Plans for Tipton memorial to remember 33 killed in First World War Zeppelin attack

And now a memorial could be set up in one of the towns that was devastated by Zeppelin attacks in the First World War – as the 100th anniversary approaches.

It was 99 years ago tomorrow that the terrifying raids began, raining down bombs on Tipton, Wednesbury, Bilston and Walsall.

Plans are now being drawn up for a permanent memorial – possibly a plaque – in Tipton to mark 100 years since 33 people were killed in the Zeppelin raids.

The Black Country was targeted by mistake - when a German airship pilot mistook Wednesbury for Merseyside - and the devastation caused sent shockwaves through communities for generations to come.

Amateur historian Derrick Nicholls has spent two-and-a-half years researching the raids and is now turning his attention to how the 100th anniversary could best be commemorated.

He held an exhibition at Tipton Library a year ago, and has since continued to delve through the archives for details on the captains of the Zeppelins that were eventually shot down.

His research has also revealed more information about the victims of the attacks, as Mr Nicholls attempts to piece together a fuller picture of exactly who they were.

It is hoped a full list of the victims and their circumstances will be complete ready for the anniversary next year.

Mr Nicholls has also been busy building a model of an L19 Zeppelin that ended up crashing into the North Sea, with a British fishing boat refusing to rescue the crew.

He was hoping to have completed the model, which he is making from scratch, by tomorrow's (Sat) anniversary.

Mr Nicholls, aged 72, is a member of Tipton Civic Society, which will discuss the memorial at a meeting next month and come up with a more detailed plan.

Mr Nicholls said: "I think it is important to remember what happened 99 years ago and make sure that young people are aware of it.

"I'd would like to see a plaque of some sort, but I would like it to be something more than just those blue plaques that you get on the side of buildings.

"It could perhaps include an image of a Zeppelin or something that symbolises what happened."

It is 100 years since the first Zeppelin raids in the UK - when King's Lynn and Great Yarmouth were targeted by the aircraft, in attacks which killed four people.

Historians say those raids on January 19 and 20, 1915, changed the face of the First World War, with the Zeppelin air raids going on to claim a total 435 British lives in the conflict.

And they were seen as a warning of what was later to come in the Blitz during the Second World War.

A fleet of Zeppelins started making their way to attack Liverpool on January 31, 1916 – but two of the pilots got lost in heavy fog.

The L21 and L19 aircraft were actually over the Midlands when the captains believed they were in the North West.

When Kapitanleutnant Max Dietrich thought he had seen Liverpool and Birkenhead beneath his L21, he was in fact looking at the Black Country.

He ordered his crew of 16 to start dropping the deadly bombs on the unsuspecting residents.

Bombs first hit Union Street in Tipton, with around five of the devices falling all around.

One also fell outside Tipton railway station and more around Barnfield Road trading estate. In Union Street, two houses were demolished and others damaged and the gas main was set alight.

In all 14 people were killed in the town as the bombs struck at around 8pm.

Wednesbury Road Congregational Church in Walsall was also badly damaged.

There would have been no blackout procedures in place as the concept of strategic air raids were practically unheard of at that time.

While the advances in aviation had brought many benefits, they also meant that towns and cities in the centre of Britain were vulnerable to attack in a way they had never been before.

The L19 Zeppelin was later found in the North Sea, having crashed off the coast at Grimsby.

It has started dropping its own bombs after the L21 and although no-one was killed, significant damage was caused.

Over the years, witnesses have told of their enduring memories of that terrifying night.

Edna Smith, who was a four-year-old living in Walsall at the time of the carnage, said: "It was very noisy, like a grinding noise, we didn't know where it went to. I was by the side of my mother, the people in the distance were just looking up, they weren't chatting about it, they didn't even seem to be worried about it. I didn't think much about it at the time, but we learned the next day that it had bombed a church. We went along to the church, and on the table were quite a few books that were for sale, including a Bible, and my mother bought it for me. When I was about 14 or 15, I had diptheria and I had to go into isolation."

At the time, the Express & Star reported that 26 people had been killed instantly during the night, but Mr Nicholls says the death toll was significantly higher.

An inquest was held jointly for 13 of the victims of the Tipton bombing on February 3. The 14th victim Louisa York, who worked as nurse, had been taken for treatment at Dudley Guest Hospital and her inquest was held elsewhere.

The ruling from the inquest on the death certificates states 'Wilful murder against the Kaiser of Germany and his son the Crown Prince as being accessory to and after the fact' at the insistence of the inquest jury.

Others to have died in the Tipton bombing were Elizabeth Cartwright, aged 35; Benjamin Goldie, 42; Daniel Whitehouse, 34; Annie Wilkinson, 44; Frederick N Yates, nine; George H Onions, 12; and 26-year-old shoemaker Arthur Edwards.

A young couple, Maud and William Fellows, who were unmarried but had the same name, were killed after one bomb hit as they walked along a canal towpath in nearby Bradley.

Their death is commemorated by a plaque on the wall of the Bradley pumping station.

And Mr Nicholls hoped a similar memorial in Tipton will remind future generations of the lives that were lost.

He said: "The research has taken a lot of work so far but it has been worth it, and now we want to look towards the big anniversary."

l Mr Nicholls is holding a talk about the Zeppelins at Sedgley Church Hall on February 26 at 7.30pm.