A First World War bomb at Penshurst

By Peter Titley

Earlier this year a friend of mine, who lives by the River Medway in Penshurst, was repairing the riverbank when he came across what looked like a rusty piece of cast iron drainpipe. He cleared the undergrowth and, as it was heavy, pulled it out with a rope to expose three fins at one end. He immediately left the object alone and contacted the police. Upon arrival, the police confirmed the object was a bomb and called out the Army Bomb Disposal Unit.

They came and identified the weapon as a German incendiary bomb from World War One, a 1915 type not used after the end of 1916, and, after inspecting it, took it away for disposal. The bomb measured 45cm long and 8cm in diameter and originally had four fins on one end although only three had survived. The weight was estimated at 12.5 kilos (Fig 1).

How could this weapon type have ended up at a riverbank in Penhurst? Subsequent research indicates only two German air raids could have passed over Penshurst up to the end of 1916, and these involved airships. The first was on the night of 13/14 October 1915 and the other, on the night of 23/24 September 1916. Air raids on Britain at this time were carried out by the German navy or army airships except for a few coastal attacks by aircraft. The airships of the German Navy were manufactured by the Zeppelin Company and those of the army by the Schutte Lanz concern.

The first raid, during the night of 13/14 October 1915, was flown by five naval Zeppelins, L11, L13, L14, L15 and L16 whose target was London. They took off from north Germany at around midday on the 13th October and crossed the North Sea to make landfall over the coast of East Anglia1. The only airship that came near to Penshurst was L14, commanded by Kapitanleutnant Alois Bocker (Fig 2), which had taken off from Nordholz at 12.22hrs.

Bocker experienced navigational problems and instead of flying steadily south-west towards London, went due south, crossed the Thames and bombed Shornecliffe, Otterpool and Westenhanger army barracks, killing fifteen troops2. He then flew on to Hythe where presumably, realising his navigational error by reaching the sea, turned north- westwards towards London, dropping seven bombs at Frant and three at Tunbridge Wells and then turned towards Oxted and Croydon, dropping a further seventeen bombs. His route from Tunbridge Wells to Croydon may have been over Penshurst. He continued over Bickley, and east London departed British airspace at Aldeburgh in Suffolk at 01.45hrs and arrived back at Nordholz at 15.20hrs on 14 October after being airborne for twenty-six hours and forty minutes3. The bombs dropped on Tunbridge Wells fell in a park and therefore did not result in any damage4. However, the appearance of a “long, black cigar-shaped object coming very slowly” in the sky and the exploding bombs caused great fear and some panic amongst the people on the ground5.

The second raid took place on the night of 23/24 September 1916 involving twelve airships, all Zeppelins, of the German Naval Air Service. These were L13, L14, L16, L17, L21, L22, L23,

L24 and four of the new R class craft L30, L31, L32, and L33.

All were to target the Midlands except the R class airships, which were to target London.6

Top

Fig 1: Bomb in river bank at Penshurst

Middle

Fig 2: Kapitanleutenant Alois Bocker

Bottom

Fig 3: Kapitanleutenant Heinrich Mathy

Two of the London-bound craft,

L31 and L32, flew near to Penshurst on their way to the target, again via Tunbridge Wells. The other airships approached London from different directions.

L31, commanded by one of the best airship commanders of the day, Kapitanleutnant Heinrich

Mathy (Fig 3), took off from Ahlhorn, North Germany at 13.35hrs on 23 September and flew south over Belgium, crossed the Channel and made landfall at Dungeness. The airship was at Rye at 23.00hrs reached Tunbridge Wells at 23.30hrs7 and reached Kenley at 00.30hrs when four bombs were dropped. Bombs were also dropped over Mitcham, Streatham, Brixton, Kennington and the Lea Bridge Road area of East London8. Mathy then flew north-east and left British airspace over Great

Yarmouth. He returned to Ahlhorn at 08.45hrs on 24 September having been in the air for eighteen hours and 50 minutes9. The route taken by L31 from Tunbridge Wells to Kenley could well have been over Penshurst, and therefore a bomb could have fallen there. In the log for L31, there is no record of any bombs being dropped between Dungeness, where a number10 were released along with water ballast to gain height. However, at times, flares or incendiary bombs were dropped to assess ground position and drift, or bombs were sometimes released unintentionally.

L32, commanded by Oberleutnant sur Zee Werner Petersen (Fig 4), took off from Ahlhorn at 14.10hrs on 23 September. He accompanied Mathy in L31 to Dungeness where he may have experienced engine problems and turned to return to Germany. However, he must have overcome the issues11 because he turned again and headed west. L32 reached Tunbridge Wells at 00.15hrs and then turned northwards towards Croydon dropping bombs indiscriminately. This route would have taken the Zeppelin over Penshurst before reaching the Thames at Dartford at 01.00hrs12 after dropping seven bombs on the searchlight battery at Crockenhill13. On its way over Essex L32 was attacked by Lieutenant Frederick Sowrey of 39 Squadron, RFC, flying a BE2c aircraft (No. 4112) (Figs 5 and 6), who had been patrolling between Sutton Farm, Hornchurch, and Joyce Green, Dartford, airfields.

Sowrey caught the airship at 13,000 feet when it was travelling at its maximum speed of sixty m.p.h. He fired into the airship at very close range setting it on fire. It crashed at Great Burstead, near Billericay in Essex at 01.20hrs killing all twenty-two crew members on board14. Similar to L31, there is no record of bombs being dropped in the area of Penshurst15.

The precise explanation as to why the bomb ends up in the Medway at Penshurst remains a mystery. Research indicates there are three possible explanations: Firstly, it could have been dropped accidentally by L14, L31 or L32. In 1915/16 the technology for bomb release was rudimentary, and it was not unknown for weapons to fall from airships by accident; secondly, navigational technology of 1915/6 was in its infancy, and locational checks were carried out by dropping flares to view the ground or incendiary bombs to assess the drift of the airship. Thirdly, and perhaps least likely, is that the bomb may have fallen from a vehicle that was transporting it to a disposal site shortly after its recovery. Whatever the explanation, its discovery opened up a fascinating enquiry into Kent’s rich wartime history.

Top, left

Fig 4: Oberleutenant-sur-Zee Werner Petersen

Top, middle

Fig 5: Lieutenant Frederick Sowery

Top, right

Fig 6: Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2c

Aircraft and Zeppelin specifications:

Left

Fig 7: Zeppelin R Class L31

ROYAL AIRCRAFT FACTORY

B.E. 2C16 [FIG 6]

Wingspan: 37ft 0in.

Length: 27ft 3in.

Crew: 2

Armament: 2 X 0.303 in. machine gun, Brock and Pomeroy ammunition, 20lb Hale or 16lb

Woolwich bombs, Le Prieur rockets and Ranken darts

Powerplant: 1 X 70h.p.Renault or 1 X 90h.p. R.A.F.1a

Maximum speed: 76 m.p.h. at 6,500ft altitude

Climb rate: 20 minutes to 6,500ft

Ceiling: 10,000ft

ZEPPELIN R CLASS L3117 [FIG 7]

Length: 649 feet

Diameter: 78 feet

Hydrogen capacity: 1,949,600 cubic feet

Crew: 22

Cars: 4

Powerplants: 6 X 220 h.p. Maybach HSLu

Maximum speed: 60 m.p.h. Cruising speed: 40 m.p.h. Ceiling: 13,000ft

Bomb load: 9250lbs

Footnotes

1 Cole, C. & Cheeseman, E.F., The Air Defence of Great Britain 1914 – 1918, pub.

Putnam, London 1984, p.73

2 Jones, H.A. The War in the Air pub. The Naval & Military Press, Uckfield & The Imperial War Museum, Vol 3, 2002. p.130

3 Ibid, p.131

4 Steel, N. & Hart, P., Tumult in the Clouds pub. Hodder &

Stoughton, London, 1998, p.159

5 Ibid. p.158

6 Cole, C. & Cheeseman, E.F, op cit. p.168

7 Robinson, D.H., Zeppelin in Combat, pub., G. T. Foulis, London, 1966,p.187 & J. Morris, The German Air Raids 1914–1918, pub. The Naval & Military Press, Uckfield & The Imperial War Museum, p.137

8 Morris, J, German Air Raids on Great Britain 1914-1918, pub. The Naval & Military Press, Dallington, 1993, p138

9 Robinson, D.H. .op cit. p.180

10 The number dropped varies between six and ten weapons.. See Jones, H.A. op cit. p.229 and Robinson, D.H. op cit. p.187.

11 Cole, C. & Cheeseman, E.F, op cit. p. p.170

12 Ibid. p.p.170

13 Robinson D.H, .op cit..p.188

14 Ibid, p.188

15 Cole, C. & Cheeseman, E.F, op cit. p.170

16 Paul R. Hare, The Royal Aircraft Factory, pub.

Putnam, London, 1990, p.

17 Cole, C. & Cheeseman, E.F, op cit. p.377