7th September 1915 On this day:  Personnel changes  Ports Bombarded   Drill Zeppelin raids on London   Two Army Zeppelins successfully bombed London on the night of the 7th of September. SL 2 dropped bombs on the Isle of Dogs, Deptford, Greenwich and Woolwich, and LZ 74 was forced to drop weight on its approach and scattered 39 bombs over Cheshunt, before heading on to London and dropped devices on Bermondsey, Rotherhithe and New Cross,one lone incendiary bomb dropped onto a shop on Fenchurch Street in London. Eighteen people were killed and 28 injured, property damage totalled £9,616. Fog and mist prevented any aircraft taking off, but anti-aircraft guns fired at LZ 74 with no effect. Although these raids had no significant military impact, the psychological effect was considerable. The Zeppelins attacked between ten and eleven o’clock, when the streets were full of people. An American writer wrote "Traffic is at a standstill. A million quiet cries make a subdued roar. Seven million people of the biggest city in the world stand gazing into the sky from the darkened streets. Among the autumn stars floats a long, gaunt Zeppelin. It is dull yellow—the colour of the harvest moon. The long fingers of searchlights, reaching up from the roofs of the city, are touching all sides of the death messenger with their white tips. Great booming sounds shake the city. They are Zeppelin bombs—falling, killing, burning. Lesser noises—of shooting—are nearer at hand, the noise of aerial guns sending shrapnel into the sky. If the men up there think they are terrifying London, they are wrong. They are only making England white-hot mad." The writer D.H. Lawrence described the raid in a letter to Lady Ottoline Morrell, "Then we saw the Zeppelin above us, just ahead, amid a gleaming of clouds: high up, like a bright golden finger, quite small (...) Then there was flashes near the ground — and the shaking noise. It was like Milton — then there was war in heaven. (...) I cannot get over it, that the moon is not Queen of the sky by night, and the stars the lesser lights. It seems the Zeppelin is in the zenith of the night, golden like a moon, having taken control of the sky; and the bursting shells are the lesser lights." Eighteen people were killed in the raid, and 28 were wounded. Property damage totalled £9,616. The SL-2 suffered engine failure on the return trip home and had to crash land in Germany. Shortly after this raid Admiral Sir Percy Scott was placed in charge of the air defenses around London. John Doran  65th Bde in Billets  Improvised Rations  Newspaper Exchange  Aeroplane duels  Under Fire  Trench Work  Reinforcements  Reinforcements  Inspection  Communication  Field Day  Wet Weather  Inspection  More Units Join  A Taxing March  Working Parties  Allotment  Inspection  Shelling  Move  Working Parties & Training  Training  Working Parties  On the March  In Billets  Trench Work  On the Move  Holding the Line  Aircraft damaged  At Rest  Reliefs  On the March  Gas Specialists  Divisional Field Day  Exercise  No Incidents  Quiet  In Billets  Training & Working Parties  One man killed  Digging at Vermelles  Training  Quiet  Roads  Observation Precautions  On the March  Training  On the March  Working Parties  Relieved from Trench Duty  Enemy Aircraft  Relief Completed  In Action  New Area  Coastal bombardment fails  Circular Route March.  Notes on Trench Warfare.  Wet Day  Inspection 1st Royal Scots on the march   1st Battalion Royal Scots marched to billets near Vieux-Berquin. 23 men arrived from hospital. Can you add to this factual information? Do you know the whereabouts of a unit on a particular day? Do you have a copy of an official war diary entry? Details of an an incident? The loss of a ship? A letter, postcard, photo or any other interesting snipts? If your information relates only to an individual, eg. enlistment, award of a medal or death, please use this form: Add a story.

Killed, Wounded, Missing, Prisoner and Patient Reports published this day. This section is under construction.

Want to know more about 7th of September 1915? There are:63 items tagged 7th of September 1915 available in our Library   These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.

Remembering those who died this day, 7th of September 1915. Private David Adams. H.M.S. Attentive Read their Story. Pte. Duncan Balfour Coward. 7th Btn. York & Lancaster Regiment Read their Story. Rflmn. Harold Brinley Edwards. 1st Btn. King's Royal Rifle Corps Read their Story. Add a name to this list.

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