Writing a book is a lonely experience. For me it revolves around a laptop, untidy piles of books strewn across the floor, and reams of documents filed away on the aforementioned computer, or accessed online – and tea, steaming hot mugs of tea. It is also a silent experience, I need quiet to focus and follow my train of thought, and to remember where I once saw that obscure fact or in which folder I filed that document. Sometimes not even quiet helps in the search.
But a book cannot be written without the help of others. I always include the address of my website in my books to allow people to contact me and this often provides information from relatives of those who had first-hand experience of the air raids. Richard Willcocks was one who contacted me and I have included in the book the story of the death of his uncle in Folkestone in May 1917. On a similar vein, John Henderson showed me extracts from his great-uncle’s log book; he served on the minesweeper London Belle, whose guns came into action at Sheerness on 7 July 1917. From Sheerness I also received much excellent information from local historian Janys Thornton, while contact with David Jones resulted in him kindly granting permission to quote from a letter written by his grandfather relating to the Gotha raid on the town in December 1917. And from Southend-on-Sea I received help from local historian Chris Langdon in my pursuit of the names of air raid victims in the town.
In London, Keith Foster, generously allowed me access to copies of coroner’s reports pertaining to the Gotha raid of 13 June 1917 – this following a chance meeting at an archive a few years back. An email exchange with Karen Freeberne brought information about her greatgrandfather, Philip Frantzmann, killed in the Gotha raid of 7 July 1917, and contact with Thomas Genth, the grandson of Kagohl 3 officer, Leutnant Adolf Genth, was useful regarding his role in that July raid. The July raid also led to interesting exchanges with Paul Bessemer, a liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Ironmongers, whose hall was bombed that same day. Conversations with John Rochester, the archivist at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, also revealed useful information about the impact of the bomb dropped there in February 1918. I have also found documents relating to Kagohl 3/Bogohl 3, provided by John Penny, to be extremely helpful.
I would also like to express my admiration for the work of the late Doug Robinson, which I have referenced throughout this series of books. In the 1950s and 1960s, Dr Robinson, an American historian, met many German airship veterans and included translated material from the German archives in his work. I also would like to acknowledge the work of Ray Rimell whose books on Zeppelins are at the forefront of research.
And then I must express my gratitude to two good friends, David Marks and Ian Campbell. David shares my great interest in the air raids of the First World War and owns a unique collection of illustrative material from the period which he is ever-generous in making available for my use in whatever projects I am working on, whether books, magazine articles or lectures. They would all be much duller without his input. Ian is a friend on the other side of the world, residing ‘Down Under’ in Australia, and an aviation historian himself. Ian has a family connection with the Zeppelin raids and has subsequently become bitten by the air raid bug. He has been in the background while I have written each of the three ‘Forgotten Blitz’ books, reading the manuscripts, commenting on clarity, suggesting changes and correcting my typos – and offering encouragement when needed. Thanks, David and Ian, your support is greatly appreciated.
Finally, I must express my gratitude to my partner, Nicola. I began working on this series in 2015, now, eight years later it is finished (having squeezed another book in along the way). During that time, I have spent many hours shut away each day, obsessing over the comings and goings of German airships and aeroplanes in my silent, high-altitude world, only returning to earth when food miraculously appears each evening! Nicola accompanies me when I give talks – she could probably give some of those herself now – we have shared a Zeppelin-based holiday in Germany and have visited a few too many empty muddy fields together, places where something monumental (well, to me anyway) once happened many, many moons ago. Without her understanding and support, I would never have been able to achieve what I have.
And, lastly, many thanks to you for reading this book.
Ian Castle FRHistS
January 2024