Tipton Zeppelin bombing raid remembered 100 years on with plaque unveiling

Tipton Civic Society is planning a ceremony at the premises of H C Pullinger in Union Street on January 31 – the actual 100th anniversary – at 3pm.

The society is hoping that people related to the 14 local people who died in the raid will attend. A talk by local historian Derek Nicholls on the raid is also being given on January 26 at Tipton Conservative Club, Union Street, at 7.30pm.

Tipton Library will also be hosting a Zeppelin Day on January 30, with a talk from Mr Nicholls at 11am. Numbers are limited and people wishing to attend should call the library on 0121 557 1796 to reserve seats.

The Black Country was targeted by mistake as the German airship pilot mistook Wednesbury for Merseyside with 33 people killed in total.

Bombs first hit Union Street in Tipton at around 8pm, with around five falling in the area. 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.

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

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.