Zeppelin Kommt! Children play a Zeppelin raid on London. Holding his bomb in the gondola is a doll of the airship's inventor, Count Zeppelin. The other children, playing the English, cower, and the British fleet — folded paper boats — remains in port. Prewar postcards celebrated the imposing airships and the excitement they generated with the same expression, 'Zeppelin Kommt!'. Postcard by P.O. Engelhard (P.O.E.). The message on the reverse is dated May 28, 1915.
P.O.E.? EnglandLondonZeppelin Kommt!Reverse:Message dated May 28, 1915Stamped: Geprüft und zu befördern (Approved and forwarded) 9 Komp. Bay. L.I.N. 5
"As I was firing I noticed her begin to go red inside like an enormous Chinese lantern and then a flame shot out of the front part of her and I realized she was on fire. She then shot up about 200 feet, paused, and came roaring straight down on me before I had time to get out of the way. I nose-dived for all I was worth, with the Zepp tearing after me, and expected every minute to be engulfed in the flames. I put my machine into a spin and just managed to corkscrew out of the way as she shot past me, roaring like a furnace. I righted my machine and watched her hit the ground with a shower of sparks. I then proceeded to fire off dozens of Very lights in the exuberance of my feelings."
Excerpt from the official report of British Second Lieutenant W. J. Tempest who shot down Zeppelin LZ.31 around midnight the night of October 1/2, 1916. The Zeppelin was piloted by Kapitänleutnant (lieutenant commander) Heinrich Mathy of the German Naval Airship Service, the most successful Zeppelin commander, who jumped to his death from LZ.31 on his fifteenth raid over England. With ten other Zeppelins, Mathy had set out to bomb London on a night that brought squalls, heavy clouds, rain, and snow. At least two other Zeppelin commanders saw the last moments of Mathy's airship through breaks in the clouds.
The Zeppelin Fighters by Arch Whitehouse, page 156, copyright © 1966 by Arch Whitehouse, publisher: New English Library, publication date: 1978
1916-10-02, 1916, October, Zeppelin
