Civilians in the Line of Fire

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Great Yarmouth was the first place in the UK ever to suffer civilian casualties as a result of an air raid. On the night of the 19th January 1915 the German airship, Zeppelin L3, piloted by Peter Strasser, dropped bombs on the town. The fourth bomb to explode landed on St Peter's Plain, killing 53 year old shoemaker, Samuel Smith and 72 year old Martha Taylor. Although I have not yet been able to locate his grave, Samuel (who had part of his head blown away) is buried in the Kitchener Road Cemetery (Martha is buried in Gorleston). 

This is a tragically poignant moment in British history (see HERE for further details). In an ironic twist, Yarmouth was also the last town in Britain to be bombed in the First World War, and, once again, the pilot of the Zeppelin was Peter Strasser. On the night of the 5th of August the airship was destroyed and Strasser was shot down by a British plane piloted by Edgar Cadbury (a member of the famous chocolate manufacturing family). 

Peter Strasser, 1876-1918

(Main Source for this post: Frank Meeres, "A History of Great Yarmouth")


~ Colin ~