A large German bomber, capable of bombing England. The plane is powered by two engines, and holds a crew of three with a pilot and front and rear gunners. The plane is likely a Gotha bomber, originally built by Gothaer Waggonfabrik, then built under license by Siemens-Schukert Werke and Luft-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft (LVG). Note the ground crew pushing on the lower wing and the men holding the tail up as the plane is moved backwards. Sanke postcard number 1040.
Deutsches Riesen-Flugzeug(Englandflieger)1040Postkartenvertrieb W. SankeBerlin No. 37Nachdruck wird gerichtlich verfolgtGerman giant aircraft(England flyer)1040Postcard distributor W. SankeBerlin No. 37Reproduction will be prosecuted
"That night, a large throng assembled at London Fields. From there, they marched through the streets of Hackney, smashing store fronts. Several butchers' shops, bearing such names as Strumm and Wenninger, were looted. Breaking into one house, the mob heaped bedding, a piano, and other furniture in the middle of the street and set it ablaze. Harassed constables were rushed to five different places in Tottenham, where the homes and business places of naturalized aliens were attacked. In the Highgate district, two baker's shops were wrecked with stones. Violence flared anew two nights later. The property of foreigners, not always German, was heavily damaged in various districts. At one place, the crowd numbered five thousand."
The early afternoon of Saturday, July 7, 1917 saw the second Gotha raid on London, one of twenty-one Gotha bombers that dropped 81 bombs, many extending in a line from Shoreditch on the north to London Bridge Station to the south. In the raid, 57 were killed, and 193 wounded. There was virtually no defense against the planes which came in daylight, and delivered bombs with far greater accuracy than the Zeppelins that had troubled the city in the two previous years. Londoners felt helpless against the bombers, and saw little response to protect them. Ninety-five British aircraft attempted to stop the bombers or pursued them on their flight back to Belgium, but shot down only one bomber, though four more crashed on landing.
The Sky on Fire by Raymond H. Fredette by Raymond H. Fredette, pp. 80–81, copyright © 1966, 1976, 1991 by Raymond H. Fredette, publisher: Smithsonian Institution Press, publication date: 1991
1917-07-07, 1917, July, London, Gotha, Gotha raid, Gotha G.V Bomber, Gotha G.V, Englandflieger, Sanke 1040, Sanke, Gotha GIV, Gotha GV, Gotha G.V, LVG, bomber
