1916 and, anxious to provoke the Royal Navy, he attacked the British mainland, using surface ships, submarines and airships in a combined operation. First reports of bombing and explosions were received by Leith Police just before midnight. The L14 having crossed over the coast at St Abbs Head in Berwickshire on route for Rosyth and the Forth Railway Bridge, was unable to see its targets and dropped its bombs over Leith and the centre of Edinburgh. The L22 crossed over the mainland at Newcastle and dropped its bombs over the south of Edinburgh city. All the bombs dropped were not more than 100 yards from the Water of Leith at any point. The first of the bombs landed on Leith Docks. FOURO.

[Captain Kong]

Even BOLTON was zapped by the Zepelins in 1916.............

Zeppelin Raid on Bolton


Light-hearted First World War era postcard about zeppelin raids

Between 1914 and 1918 thousands of British men trooped off to join a multinational force locked in battle against Germany and its allies. The scale of this First World War was greater than any previously known. But what was life like at home, far away from the battle lines? Was the civilian population united body and soul against the enemy?

We are often presented with the national story of War, the military struggles, the war effort at home or what happened in the capital, London. But it must be remembered that most people had to get on with their ordinary everyday lives as best they could, and that most people didn’t live in London. They just had to hope that their husband or father or brother of boyfriend would come back home alive. But at the same time many men were on protected duties (coal miners) whilst others were unfit to serve.



The Effect on the People

In 1916, when a zeppelin strayed over Bolton, a number of bombs were dropped on the town, killing and injuring and causing destruction. You might expect this to galvanise the population into hating the German enemy. But the evidence is inconclusive on this point. The zeppelin raid on Bolton was a novelty, and drew people onto the streets. Some were scared, some angry, some saddened, some perhaps were excited, and all were just a little curious.

At a time when Boltonians were maimed and killed in their everyday working lives in the mills and mines, the casualties from the air raid may not have seemed as catastrophic as we may imagine today.

Firsthand accounts vs. the press

Thomas Sanderson verger at the Holy Trinity Church, on Trinity Street, Bolton when it was bombed by a zeppellin in 1916

At 8:30am on the 26th September 1916, Thomas Sanderson opened the doors to the Holy Trinity Church, on Trinity Street, Bolton. Sanderson, the church verger, discovered inside that the church had been hit by a bomb during the zeppelin raid of the night before. There was a hole in the roof, and scattered about the floor was what he assumed was a bomb that had broken open on impact but had not exploded.

Sanderson immediately reported his discovery to the vicar and then proceeded to the Town Hall to make a report to the Police and present his findings. Oddly, there is no mention of the experience of the air raid the night before in his diary, only of his morning discovery.

After the hand written account in his diary, Sanderson has pasted in a newspaper report “passed for publication by Censor” that gives a detailed account of the air raid. However the report adds a little confusion by referring to Bolton as “a North Midlands industrial town”.


Zeppelins were large hydrogen filled balloons in a cigar shape that were used by the German military in the First World War to conduct long distance bombing raids against British war industries. Zeppelins had the advantage of being able to fly longer distances at higher altitudes and carry heavier payloads than aeroplane technology allowed at that time. However when the zeppelin named L21 (L standing for the German Luftschiffe) dropped its bombs on Bolton, it was undoubtedly lost.

L21 was part of a raiding party of seven zeppelins that crossed the British coastline at 9:45pm on Monday 25th September, and left at 3:05 am on the 26th. One historian has recorded that the zeppelin crew believed they had been attacking Derby. Navigation over the darkened landscape with poor radio guidance was not a recipe for a successful mission. It seems likely that the crew of L21 were searching for any target that appeared worthy of an attack. Bolton at the time of World War One was at the height of its industrial powers. Between coal fired mill engines and the foundry furnaces of heavy engineering, Bolton must have presented itself as an obvious industrial target. It was just unlucky for Bolton that L21 strayed overhead.

The aircraft did a double loop over Bolton, killing a total of 13 civilians. However, in spite of all the industrial targets and the large areas of railway sidings, it was residential streets that suffered the most damage. Kirk Street in particular was hit by five of the twenty-one bombs dropped on the town.

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[Fouro]

Re Number 1.On the night of the 2nd and 3rd of April 1916,All the bombs dropped were not more than 100 yards from the Water of Leith at any point. The first of the bombs landed on Leith Docks. FOURO.

Admiral Scheer wrote his memoirs of the Great War in 1919 and a year later they were translated in English.Also in October of that following year an intruder broke into the Admiral's house and murdered his wife Emilie. He also murdered the housemaid and injured his daughter Else. The man then committed suicide in the cellar. Following the incident, Scheer retreated into solitude. He wrote his autobiography entitled "From Sailing Ship to Submarine" which was published on 6th November 1925.In 1928, Admiral Scheer accepted an invitation to meet his adverary from Jutland, John Jellicoe, in England. Unfortunately at the age of 65, Scheer died at Marktredwitz before he could make the trip.Admiral Jellicoe was the Admiral who led the British Royal Navy at the Battle of Jutland against the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet under Vice Admiral Reinhard Scheer.Admiral Scheer was buried in the municipal cemetery at Weimar.FOURO.

[Fouro]

OOPS, one mistake, adverary should be adversary. FOURO.

[Fouro]

Following the Zeppilin raid additional precautions were taken to protect the Regalia of Scotland. These were removed from the Crown Room in Edinburgh Castle to one of the castle vaults to ensure their safety.
The Scottish Crown Jewels are the oldest surviving regalia in Britain, thanks to Oliver Cromwell, who had the original English Crown Jewels desroyed.
I have no doubts Brian knows Bolton was a Parliamentarian Garrison during the English Civil War.
FOURO.

[Captain Kong]

Bolton was indeed a Parliamentarian town.
Prince Rupert attacked it and over 2,000 people were slaughtered in the street, Churchgate ran with rivers of Blood.
Lord Derby, the Earl of Stanley, of Liverpool, arrived and was arrested, he spent his last night in the Man and Scythe Pub on Churchgate and then his head removed on a scaffold erected outside. The pub was built in 1112 and is still open today 900 years later. I drink in there when in town.
My brother had a brewery on Lord Derby`s Estate in Knowlsley, in Liverpool and the label on one of his bottled beer depicts the execution , named Stanleys Revenge. He had to get permission from Lord Derby to have the label printed.
Excellent beer.
Cheers
Brian

[Fouro]

Charles II was crowned King of Scotland at Scone in January 1651.
Later that year, he led a Scottish army all the way down to Worcester until disaster struck, as the Battle of Worcester was the final crushing defeat of the Royal cause.
The English Civil War ended at the place where it had started nine years previously in 1642 with Prince Rupert's dashing victory at Powick Bridge.
Charles escaped from the battlefield and eluded capture until he was able to slip away to France.
Thousands of Scots were killed in the battle and thousands more were taken prisoner. They were later transported as forced labourers to New England or Barbados.
FOURO.