When we think about the London Blitz, our minds almost always jump to 1940. We see black-and-white footage of St. Paul’s Cathedral standing tall amidst a sea of fire, families huddled in the Tube, and Churchill’s cigar. But there is a massive piece of history that usually gets skipped in school. Was London bombed in WW1? Absolutely. And honestly, it was terrifying in a way that modern people struggle to wrap their heads around because, back then, the sky was supposed to be safe.
Before 1914, if you lived in London, the idea of death falling from the clouds was science fiction. Then, the Kaiser’s Zeppelins showed up. These weren't small drones or nimble fighter jets. They were massive, silent, floating giants—longer than two football fields—drifting over the Thames at night. It changed everything.
The Night the Silence Broke
The first time Londoners realized the war had come home was May 31, 1915. A single Zeppelin, the LZ 38, commanded by Captain Erich Linnarz, hovered over north-east London. He dropped about 3,000 pounds of bombs. It wasn't a tactical military strike. It was "terror bombing." Plain and simple. Seven people died that night in places like Leytonstone and Hoxton.
Imagine the confusion. People ran out of their houses not to hide, but to look up. They thought it was an accident or some weird atmospheric phenomenon. They didn't have sirens yet. They didn't have a blackout. The city was lit up like a Christmas tree, making it an incredibly easy target for the German crews looking down from their gondolas.
By the time the "First Blitz" ended, over 600 Londoners were dead. Thousands were injured. The physical damage was localized compared to the 1940s, but the psychological scar? That was permanent.
How the Zeppelins Changed the City Forever
When people ask if London was bombed in WW1, they often expect to hear about biplanes. While planes did come later, the Zeppelins were the real nightmare of the early years. These "Baby Killers," as the British press quickly dubbed them, were filled with highly flammable hydrogen.
They were ghosts.
You couldn't hear them until the bombs started whistling. Because they could fly higher than most British interceptor planes of the era, the Royal Flying Corps was basically helpless for months. Pilots would take off in flimsy wooden planes, shivering in the cold, trying to climb high enough to reach the airships, only to have their engines stall out.
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The Gotha Raiders: A New Kind of Hell
By 1917, the Germans realized Zeppelins were too vulnerable to weather and new incendiary bullets. So, they switched to the Gotha G.IV. These were heavy bombers, and they didn't wait for the cover of night.
On June 13, 1917, a fleet of Gothas flew over London in broad daylight. This was the deadliest raid of the entire war. A bomb hit the Upper North Street School in Poplar. It crashed through the roof, through the floor of the girls' classroom, and exploded in the infants' department.
Eighteen children died. Most were only five years old.
The public rage was white-hot. This wasn't "soldier against soldier" anymore. It was a total war. If you walk through Poplar today, you can still see the memorial to those children in Trinity Gardens. It’s a somber reminder that the "Great War" wasn't just fought in the muddy trenches of France; it was fought in the playgrounds of East London.
Defending the Smoke
London had to adapt fast. You see the roots of the 1940 defense system right here in 1917. They created the London Air Defence Area. They put up massive "barrage balloons" with steel cables hanging down to snag propellers. They installed searchlights that swept the sky, turning the night into a jagged theater of light and shadow.
Even the way people lived changed.
- The government started using the "Take Cover" signs.
- Police officers would cycle through the streets blowing whistles to warn people.
- The London Underground became a makeshift shelter for the first time in history.
Interestingly, the government actually hated people using the Tube as a shelter at first. They thought it showed "cowardice" or would hurt morale. But Londoners didn't care about "stiff upper lip" rhetoric when 1,000-pound bombs were falling. They forced their way down into the stations, establishing a tradition of subterranean survival that would save tens of thousands of lives twenty years later.
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The "Giant" Bombers
Late in the war, Germany introduced the R-plane, specifically the Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI. These were "The Giants." They had a wingspan nearly as wide as a modern Boeing 737. They carried the biggest bombs seen in the war—1,000kg "blockbusters."
One of these hit the Royal Hospital Chelsea. Another hit a printing works in Fleet Street. The scale of the technology was moving faster than anyone could track. We often think of WW1 as "old fashioned," but by 1918, the Germans were using radio navigation and sophisticated bomb sights. It was the birth of modern aerial warfare.
Why We Forgot
So, why does everyone forget that London was bombed in WW1?
Part of it is the sheer scale of World War II. In the second war, the bombing lasted for months on end and killed 30,000 Londoners. Compared to that, 600-700 deaths seems like a footnote. But for the people living through it, it was the end of the world. It was the first time in centuries that the English Channel hadn't protected them. The "moat" was gone.
The records are also a bit scattered. Because censorship was so tight during the war, newspapers weren't allowed to report exactly where bombs fell. They would just say "a town in the South East." This makes it harder for historians to piece together the exact narrative without digging into local archives and hospital records.
However, the evidence is still there. If you look at the facade of the British Museum, you can see shrapnel scars. If you look at the Cleopatra’s Needle on the Victoria Embankment, the pedestal is pockmarked from a bomb that landed nearby in September 1917. These aren't just scratches; they are the fingerprints of the first air war.
Realizing the Legacy
We have to look at the numbers to really get it.
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The total weight of bombs dropped on London in WW1 was roughly 75 tons. That sounds like a lot until you realize the RAF dropped that much on a single German city in a matter of minutes later in history. But back then? It was revolutionary. It led to the creation of the RAF as an independent branch. It led to the first home-front evacuation plans.
Basically, the British government realized that the next war wouldn't be won by the navy alone. It would be won by whoever controlled the air.
What You Can Find Today
If you're a history buff or just curious, you don't have to look far to see the remnants of this era. Most people walk past them every day without realizing what they are.
- The Poplar Memorial: Mentioned earlier, this is the most heartbreaking site. It’s located in Trinity Gardens, E14.
- Cleopatra’s Needle: Check the sphinxes at the base. They have holes in them from the September 4th raid.
- The Lyceum Theatre: There’s a plaque nearby commemorating the first Zeppelin raid on the West End.
- Red Lion Square: A bomb hit here in 1915, and the scars on the nearby buildings are still visible if you know where to look.
The myth that London was a safe haven until 1940 is just that—a myth. The city was a target from the moment the first engine turned over in a Zeppelin hangar in Friedrichshafen.
Actionable Steps for History Explorers
If you want to dive deeper into this specific niche of London history, here is how you can actually find the "hidden" WW1 London:
- Visit the Imperial War Museum (IWM): They have an incredible collection of Zeppelin fragments. Seeing the actual twisted duralumin frame of a downed airship puts the scale into perspective.
- Search the "London County Council Bomb Census": While the detailed "Bomb Maps" are more famous for WW2, there are excellent digital archives from the Great War that show exactly which streets were hit.
- Check Local Cemetery Records: Many East End cemeteries have "civilian war graves" from 1915-1918. These are often overlooked but tell the real story of the families affected.
- Look Up: When walking through the City of London, look at the stonework of older buildings. If you see jagged, irregular chips in the stone about 10-15 feet up, you're likely looking at 100-year-old shrapnel damage.
The bombing of London in the First World War wasn't just a series of raids. It was the moment the 20th century truly began—the moment the front line moved from a distant field to the front door of a suburban semi-detached house. Understanding this helps make sense of why the world reacted the way it did in 1939. They didn't just fear the bombs; they remembered them.