In case of Zeppelin attack, proceed unostentatiously...

One strange item in the books caught my eye. It was a silver and black edged memorial card for the Beechey family who were all killed in a Zeppelin raid on south London on September 8, 1915. Presumably this family were friends or distant relatives but I have been unable to trace a link between them and my own family in Sussex.

Research shows that the Beechey family lived in a tenement in 34 Hughes Fields in Deptford. They would have thought that the war was a long way from home until their peace was shattered by the air raid. The family would have been aware of the first raids against England which took place on January 19, 1915 when two Zeppelins attacked the unlikely targets of Kings Lynn, Sherringham and Great Y Four people were killed.

The Zeppelin had been developed in the late 1800s by Count von Zeppelin and made its maiden flight in 1900. At the outset of the Great War the German armed forces had just seven airships but the navy was keen to develop their use. During 1914 they commenced reconnaissance patrols in the North Sea. After the raids mentioned above, the aerial attacks against England continued, but the Kaiser refused to allow attacks on London (maybe because his own close relatives were still living there). This changed in 1915 when the French bombed German cities. The first London raid was in May and the attacks continued throughout the summer. The airships were able to fly above the height that the early British air force could achieve. However, this great altitude also meant that bomb-aiming was highly inaccurate and this led to many civilian casualties.

The worse attack on England was the one in which the Beechey family was killed. Three Zeppelins dropped many bombs over south-east London and shortly after midnight a high explosive bomb crashed through the roof of the Beechey home. They were a poor family and all lived together in an attic bedroom. Only their 10-year-old daughter Lizzie survived. Years later she recalled kissing her family goodnight and waking among the smoke and devastation. She ran into the street and later overheard neighbours talking about how her family were lying dead in the street.

The fear of Zeppelin attack was acute and across the south of England preparations were made for the air-raids. On March 4, 1916 the Chief Constable of East Sussex Constabulary, Major Hugh Lang, issued instructions to men in Seaford who had volunteered to be Special Constables. Although at the time this document was 'top secret' a copy is now held in Seaford Museum. The instructions read: 'Should occasion arise, you will be at once called by the Police, and I want you to proceed as quietly and as unostentatiously as possible to Seaford Police Station where you will be served with a warrant card, badge etc and remain there awaiting instructions.' Although Major Lang admits that 'the probability of a Zeppelin raid is remote' he adds that 'owing to information received '¦ all necessary precautions must be taken'. It ends: 'Do not mention this to a soul ... as I do not wish to cause unnecessary excitement among the inhabitants.'

Because Seaford had two sizable military camps these were later protected from air attack by large barrage balloons. These precautions and that of the Chief Constable, however, were not needed as there is no record of the town being attacked from the air in the Great War. By June 1917 the attacks by airship ceased as the British military had developed better methods of identifying attacking airships and bringing them down. By this time, 550 people had been killed on British soil through German air raids.

KEVIN GORDON