ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 896
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| Date: | Sunday 17 June 1917 |
| Time: | 03:30 LT |
| Type: | Zeppelin LZ.95 |
| Owner/operator: | Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial German Navy) |
| Registration: | L.48 |
| MSN: | LZ95 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 17 / Occupants: 19 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Holly Tree Farm, Theberton, near Leiston, Suffolk -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Zeppelin LZ 95 (L 48) was a U Class Zeppelin which had its first flight on the 22nd of May 1917. Several of the L 11 crew transferred to the L 48 which flew one successful reconnaissance mission. As part of an attempted attack on London with 3 others it became lost and was then intercepted and destroyed by British fighters over the North Sea near Great Yarmouth on the 17th June 1917
A BE2c (A8896) from the Armament Experimental Station at Orfordness Lt EW Clarke was the first to attack. Between Orfordness and Harwich he fired a total of four drums of Lewis gun ammunition from 11,000 feet at the airship which was still 2,000 feet higher. However there seemed to be no effect at all for this expenditure of ammunition.
The second aeroplane to attack at this time was an FE2b B401 crewed by Lt FD Holder (Pilot) and Sgt S Ashby also from the AES, this crew also fired four drums of Lewis ammunition, and an additional thirty rounds from a fifth drum when suddenly their gun jammed. As this happened they were approximately five miles from Leiston and frustratingly within 300 yards range of their target. Previously they had seen their sparking fizzling tracers whizz away through the dark night sky, like thousands of cigarette ends all flicked at the same time, streaking away being frustratingly absorbed into the giant shape of the invader. However they had finally achieved success: it could be seen now that a small fire had started in the stern end very near the tail, a small glow initially, but one that slowly gained in size.
Captain R.H.M.S Saundby in DH2 A5058 managed to fire two and a half drums at the target, now there began to be a really serious blaze in the rear section of the airship. L 48's tail section now began to take on the classic “Chinese Lantern” effect as it was illuminated from within” (Saundby was later awarded the Military Cross for his part in this action and retired from the RAF in 1946 with the rank of Air Vice Marshall).
As the airship fell it was finally chased by Lt P Watkins in BE12 6610 from 37 (HD) Sqn (A Flight) at Goldhanger, he fired another two drums from 2,000 feet down to, 1000 feet, and then another from 500 feet. It was Watkins who would be credited with the final “Kill” of L.48. The Zeppelin came down at Holly Tree Farm, Theberton, near Leiston, Suffolk.
The crew of L48 who were killed were:-
Kapitanleutnant. Franz Georg Eichler
Obermaschinistenmaat. Heinrich Ahrens
Maat. Wilhelm Betz
Obersignalsmaat. Walter Dippmann
Obermaschinistenmaat. Wilhelm Gluckel
Bootsmannmaat. Paul Hannemann
Signalmaat. Heinrich Herbst
Bootsmannsmaat. Franz Konig
Funkeltelegrafienmaat. Wilhelm Meier
Obermaschinistenmaat. Karl Milich
Obermaschinistenmaat. Michael Neunzig
Obermatrose. Karl Ploger
Obermatrose. Paul Suchlich
Korvettenkapitan. Viktor Schutze
Obermaschinistenmaat. Herman Van Stockum
Steuermann der reserve. Paul Westphal.
The survivors of the crash were:-
Obermaschinistenmaat. Heinrich Ellerkamm (said to be wandering around dazed after the crash; last survivor, died 4 August 1963)
Leutnant zur see. Otto Miethe (died 30 April 1956)
Obermaschinistenmaat. Wilhelm Uecker (died later from complications and influenza on 11 November 1918 - ironically on the very day that WW1 ended)
There were only three survivors - as per the above listing - and the remainder of the crew were buried at Theberton, Suffolk, later to be exhumed and reburied at the German Military Cemetery at Cannock Chase, Staffordshire
Sources:
1. German Air Raids On Great Britain 1914-1918 / Joseph Morris
2. http://web.archive.org/web/20170830060330/http://www.wartimememoriesproject.com/greatwar/air/view.php?pid=1203
3. https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/lta-airships-germany-zeppelin-lz-95-navy-l-48-photograph
4. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1917.htm
5. http://www.aviationarchaeology.co.uk/AA/ex06_L48_Post%20ExcavationReport.html
6. https://web.archive.org/web/20070704150613/www.theberton.info/timewatch.htm
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Zeppelins
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 23-Jan-2008 05:00 | ASN archive | Added |
| 25-Oct-2011 13:08 | harro | Updated [Nature, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 13-Feb-2017 19:50 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Time, Location, Phase, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 05-Feb-2019 00:16 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Source] |
| 05-Feb-2019 00:25 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Location, Source, Narrative] |
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