27/11/2024
On the night of 27/28 November 1916, the Imperial German Navy dispatched 10 Zeppelin airships to attack England. After crossing the North Sea in the Hartlepool area, the Zeppelins split into two groups, one heading for Tyneside and the other the Midlands. Of the 40 defensive sorties flown by the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS), 5 resulted in takeoff or landing accidents which wrecked their aircraft; one of the Tyneside raiders was shot down off the Tees by an RFC BE2c.
Zeppelin L21 coasted in at Hornsea in East Yorkshire and then followed the coast North before turning inland to spend the next 9 hours over England. Initially heading South West, L21 passed between Leeds and Sheffield before bombing mainly in the Stoke-on-Trent area. Commanded by Kapitainleutnant Kurt Frankenburg, L21 was suffering from engine problems, spending time with the engines shut down and the airship drifting with the wind. Her wandering return route took her South of Nottingham and past the air defence airfields of Buckminster, one of whose pilots engaged her but then lost her while replacing his ammunition drum, Leadenham, Cranwell and Stamford. Pilots reported that the Zeppelin took constant skilful evasive action and were unable to engage her in their mediocre BE2es.
The East Anglian airfields had been alerted to the Zeppelin's presence and, shortly after getting airborne from Marham in his FE2b, Lieutenant W R Gayner of 51 Sqn spotted L21 over East Dereham at 5.03 am; he was about to engage when he suffered a partial engine failure, resulting in his force landing at Tibenham.
The RNAS pilots based at Yarmouth and her night landing grounds had been on alert since 7 pm and were aware of L21 approaching around 6 am. Flt Lt Egbert 'Bertie' Cadbury took off from Yarmouth, but was forced to land at Burgh Castle with engine trouble, briefing Sub Lt Gerard Fane, who got airborne in his Be2c for his second flight of the night to patrol between Yarmouth and Lowestoft. Meanwhile, Sub Lt Edward Pulling had been patrolling from Bacton and was descending to land, when he saw anti-aircraft fire in the direction of Great Yarmouth, so headed South East, spotting L21 as he climbed to 8000'.
With his spark plugs replaced, Cadbury took off from Burgh Castle, spotted the Zeppelin heading out to sea and gave chase. Armed with the latest explosive and tracer bullets, Fane attacked from astern, but his gun jammed after one round, so he climbed to position himself above the airship in order to bomb it; he'd also spotted another Be2c below "firing like mad"; this turned out to be Cadbury. Cadbury emptied four trays of ammunition in to the rear of the airship, firing from astern under heavy return fire. Cadbury had now used all his ammunition and, once he had ceased firing, Pulling approached the Zeppelin at 90 degrees on her port quarter and fired two shots, both of which hit, before his gun jammed.
L21 caught fire at the stern, the flames spreading quickly until, to quote Pulling: "within a few seconds it was nothing but a fiery furnace"; Pulling also noted that one of the airships crew continued firing his machine gun until he was enveloped in flames. There was no survivor from the 17-man Zeppelin crew.
Officially, the destruction of L21 was credited to Pulling, as he was the last to fire. Pulling was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, while Cadbury and Fane both received Distinguished Service Crosses. That said, there is no doubt that it was Cadbury's bullets which dealt the fatal blow.
