Shropshire Routes to Roots

5. Wednesbury bombing

How the Shrewsbury Chronicle reported the Wednesbury Raids [Shropshire Archive reference: Shrewsbury Chronicle 11 February 1916]

On the 31st January 1916, nine airships left their bases in Friedrichaven and Lowenthal and headed for Liverpool, England. Their orders were to fly across the breadth of England and bomb Liverpool. This raid was to show the British that no area was beyond the reach of the airships. Kapitanleutnant Max Dietrich commanded the L21 and was the first to cross the North Sea at 5.50pm. Mist and fog was already forming over the heavily populated areas meaning that Dietrich had to combine calculation of time and speed, with observation wherever cloud provided a gap. He saw the lights of a city below him, which he calculated to be Manchester. Then at 8.50pm he could no longer see any lights or ground features and concluded that he was over the Irish Sea, slightly to the North of Liverpool. He turned south and finally came upon lights of a town, which he concluded was Liverpool. He ordered action stations.

The people of Liverpool were enjoying a normal Monday evening; they did not hear any engines or see any airships in the sky. There was no panic or no danger - as there were no Zeppelin airships above. Dietrich had got his calculations wrong. When he thought he was over Manchester he was actually over Derby; the 'Irish Sea' was really unlit areas of North Shropshire and Eastern Wales, and Liverpool was actually Wednesbury. The bombs from the L21 fell on Tipton and Bradley first, and then Wednesbury. The first bombs landed in the King's Street area near a large factory. A Mrs. Smith, who lived on the street, left her house to see what was happening. Her initial reaction was that there had been an explosion at the factory but, as she walked towards the fires, bombs started to drop behind her. She hurried back to her home to find her house demolished and all her family killed: her husband Joseph, daughter Nellie, aged 13, and son Thomas, aged 11. The audience at King's Music Hall in Earp Street had just settled for the second half of the Melodrama "The Faithful Wedding". They heard explosions outside and the lights went off in the hall. The audience all hurried outside into the street. They were greeted with the sight of Zeppelins. Some ran to the church, others hid in the cellar of the public house and others stayed in the street.

Scenes from the Zeppelin attacks Larger image, in a new window [34kb] [Shropshire Archive reference: Shrewsbury Chronicle 11 February 1916]

The end of the raids?

After the L21 had finished here it headed to Walsall and dropped the last of its bombs. Meanwhile the people of Wednesbury stood discussing the events of the evening before heading to bed.

Scenes from the Zeppelin attacks Larger image, in a new window [37kb] [Shropshire Archive reference: Shrewsbury Chronicle, 11 February 1916]

Scenes from the Zeppelin attacks Larger image, in a new window [36kb] [Shropshire Archive reference: Shrewsbury Chronicle, 11 February 1916]

But this was not the end, as the L19 captain Kapitanleutnant Loewe had come to the same conclusion as Dietrich. He too dropped his bombs on Wednesbury, causing minor damage but no casualties. The ship then suffered engine problems and had to ditch in the North Sea. None of the crew survived this landing. This was the end of the bombing for the people of Wednesbury.

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