Back of St. Thomas Manse after zeppelin raid

Category

Library Item

Item no

38725

Title

Back of St. Thomas Manse after zeppelin raid

Description

Back of St. Thomas Manse after zeppelin raid of April 3rd 1916.

Artist / maker

Unknown

Engraver

Unknown

Date

1980

Size

9.6 x 13.8 cm

Type

Press cutting

On the night of 2-3 April 1916 two German airships, the L14 and the L22, dropped 23 bombs on Leith and the City of Edinburgh. Reinhard Scheer had been appointed commander in chief of the German fleet at the end of February 1916 and, anxious to provoke the Royal Navy, he attacked the British mainland, using surface ships, submarines and airships in a combined operation. During the raid, 13 people died and 24 were injured.

Warning of the impending air raid was received at 7pm on Sunday 2 April 1916, and the police in Leith and the City of Edinburgh instituted air raid precautions. The Electric Light Department lowered all lights, traffic was stopped and lights on vehicles were extinguished. The Central Fire Station and the Red Cross were notified and all policemen, regular and specials, were called up.

The first reports of bombs exploding were received by the police just before midnight. The L14, having crossed over the coast at St Abbs Head in Berwickshire on route for Rosyth and the Forth Railway Bridge, was unable to see its targets and dropped its bombs over Leith and the centre of Edinburgh. The L22 crossed over the mainland at Newcastle and dropped its bombs over the south of the city.

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Related subjects

Architecture > Architectural features > Doors and doorways

Architecture > Architectural features > Windows

Events > Wars > Air raids

Events > Wars > World wars

Places > Edinburgh areas > Leith

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

Religion > Religious facilities > Churches