Saved from the Raid

Amongst the stories of the First World War generated by its 100-year anniversary, there have been many relating to Zeppelins, including Andrew Smith’s contributions to High Country Journal. This article explores a rather quirky reminder of one of these terrifying raids – a small chair.

It couldn’t be described as a quality piece; it’s too small for an adult, and seems to have been altered. It is smothered in amateurish but intriguing carving. Along the top rail, in Gothic script, is written:
Saved From The Raid.

On a rail halfway down the back, there is the date Aug 17, obviously carved with some difficulty, and on the seat, the year 1915. Both are surrounded by flowery foliage decoration and there are small stars punched into the seat.

An internet search revealed the wartime story behind these clues. The chair commemorates a Zeppelin attack on Walthamstow and Leytonstone, only the second one of the war to reach London. Innocent civilians, until then protected from enemy action, would have found this new bomb-dropping weapon quite terrifying.

The Zeppelin – a cigar-shaped hydrogen-filled airship – was developed by Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in 1900 and was initially only used for pleasure flights. When it became clear that the Great War was not “all over by Christmas”, the Germans decided to use Zeppelins for bombing raids on civilian targets. They hoped that the raids would cause such fear and panic that they would force the country out of the war. “Nowadays there is no such animal as a non-combatant,” justified German Zeppelin corps commander Peter Strasser, “Modern warfare is total warfare”.

Zeppelins were notoriously difficult to navigate – they were at the mercy of wind, cloud and fog, and their pilots relied on comparing what they could see below (which wasn’t much at night) with their maps. Many attempted attacks failed. But eventually an airship got through to bomb part of east London on 31st May 1915 and, as intended, caused major panic.

After several failed missions, four navy Zeppelins left Germany on 17th August 1915 to attack London. Two of them turned back with mechanical problems and one of them turned too far south and dropped its bombs on Ashford in Kent by mistake, thinking it was Woolwich. The fourth, Airship L10, reached east London at about 10.30pm. However, its pilot also had navigation difficulties and mistook the Lea Valley reservoirs for the River Thames. So instead of attacking central London, it dropped its bombs on Chingford Plain, Walthamstow and Leytonstone. Ten people were killed and 48 were injured. Scores of houses, two churches and a billiard hall were damaged or destroyed. The Fire Brigade estimated the damage to property at over £30,000 (equivalent to over £2 million today).

The Zeppelin crew returned to Germany and were welcomed as heroes. Everyone thought they had attacked the very heart of London, and a commemorative medal was struck, showing Zeppelins bombing Tower Bridge. In Britain, by contrast, there was minimal newspaper coverage (two sentences), so as not to lower morale or alarm the population.

For similar reasons, the authorities gave few warnings of these early air raids, beyond policemen on bicycles blowing whistles and shouting “Take cover”. People would have scrambled to save first themselves and then their property.

Evidently this little chair was rescued from a bombed or burning building. For its owner, the impact of the event was so great that it was worth commemorating. It must have been hard work – carving already-seasoned wood is extremely difficult, especially if it’s incorporated in a piece of furniture. Sadly we don’t know who the original owner was, but the chair ended up in the home of the late Doris Messinger in Buckhurst Hill, less than five miles from the Zeppelin raid area, and is now safely housed in Theydon Mount.