The Hull Zeppelin Raids 1915-1918

The Hull Zeppelin Raids 1915-1918 is an account of the eight Zeppelin attacks on this major port city on the east coast of England. The new and dreadful experience of aerial bombardment was terrifying to a civilian population totally unprepared for this type of aerial warfare. Every available artillery gun had been sent to the Western Front, so Hull was initially completely defenceless. There were no shelters and refuge was sought in cellars or by trekking out to the countryside. Large numbers of men volunteered to be Special Constables and they were largely responsible for maintaining a blackout, shepherding people to safety and generally keeping civil society functioning.

During the first raid in June 1915, there were widespread attacks on members of the German community who then dominated the pork butchery trade. The Specials prevented any loss of life though extensive damage was done to property and many immigrant families decided to leave the city. The former Master General of Ordnance, Major General von Donop, himself of German stock, took command of the Hull Garrison in 1916 and quickly transformed the city’s defences, dramatically decreasing the numbers of casualties.

[custom_html] The untold story of the Zeppelin airship raids on Hull during the First World War, a major port city on the east coast of England.

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[smallDescription]The untold story of the Zeppelin airship raids on Hull during the First World War, a major port city on the east coast of England.


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Arthur G. Credland was born and educated in Hull and took a degree in Natural Sciences at UCW Aberystwyth before joining the museum profession. Retired after forty years service as curator of the Hull Maritime Museum where the author’s special areas of interest were whales and whaling, the Hull fishing trade and the long tradition of marine painting in the city. Credland is currently the chairman and editor for the East Yorkshire Local History Society. It was the intention of writing a short article for the Society’s journal, in anticipation of the centenary of the start of the 1914-18 war, that led to the present volume.

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