London 1914–17: The Zeppelin Menace (Campaign)

During WWI, with aviation in its infancy, the German Army and Navy launched air raids against England, in the belief that such attacks would destroy the British will to continue the war. The first raids were by airships, or zeppelins.Today we find the idea of hydrogen-filled airships flying combat missions absurd, but recall that in 1914 zeppelins had several technological advantages over the primitive aircraft of the time, namely greater range and useful load. The vulnerability of zeppelins was not obvious at first, due to the primitive nature of airplane armament and the even more primitive (and sparse!) nature of antiaircraft artillery. As the war went on, the deficiencies of England's air defenses would make zeppelin raids impractical and usher in the age of the bomber.This Osprey books looks at the "zeppelin phase" of the bombing campaign, which actually overlaps the "bomber phase" (covered in another Osprey book). Ian Castle does an excellent job of discussing the raids and the book has a unique set of maps which reconstruct where the bombs fell on London. These maps are made possible by the relative small number of raids and the fact that bombing attacks were done by individual airships and NOT as mass affairs. The book also discusses the technical evolution of the airships as the Germans tried to build zeppelins which could fly above the ceiling of primitive airplanes and antiaircraft guns; this effort was doomed in the end.Castle looks at the improvements of fighters and their weapons, especially the use of machineguns firing incendiary bullets. These would prove to be decisive when the hydrogen-filled airships were shot down in flames by night-flying interceptors. His writing makes the book engaging and enjoyable, and the maps, photographs and original artwork make it valuable for understanding aerial warfare during this particular time in history.

A really interesting book! It goes well with it's companion volume, London 1917-1918. BOTH volumes cover a little written about subject, the 'Bomber Blitz' of England in World War I. I agree with other reviewers that the artwork inside is not quite up to Osprey's usual standards, but it's better than anything I could draw or paint! The campaign maps, photos of individual combatants, images of areas bombed, aircraft involved, etc., are all exemplary. I would highly recommend this book too anyone with a similar interest in the topic.

I am doing research on the Zeppelin War during WWI. I am amazed: the British naval air warriors were so brave and innovative! Also amazed by the impact the Zeppelin War had on England with so few actual Zeppelins. Also amazed by the German air warriors who, at the end, were flying into almost certain death to complete their missions!

Good treatment of Zeppelin War

Great

Great covering of the subject, while not being a thick book - have plenty of information in it, including detailed maps, photos and amazing art.

I absolutely loved this book and I read it twice already without even noticing the time passing. Ian Castle gave here a splendid description of the first campaign of strategic bombing ever - the Zeppelin raids against London.The title is a little misleading, because in fact the first Zeppelin raid took place on the night of 31 May 1915 - but on another hand German preparations began already in 1914, so it is not really an error.This book describes all the raids in a great detail and this is one of its main assets. It begins immediately with the first raid against London, for which we learn that the 31 May 1915 the "LZ38" airship belonging ot German Army and commanded by Hauptmann Erich Linnarz attacked London with 3000 lbs of bombs, killing seven people (all civilians) and escaping unscathed. The first to die that night was a three years old girl, Elsie Leggatt, who burned alive in her baby bed... She was also the first victim of strategic bombing in world history. Later that night another bomb also killed an 8 year old boy, Samuel Reuben.Those results of the first raid illustrate well the main point about all this campaign - it was ultimately almost totally useless from the military point of view and finally, in nine raids that really reached London, managed only to do two things: kill 181 people and especially inflame British opinion against Germans much better than any possible propaganda campaign. There were certainly some resources in men, aircraft and artillery, which had to be deployed in London and couldn't be used by British forces on other fronts - but compared to the scale of British war effort they were negligible.Germans paid a very heavy price for all those limited results, when in 1917 British finally found the way to deal with Zeppelin menace. Many brave men who dared to attack the most powerful country in the world on board of airships which were essentially enormous, slow and very vulnerable flying bombs waiting to explode, died - mostly in a horrible way - and ultimately the only thing they really achieved was to kill some helpless civilians, like Elsie Leggatt and Samuel Reuben.One can only wonder what could be achieved if Germans waited a little bit longer and unleashed a massif surprise attack of three dozens of their improved Zeppelins with improved bombs against Scapa Flow in the middle of 1916. Me for one I believe that they would have then good chances to seriously damage at least one, two, maybe even three, of British dreadnoughts, which would be immobile and which were poorly protected from fully vertical attacks. And once that done, make a sortie with the whole Hochseeflotte and offer the battle against the weakened Grand Fleet would make considerable more sense. Another better use for all this air fleet would be to regularly bomb one of the French ports where troops and supplies from Great Britain were disembarking - which would have the advantage to cut significantly the distance and also remove the hazardous voyage over the North Sea.... Both those solutions would be not only more honorable but also more sound from military point of view.The detailed and top level description of Zeppelin raids makes this book an excellent read. Maps are even better - they are simply a treasure! And the white and black archive pictures are another treasure, to keep preciously.But there is one point for which I simply have to take away one star from the rating: the horrible color plates by Christa Hook. Now, this Osprey book is the first since many years in which there are four color plates and that is a very good thing. BUT those plates are also so bad, that the eight pages they take must be considered as a total waste of place! In all of them we can "admire" the "guy with the melted face", so typical to Christa Hook efforts - the same guy who has no real face, just a kind of vague mask. All colors are shades of gray and black and no details are shown.In the first plate we see a vague shape of a house burning in London and a bobby (with melted face) helping civilians (with melted faces) to evacuate.In the second one we see a British pilot standing in front of his plane and receiving orders. Surprisingly he has a face (or at least the nose) but his commanding officer and ground crew technician have not. Also the only thing with some details in this illustration is pilot's pet dog...In the third plate there is a fight between a Zeppelin gunners and a British night fighter with the lights of British projectors in the background. Needless to say, no details are shown - just an impressionist shadow theater. Pity, because the general idea was great and full of potential...The last plate shows a German Zeppelin in fire and falling down with the crew evacuating - well, kind off... Another great idea but totally wasted by the lack of any details...I am very happy that I bought this book and for anybody interested in air warfare and First World War this is a must. But the color plates - oh God... For the life of me I really can not understand who in Osprey management accepted to pay for them!

An excellently precise and concise introductory book to The Great War's (WW1) German Zeppelin Blitz air raids on London. Well researched with comprehensive and inset maps of the areas attacked accompanied by a well balanced array of photographs and reconstructed illustrations. Within the immense amount of detailed information there are also a suggestion of human stories, briefly touched upon but making poignant and alive what could have been - but wasn't - a dry subject. A recommended intoductory read which will have one wanting to investigate further and deeper into this fascinating and little known-about topic, This book would appeal to both younger readers and adults alike. Definitely a 5 ***** from me!

My interest in Zeppelins sprang from owning L-15 memorabilia. This fairly thin book packs an awful lot of information into a small space, and the colour illustrations and old mono photos are superbly reproduced. A minefield of information about all aspects of the Zeppelin raids on London. Worth every penny!

Not a subject too well covered , Osprey though , do it justice with this title, which is like a companion to another volume.

A well written book giving little known details of the first world war,and containing good unseen photographs - a good book for anyone studying this part of history.

Für alle Interessierten der Luftschiffe des deutschen Kaiserreiches ein echtes Muss. Hier werden Luftschifftypen, deren Besatzungen und die Einsätze über England und London teils minutiös rekonstruiert. Ian Castle ist bekannt für seine Recherchen und genauesten Angaben. Sehr zu empfehlen! Auch für Interessierte an den englischen Ansichten und soziologischen Begebenheiten in der Zeit des I Weltkrieges zu empfehlen.