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Zeppelin L48 was one of four German airships tasked with attacking London on the night of 16 June 1917.

She was one of the first ‘height climber’ Zeppelins, which meant she had been stripped back to become as light as possible – as a result she could be seen to bend as she flew through the air. She was immense, measuring almost 200 metres in length and having a volume of 55,800 square metres.

After releasing bombs over Harwich and Martlesham, the crew believed they were heading back to the continent, but their compass had frozen and they were actually heading north up the Suffolk coast.

At about 02:00 L48 drifted over Orford Ness and she was lit up by searchlights.

There was a barrage of shots from anti-aircraft guns on land and at sea and aircraft from the Armament Experimental Station at Orford Ness gave chase, along with an RFC plane from Goldhanger in Essex whose pilot, Lt P Watkins, was credited with the final ‘kill’.

The burning L48 could be seen for up to 50 miles; eyewitness George Durrell said people in Ipswich rushed towards it, not realising how far away it was.

The Zeppelin landed at Holly Tree Farm in Theberton. Sixteen members of the German crew died that night. They were initially buried in the village church, where part of the Zeppelin remains as a memorial. Their bodies were moved to the German cemetery in Cannock Chase in Staffordshire in the 1960s.

The wreckage was guarded by naval personnel to secure it for research purposes, but many pieces of the carcass did get into the hands of local people. A wealth of souvenirs were available including brooches and paperknives and local photographer, J S Waddell, published a booklet of postcards of the crash site.

Location: Holly Tree Farm, Theberton, Suffolk IP16 4SF
Image: Theberton currency, courtesy of IWM

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