On the night of October 1, 1916, the German Navy Zeppelin L-21 was pushing her way through the high, thin air over Central England near Norfolk. As the airship cleared a bank of clouds, her commander, Captain Kurt Frankenberg, saw 70 miles to the south, another zeppelin held in the bright glare of the London searchlights. Strands of clouds drifted by, obscuring his view, and then with wondrous clarity he again saw the other airship. She was in flames, glowing in the evening sky, falling quickly to the earth. L-21's captain and the few other crew members who saw this dreadful sign hanging in the sky were sure what they had witnessed. Another German airship was out there this night, and it had just plummeted to the ground in fiery ruin. They did not know it at the time, but the blazing ship they had seen was the German Navy Zeppelin L-31, commanded by airship ace Heinrich Mathy. His death and the loss of his crew had far-reaching repercussions for the German airship service. "...you know that I'm no coward. Out in eastern Asia we made many hair-raising voyages through typhoons. But I dream constantly of falling zeppelins. There is something in me that I can't describe. It's as if I saw a strange darkness before me, into which I must go." Chief Machinist Mate, German Navy Airship L-31 http://www.richthofen.com/dark_autumn/
Five airships were shot down over England, as follows: SL11, commanded by Hauptmann William Schramm, was brought down on the night of 2nd/3rd September 1916, near Cuffley, Hertfordshire, by Captain William Leefe Robinson. There were no survivors. Robinson was awarded the Victoria Cross for this action. SL11 was not a Zeppelin, but a Schutte-Lanz: a type made of wood rather than aluminium like the Zeppelins, but with some advanced design features eventually copied by the Zeppelin company. L32: commanded by Oberleutnant zur Zee Oscar Peterson, on 23/24th September 1916, near Burstead, Essex, by Second Lieutenant Frederick Sowrey. No survivors. L33: commanded by Kapitanleutnant Alois Block, also on 23/24 September, came down near Little Wigborough, Essex, having been holed numerous times by anti-aircraft fire and one aircraft. Amazingly, she did not catch fire, and her crew of 18 survived. Block wanted to get to the coast, steal a boat and make for home, but the crew were having none of that, and they all surrendered to a Policeman on a bicycle: the largest force of uniformed enemy combatants to arrive in Britain in the twentieth century. L31: Kapitanleutnant Helmut Mathy's ship, brought down on 1st October 1916 by 2/Lt Wulstan Tempest, at Potters Bar, Middlesex, no survivors. Mathy was the most successful and most inspirational of the airship commanders, and his loss was a severe blow to morale, with airship raids on the British mainland decreasing from then on. The German Army in fact stopped these operations altogether, but the Navy still made occasional forays. L48: commanded by KorvettenKapitan Victor Schutze, was brought down by at least four aircraft near Theberton, Suffolk, on June 17th 1917. Three survivors. These were the ones that crashed on land (so a somewhat arbitrary list); several others were brought down over the North Sea (notably L15, L21, L34 and L70), as well as others over France, Russia and the Near East.
I found this ..... the crew of the Zeppelins were buried in England http://ww1cemeteries.com/british_cemeteries_memorials_ext/cannock_german_cem.htm Annie
I came across this looking for something else ... In the First World War, SL11 a German Army airship, was shot down over Cuffley in Hertfordshire in 1916 by Lt William Leefe Robinson. He was awarded the VC for ‘most conspicuous bravery’ in attacking the first German airship destroyed on British soil. The crew of SL11 were buried with full military honours at Potters Bar, the vicar of Cuffley having refused them burial. In 1967 the graves of Germans who died in Britain during the two world wars, including the crew of SL11, were concentrated at the Cannock Chase German War Cemetery in Staffordshire. Born in Coorg, South India, 14 July 1895, William Leefe Robinson went on to join the RFC transferring from the Worcestershire Regiment, starting as an Observer but ended up as a pilot flying Be2c nightfighters out of Sutton Farm with 39 Squadron, and shot down Schutte Lanz Airship SL11 the first 'Zepp' to be shot down at night, and beginning the end of the Zeppelin peril. In April 1917, he was posted to 48 Squadron who were flying the new Bristol F2a Fighters, as a Flight Commander, and unfortunately on the Bristol's first ever debut over the German lines they were set upon by Richtofen's Circus, with the Bristol's taking a heavy mauling (although this was soon to change as more aggressive tactics using the Bristol Fighters were adopted). He was wounded and taken prisoner, however suffered badly in German prisoner of war camps, like many, and unfortunately died of illness contracted in the PoW camp on 31 December 1918 in Stanmore There was/is a memorial ... but I can't seem to find pictures ...... ERECTED BY READERS OF THE DAILY EXPRESS TO THE MEMORY OF CAPTAIN WILLIAM LEEFE ROBINSON VC, WORCS REGT AND RFC WHO ON SEPTEMBER 3 1916 ABOVE THIS SPOT BROUGHT DOWN SL11, THE FIRST GERMAN AIRSHIP DESTROYED ON BRITISH SOIL. THE AWARD OF THE VICTORIA CROSS TO CAPTAIN ROBINSON WAS THUS ANNOUNCED IN THE LONDON GAZETTE OF SEPTEMBER 5 1916 " FOR MOST CONSPICUOUS BRAVERY" HE ATTACKED AN ENEMY AIRSHIP UNDER CICUMSTANCES OF GREAT DIFFICULTY AND DANGER, AND SENT IT CRASHING TO THE GROUND AS A FLAMING WRECK. HE HAD BEEN IN THE AIR FOR MORE THAN TWO HOURS, AND HAD PREVIOUSLY ATTACKED ANOTHER AIRSHIP DURING HIS FLIGHT" RFC WINGS FULLY RESTORED ON THE 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF LEEFE-ROBINSON'S FEAT IN 1986 Ceremonies Date - 03RD SEPTEMBER 1986 Performed By - AIR VICE MARSHAL M J STEAR LEEFE-ROBINSON DIED OF INFLUENZA AND IS BURIED AT STANMORE. HIS PRIVATE GRAVE MARKER HAS BEEN RECORDED FOR THIS PROJECT. (NIWM 11441) Comments STRICTLY, THE AIRSHIP WAS A SHUTTE LANZ AND NOT A ZEPPELIN, BUT THE EPISODE HAS ALWAYS BEEN KNOWN LOCALLY AS 'THE CUFFLEY ZEPPELIN'
