14th October 1915 1600hrs

The Zeppelin L33 lifts off from Hage in northwestern Germany with orders from Kapitan Peter
Strasser, Director of the Naval Airship Division, to bomb south east England – preferably London.

By triangulating your navigation officer, Obertbootsmann Grass says the wind has swung to 235
degrees and is at 7KPH. The sky is clear and L33 rises to 10,000 feet. Kapitan-Leutenant Schulz
orders L33 to turn on to a course of 235 degrees so that the wind is directly behind and the airship
heads south west at 65Kph keeping the coast in sight but keeping clear of the Dutch islands.
As you can still see the coast the navigator Oberbootsman Grass checks and tells you it's steady
and directly behind.
An hour of chilly flying and Kapitan Leutenant-Schulze reflect that it's Saturday evening on 14th
October at 5pm. In more civilised places people are going to the Bratwurste Glocke for a
Currywurst mit Pommes Frites. Grass replies that would be much nicer than freezing here
underneath 30.000 cubic metres of horribly flammable gas, but we all must do our part.At the first
brandy issue the crew exercise their sense of humour. (Zeppelin regulations state that the flasks of
brandy given to the crew are only to be opened at 10,000 ft.) As it is Emil Bauer's birthday and his
first trip they have all given the spotty youth a swig from their flasks and sent him along to the
control gondola where he staggers, tries to salute and falls flat on his face.
Kapitan-Leutnant Schulze magnanimously sends him to have a lie down despite Oberbootsmann
Grass’s suggestion of throwing him overboard later as ballast. As all seemed to be proceeding well
Schulze orders that any crew that can be spared should have a seat and a coffee.
Checking his navigation, Grass says that Zeppelin crews would sometimes take a bearing on the
Dutch island Terschelling - (the big island on B4) if they were approaching England from an easterly
axis in Belgium. Schulze and Grass briefly chat about turning to 270 and simply bombing
Lowestoft but stay on course.

1715 hrs The helmsman reports that cloud thickening slightly ahead on this course. Schulze says to
stay on bearing 235degrees and see how the weather holds out.
[Crucially, at this point L33 passes across the notional barrier in between A4 and B3 where they
drop out of out of sight of land and the wind imperceptibly swings a couple of degrees edging the
airship slightly to the south]

17.45 Further report that cloud seems to have dropped a couple of thousand feet as well as
thickening to 50%.
18.00 Fuel cell 14 finished. The previously non-essential crewmen take turns replacing previous
active duty crew to allow them coffee and a rest while Schulze has a chat with each crewman to
pass the time.
18:15 Sun starting to set in west. Grass checks his charts and points out that moonrise (such as it
is- only 35%) is will be at 1930 hours
18:30. Sunset. Wind still seems to be roughly behind. Grass says if the present wind continues and
they continue at cruising speed we should be on the Kent coast at roughly 2000 hrs.
18:45 Darkness. Schulze orders internal blue shaded lights on and cruising speed maintained
Helmsman reports that he can faintly see the clouds thousands of feet below which appear to be
thickening slightly.
1900 hrs Wind seems to be swinging to starboard and increasing in force. The result of the
previous crucial wind change is that the shift in wind has pushed the L34 more south than south
west and it has strayed into box C3 which has a wind increase to 15Kph and a direction of 265
degrees. Unbeknown to the crew the airship is moving 10k per hour faster and on a bearing of 265
degrees.
Schulze feels the ship swaying ominously and quickly asks Grass if the bearing is 200 degrees or so.
Grass looks at him as if he knows Schulze only got the job because his uncle is Von Tirpitz..... "No
sir, bearing 200 would be taking us to the left or port side as we naval people say. We are swinging
round to the starboard at roughly 260 degrees and that's as much as I can guess."
Schulze says “Ah,yes, 260 degrees Just as I thought." while sneaking a look at Grass's map when
he's distracted and decided that Felixtowe and Harwich are at about 260 from the L33’s position.
He orders Grass to come round to 260 degrees to keep the wind astern and the trigonometry
simple.
He has hardly given the orders when the skies below erupt in flashes and the clouds light up
revealing two destroyers firing at the airship! Schulze shouts “Gott in himmel! Let's climb a bit and
turn to 260 to confuse them.” Ballast pours from the bladders and the ship rises to maximum
height (11,600 ft) aiming for an area of heavier cloud up ahead. Two more salvoes explode below
the L33 but the airship reaches the heavier clouds quickly and Schulze orders the airship down to
11000 as the fire from behind dies away.

19:15 hrs. The ship is on a compass bearing of 260. Cloud cover is roughly around 2-3000 ft above
sea level and at 75% cover They have used 25% of the fuel and emptied two ballast tanks.
19:30 Port side lookout reports lights on a bearing of 197 degrees. To the consternation of Schulze
and Grass The lookout says it could be a largish village or small town. (It is in fact, Margate)
Grass checks and rechecks his charts and says that earlier wind squall has knocked well them off
course and they seem to be moving a good bit faster.
1945 hrs Cloud seems to be thinning (50%) and is at around 3-4000 feet and appears to be 1000ft
deep it. Port side lookout reports that the lights that were on previously have vanished. (The
destroyers at sea have radioed land to report thatt here are zeppelins out at sea heading for the
English coast)
Schulze asks Grass again if he has any ideas and he replies that he he isn't sure but suddenly turns
and points to a larger set of lights ahead at 257 degrees along with a smaller set south of that.
Schulze snaps “Turn to 257 at once. Full speed. Ready the bomb racks and descend to just below
the clouds.
20.00hrs The airship is at 2000 feet. cloud is 50% about 500 ft above . Helmsman reports that
they have used 30% of their fuel. The wind is pushing the ship along and the lights are getting
closer by the second when....they go out... but the smaller lights to your left (port) remain on.
Grass's report is cut short by the port side lookout shouting that the lights to the left are an
aerodrome runway.
Schulze yells ”Is that Harwich? (It’s actually Southend) Let's get to where the big group of lights
were, drop the flares and the bombs and climb away.”
As the flares drop searchlights light up from below and random anti-aircraft fire explodes around
the airship, one shell going through a gas cell thankfully without it exploding. Schulze orders the
sailmaker and his mate to fix the ruptured cell and reflects on their lucky escape as he watches his
bombs explode and incendiaries leave a trail of fire across the town. The airship turns 180 degrees
and heads back towards the east while dropping most of the rest of its ballast to gain immediate
height.
This proves to be incredibly fortunate as they climb away just as two Be-2Cs from the nearby
aerodrome (Eastchurch) fly over the burning town towards them far below
The airship initially sets out on a course of 90 degrees (due East) and then under instructions from
Oberbootsmann Grass and Schulze return on a reciprocal course for the Glorious Fatherland