IN PICTURES: 'Touching tribute' unveiled to Zeppelin raid victims 100 years on
"What a touching tribute to commemorate Tipton's lost ones 100 years on" - the words of historian Derek Nicholls after a memorial plaque was unveiled following the Zeppelin Raids.
Orchestrated by Friends of Tipton Cemetery, led by Pauline Hodgetts, more than 100 people, along with Mayor councillor Barbara Price, turned out on Friday morning to remember the 14 local people who died in the raid.
The plaque was unveiled by West Bromwich MP Adrian Bailey at Tipton Cemetery on Alexandra Road.
On January 31 1916, the Black Country was targeted by mistake, as the German airship pilot mistook the area for Merseyside, killing 33 people in total, across Tipton, Wednesbury, Bilston and Walsall.
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.
Among those who attended the service were John Wilkinson, Terry Britt and Alan James, who are all connected through Annie Wilkinson - John and Mr Britt's great aunt and Alan's great grandmother, who tragically died in the bombings.
Mr Britt, aged 73, from Wolverhampton said: "It's was a very poignant service and a great honour for our family to be able to remember Annie in this way.
"From what we've been told, she died a couple of days after the bombings from her injuries. It's now nice to have a permanent place for not only Annie, but all 14 of those who died in Tipton where loved ones can come and share a few minutes of thought, even 100 years on."
Mr Nicholls was overjoyed to see the plaque installed at the cemetery, describing it as a 'proud day for Tipton'. He said: "I never thought in my wildest dreams something like this would happen, and it's something the area should be very honoured to have.
"There are 11 definitely buried in the cemetery, but this plaque is for all 14 in the area. It is a culmination almost, of everyone's efforts to make this happen, and I couldn't be happier it has."
The memorial unveiling came after candles were lit for each of the Zeppelin's six victims in Walsall.
Civic leaders from across the West Midlands and Staffordshire joined parishioners at St Andrew's Church in Birchills, where the last of 400 bombs to hail down over the Black Country on the night of January 31 landed on the lawn, used as a bowling green, beside the red-brick church.
The lives of the victims, which included the town's Lady Mayoress Mary Slater, were remembered in readings and hymns. The service, led by Fr Iain Templeton, was held on Sunday, the exact anniversary of the First World War attack.
The congregation heard how Walsall still bears the scars of that night, with damage from the raids visible on the side of a building in Bradford Place, now the Labour Club.
Leading the congregation was Walsall mayor Councillor Angela Underhill who was joined by the mayors of Dudley, Tamworth, Shrewsbury and Solihull, the deputy mayor of Walsall and the chairman of South Staffordshire District Council. Firefighters from Bloxwich Fire Station also attended.
Councillor Underhill said: "Until I came to office I have to admit I hadn't known that a Lady Mayoress had been killed in the Zeppelin raids. When I researched it, I found out that mayor's consorts did a lot more in those days than they do now, doing the bulk of the charity work while the mayors were more figureheads So she did a lot of good work, which makes her death all the more poignant."
