Buzzer Nights

A failure rate at 67% is, in my opinion,an indication that something is not really viable or sustainable and should be stopped immediately. Unfortunately, such a pitifully poor statistic can only be judged in hindsight.

More unfortunate is the fact that from 1914 to 1918 the specific statistic was being generated by the 115 Zeppelins of the German military. A total of 77 craft were shot down, crashed or otherwise terminally malfunctioned but not before they had terrorised the civilian population of the UK in the first incidences of aerial attack in what became known, much later in the second global conflict, as Total War. Count von Zeppelin had been pioneering large airships and their application to military use in the late 1800's and with the first progression from patented blueprint to actual airborne prototypes as early as 1900.

A bit cumbersome, quite unpredictable to manoeuvre and very volatile in their hydrogen inflation there must have been some scepticism from the authorities about their practical use.

However, in the early stages of the first world war they were very highly regarded for reconnaisance over the front lines and for a few silent forays and bombing missions over Paris and other allied targets. The time was right for an otherwise prominent, ponderous and highly flammable blimp as neither small arms fire from the trenches, anti-aircraft fire or pursuit aircraft were sufficiently advanced or potent to constitute a threat .At an operating height of around 3000 feet and propulsion speeds of 85 mph nothing could touch the imposing Zeppelins. It was therefore a natural strategic decision to use the airships in a much more offensive role.

The Kaiser did not want London to be bombed from the air or at least there was a strict directive not to inflict damage on any of his favourite and historic buildings in th capital. Next choice for the onslaught of the first aerial assault on mainland England was, logically, Hull, an important east coast Port within good range.

The first mass Zeppelin raids were commenced in early to mid 1915 . Adverse weather and winds prevented the primary target being reached. Hull had a reprieve but Great Yarmouth was bombed and recorded the first home fatality of bombardment from the air.

It was not long before Hull resumed its place as the most attacked city, by Zeppelins, outside London. The silent menace of the airships was both sinister and terrifying for the civilian population of Hull. The Zeppelins would leave their mooring masts and hangers at dusk, head across the North Sea and make landfall on the east coast in the early hours of the morning. The combination of darkness, cloud induced invisibilty and the prospect of a torrent of high explosive bombs and incendiaries caused many citizens to stay outdoors in public open space and parks for the peak threat periods.

The prospect of after-dark attacks led to the description of these hours as 'Buzzer Nights'.

One documented account of a typical attack illustrates the rising tension and fear. Zeppelin Raiders had been spotted in the North Sea at 7.25pm. A blackout was ordered in Hull at 9.30pm. The first airships appeared over the town of Hedon, 5 miles to the east of the city at 11.47pm. In the subsequent slow and circling bombing run from 3000 feet altitude a total of 32 devices were dropped with a loss of life and widespread devastation to buildings and infrastructure. The Ordnance was intended for maximum destruction by explosive impact or a firestorm. Canisters containing the explosive Thermite mixed with tar and benzol were most effective to set buildings alight. The target areas of the extensive docks, wharves,warehouses and the centre of the city were also close to or inclusive of dense areas of terraced housing and many women and children were killed. A poster and propaganda campaign showed a searchlight captured Zeppelin under the title of 'The Baby Killer'. The largest Parish Church in England (almost a cathedral) , Holy Trinity, Hull narrowly escaped destruction after the adjacent Edwin Davis Department Store, only 27 feet away collapsed under incendiary attack.

The people of Hull, under the menace of attack expressed anger at the apparent lack of civil defence measures of either land based guns or interceptor aircraft. More socially disruptive was a very unhelpfully devisive campaign by the Hull Daily Mail newspaper speculating that residents of the city with German origins may be signalling to,or assisting in target spotting for the Zeppelins. A number of longstanding family run shops and businesses of settled German migrants, now British citizens,were attacked by small ,angry mobs. This was widely condemned by the vast majority of the population as the work of mindless thugs. The air raid sirens were frequent from June 1915 to the summer of the following year.

Such was the arbitrary nature of the wind and weather in the flight planning of the raiders that Hull was on alert even if not the main target. It was easy for the Zeppelins to follow the course of the Humber immediately south of Hull to reach the Midlands and as far west as Liverpool. The looming mass of an airship in proximity to the city even en-route elsewhere must have instilled great fear and trepidation. The burgeoning statistics of failure for the Zeppelin fleet did prompt developments in technology to try to offset the high losses of men and machines. The L-designated models of the first attacks were replaced by successive M and P Class models, the former with 6 engine propulsion, a ceiling height of 13,000 feet and bomb carrying payload of 4 tons.

Another well documented attack on Hull took place in early March 1916. This involved 3 of the P Class Zeppelins. Captain Scheutze commanding L-11 had originally intended to attack the naval shipyards at Rosyth near Edinburgh but was driven south east. The weather was atrocious with snow storms, dense snow and ice bearing clouds and swirling winds which at 54mph largely checked any chance of progress by the straining engines. The gondola slung under the gas filled balloon was icing up and inhospitable to Captain and crew. Unable to control the craft in such conditions the Captain contemplated abandoning the mission. After discounting Middlesborough, the tertiary target of Hull was considered. Navigation by sight, usually following the course of railway lines was difficult and L-11 could have been anywhere along the eastern side of England. Then a series of explosions were spotted through a break in the cloud cover. The sister P Class airships had found their default targets in Hull. The Captain completed his objective.

A later attack by 9 Zeppelins in the August of 1916 caused a further 9 deaths, again predominantly defenceless citizens. Gradually tactics by ground based gunners and intrepid flyers became a tangible threat to the Zeppelins and operations against mainland England scaled down significantly. The manufacturing, fuelling and mooring stations of the Zeppelins in the axis countries also came within range of allied attacks. The last recorded Zeppelin over Hull was in March 1918 with one fatality on the ground, a lady, dying from the shock of the return of the aerial threat, and not directly from enemy action.

At great loss to life, Hull had nevertheless survived as a frontline city in the new phenomena of Total War. What was not foreseen or anticipated at the time was the even more severe devastation of Hull in the Second World War by the same enemy but with battle hardened and considerably more efficient flying machines.