Fregattenkapitän Peter Strasser was appointed to command Germany’s Naval Airship Division (Marine-Luftschiff-Abteilung) in September 1913, becoming the driving force behind the development of the division. Despite setbacks during 1916, he never lost his belief that airships could effectively take the war to Britain. (David Marks Collection)

The Zeppelin base at Hage in East Frisia. The four sheds were completed by June 1915. As was normal practice, each shed was given a name with the first letter the same as that of the base, hence the sheds at Hage were Hanne, Hannibal, Harald and Hasso. Similarly, the sheds at Nordholz, for instance, had names beginning with N. (Author’s Collection)

A Friedrichshafen FF33e floatplane. Aeroplanes of this type regularly made hit-and-run raids on Kent coastal towns. They arrived without warning and as such local defence aircraft struggled to intercept them. (Phil Jarrett Collection)

The BE2c (BE = Blériot Experimental) was built by the Royal Aircraft Factory and became the mainstay of the Britain’s Home Defence squadrons. Outclassed on the Western Front, at home it eventually proved to be an ideal Zeppelin night-fighter. This example flew defence flights with No.50 (Home Defence) Squadron and is now part of the Imperial War Museum collection. (Author’s Collection)

The first Zeppelin raid of 1916 caused terror over a large area of the Midlands. This is King Street, Wednesbury, where a bomb dropped at 8.20pm on 31 January and killed at least eleven people, including Joseph Smith and four members ofhis family. (Author’s Collection)

The ruins of the Christ Church mission rooms in Burton-upon-Trent, with the bomb crater in the foreground. A meeting was in progress when the bomb exploded with ‘a blinding flash’. Six of those at the meeting died, with many more injured. (Author’s Collection)

A German postcard showing the crew of Zeppelin L 19 left to their fate by the British trawler King Stephen after the raid on the Midlands on the night of 31 January/1 February 1916. The original caption says ‘King Stephen, you are cursed’. (Author’s Collection)

The damage in Queen Street, Hull, after four bombs dropped around 1.00am on 6 March 1916. An eyewitness reported ‘great pandemonium in the neighbourhood – women screaming, men shouting, dogs barking and cats spitting’. The tram tracks in the roadway have been ripped up by a bomb. (Author’s Collection)

The wreck of Zeppelin L 15 on the morning of 1 April 1916, about 15 miles north of Margate. Having been damaged by anti-aircraft fire over Purfleet, L 15 tried to make it back to Germany but this proved impossible. Attempts by British boats to tow the wreck to shore failed, but later a salvage team brought up a significant amount of the wreckage. (Author’s Collection)

Around midnight on the night of 2/3 April 1916, Zeppelin L 14 attacked the Scottish capital, Edinburgh. This image shows crowds gathered opposite the White Hart Hotel in Grassmarket. All the windows appear blown out and one man there, William Breakey, died of his injuries. (Author’s Collection)

On the night of 2/3 May 1916, Zeppelin L 20 ventured over the Highlands of Scotland in error and, having used up precious fuel supplies, was unable to get back to Germany. The commander decided to land in neutral Norway but it did not go well. Although the crew survived, L 20 suffered severe damage before coming to rest in Hafrsfjord, where the Norwegian Army destroyed the wreck. (David Marks Collection)

The command gondola of L 16, a ‘p-class’ Zeppelin, in a shed at Hage. From here the airship’s rudder and elevators were controlled, the electronic bomb releases were positioned and a small radio room operated. The rear section of the gondola housed a single engine, its propeller just visible in the image. The rear gondola on the ‘p-class’ held three engines. (Author’s Collection)

L 31, one of the new ‘r-class’ Zeppelins, known to the British as the ‘Super Zeppelins’, flying over the battleship Ostfriesland. Navy Zeppelins undertook regular scouting flights over the North Sea. Commanded by Heinrich Mathy, L 31 joined the Naval Airship Division on 14 July 1916. (Author’s Collection)

In the early hours of 25 August 1916, Zeppelin L 31 dropped numerous bombs over south-east London. An inquisitive crowd gather in front of 32 Southvale Road in Blackheath, close to the corner with Tranquil Vale. The bomb killed 70-year-old Emma Vane while asleep in a room at the top of the house. (Steve Hunnisett Collection)

RFC ground crew dig out one of the engines of SL 11, deeply embedded in the ground at Cuffley in Hertfordshire. As Schütte-Lanz airships were built of wood there was very little in the way of significant debris at the crash site – the fire having consumed most of the framework. (Author’s Collection)

William Leefe Robinson became an instant celebrity after shooting down SL 11 in the early hours of 3 September 1916; the first airship destroyed over British soil. Five days later he received the Victoria Cross from the King at Windsor Castle. (Author’s Collection)

William Leefe Robinson’s successful attack on SL 11 spawned a wave of souvenirs, including a great number of postcards. There are portraits of Robinson, views of the crash site, artistic images of the attack on SL 11 and others depicting the burning airship falling to earth. At the time, he was probably the most famous man in the country. (Author’s Collection)

A bomb crater somewhere in East Anglia after the raid of 2/3 September 1916. Despite extravagant claims of successful attacks by some Zeppelin commanders, in 1916 a great number of bombs did little more than dig holes in farmers’ fields, creating photo opportunities for local people. (David Marks Collection)

On the night of 23/24 September 1916, Zeppelin L 17 attacked Nottingham. A bomb that exploded on 32 Newthorpe Street killed Alfred and Rosanna Rogers. Rescuers found Alfred’s body buried in the wreckage, while the blast threw Rosanna out into the street, depositing her body on a pile of rubble. (Author’s Collection)

During the raid over East London by L 33 on the night of 23/24 September 1916, one bomb exploded in Wrexham Road, the blast wrecking six houses in Old Ford Road and injuring three women. It is surprising there were not more casualties given the extent of the damage as shown in this image. (David Marks Collection)

On the night of 23/24 September, Zeppelin L 31 caused significant damage as it passed over South London. This image shows the rear of 19 Baytree Road, Brixton, the home of Music Hall artist, Jack Lorimer. The explosion killed his 4-year-old son and the nanny/housekeeper. Two other sons were pulled alive from the rubble. One of them, Maxwell, later earned fame as the entertainer Max Wall. (Author’s Collection)

Damaged by anti-aircraft fire over East London and losing hydrogen, L 33 was intercepted over Essex by 2nd Lt Alfred de Bathe Brandon of No.39 Squadron.The engagement was frenetic and the pilot was unaware that his bullets had pierced the Zeppelin’s fuel tanks, compounding L 33’s problems. She would not make it home. (Author’s Collection)

The looming skeleton of L 33 under guard at Little Wigborough. The cottages are on Copt Hall Lane and lay about 25 yards from the nearest part of the airship. The intact framework of this latest Zeppelin was analysed in detail and influenced the designs of the later British airships R33 and R34. (Author’s Collection)

After being picked up by Special Constables and arrested at Peldon, the crew of L 33 were kept overnight in the Church Hall at West Mersea before being taken to Colchester. Here they are shown arriving under guard at Hyderabad Barracks, Colchester on 24 September. One man has a bandaged head. (Author’s Collection)

Zeppelin L 32, one of the new ‘r-class’ Zeppelins, was a major step forward in Zeppelin design and it was felt that this new type would allow Germany to dominate the skies over Britain. The introduction of this new class, however, coincided with the development and issue of both explosive and incendiary bullets to Britain’s Home Defence squadrons.(Author’s Collection)

Destroyed by the new explosive and incendiary bullets on 24 September 1916, L 32 smashed into a field just south of Billericay in Essex. In this image, army and navy personnel search through the twisted wreckage, which en eyewitness described as ‘like the skeleton of a monstrous prehistoric reptile’. (David Marks Collection)

The original caption is ‘Impression made in ground at Billericay by Commander falling from burning Zeppelin’. At the time the executive officer of L 32, Leutnant-zur-See Karl Brodrück, was named in error as the commander by the British authorities.

It may therefore be his body that left this mark. (Author’s Collection)

The wreckage of Zeppelin L 31 piled up around an oak tree at Oakmere Park, Potter’s Bar, the third ‘Super Zeppelin’ lost in a week. Her commander, Heinrich Mathy, chose to jump to his death. The crew were buried in the same cemetery as the crew of SL 11, shot down a month earlier. (Author’s Collection)

The Zeppelin fighters of No.39 (Home Defence) Squadron. Top left: William Leefe Robinson, awarded the Victoria Cross for shooting down SL 11. Top right: Frederick Sowrey, awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for shooting down L 32. Bottom left: Wulstan Joseph Tempest, awarded the DSO for destroying L 31. Bottom right: Alfred de Bathe Brandon, awarded the Military Cross for his attack on L 15 and the DSO for his actions against L 33. (David Marks Collection)

Naval Zeppelin commanders. Top left: Joachim Breithaupt, L 15, brought down and made POW, 1 April 1916. Top right: Werner Peterson, L 32, shot down and killed, 24 September 1916. Bottom left: Alois Böcker, L 33, brought down and made POW, 24 September 1916. Bottom right: Heinrich Mathy, L 31, shot down and killed, 1 October 1916. (Author’s Collection)

Top: An artistic impression of the RNAS attack on L 21 off the Suffolk coast in the early morning of 28 November 1916. L 21 was the last Zeppelin shot down in 1916. Bottom: Flt sub-Lt Edward Pulling standing by the cockpit of his BE2c. Although he only fired two rounds at L 21, he received credit for its destruction. (Top: Author’s Collection/ Bottom: David Marks Collection)

Pilots in action on the night of 27/28 November 1916. Top left: Ian Pyott, RFC, awarded DSO for shooting down L 34. Top right: Egbert Cadbury, RNAS, received the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) for his attack on L 21. Bottom left: Edward Pulling, RNAS, awarded the DSO for his part in destroying L 21. Bottom right: Gerard Fane, RNAS, received the DSC for his attack on L 21. (Photo top left, courtesy of Collen Cumming and Ivor Markman, others are Author’s Collection)