Prodded by Winston Churchill,...

history · 08 October 1914 · 110 years ago

Prodded by Winston Churchill, the Admiralty had agreed to the plan masterminded by Wing Commdander Charles Rumney Sampson of the Eastchurch Squadron, RNAS, for a bombing raid on the Zeppelin sheds in Cologne and Dusseldorf in Germany. Flying from Antwerp, Belgium, the two Sopwith Tabloid aircraft, piloted by Squadron Leader D. A. Spenser Grey and Flight Lieutenant L.G. "Reggie" Marix, flew a distance of 112 miles and 104 miles respectively on this, which the first air raid against a target on German soil. Grey, unable to find the target because of poor visibility, became frustrated and dropped his bombs on Cologne Railway Station. Marix however was more successful. Locating the Zeppelin sheds, he attacked with bombs from a height of around 600 feet. Inside the sheds, the recently completed and fully inflated Zeppelin Z.IX airship LZ 25 was destroyed as were the adjoining workshops in the resulting fire. 

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