The Ross Playfair Letters Project

19 Oct 1917 – 11 Zeppelins carried out the last airship raid on Britain. Because of the great height of the Zeppelins during the attack, and because the gun and searchlight positions were ordered to remain covered, the attack was known as the “Silent Raid”. Five airships were lost — the biggest disaster suffered by the German Naval Airship Service.

As the trench war on the western front bogged down, to bring the British to their knees, the Germans turned more and more of their attention to high altitude bombing. On the night of October 19, 1917 they launched a massive eleven ship raid against England using nothing but height climbers. The ships were so far above the earth their engines couldn’t be heard by observers on the ground. Following the raid nearly half of the eleven climbers were destroyed, ironically none over England. As the ships dropped altitude to come in over Germany, French and British fighters such as the Zeppelin Killer Sopwith Camel together with Nieuport 11s with overwing-mounted Lewis and Hotchkiss guns, swarmed like bees around an invaded hive, and joined with ground fire, tore four of them to shreds.

• image of German zeppelin dropping bombs from RAF website / photographie d’un zeppelin allemand larguant des bombes, tirée du site Internet de la RAF

• front cover of When a Feller Needs a Friend / page couverture de When a Feller Needs a Friend
• “Clare Briggs,” on comic website Lambiek.com (Lambiek Comiclopedia) / « Clare Briggs », sur le site dédié à la bande dessinée Lambiek.com
• “Clare Briggs,” Wikipedia / « Clare Briggs », Wikipédia
• “Clare Briggs,” Drawgerpedia / « Clare Briggs », Drawgerpedia

(God) bless (also save) the mark and variants: an exclamatory phrase, prob. originally serving as a formula to avert an evil omen, and hence used by way of apology when something horrible, indecent, or profane has been mentioned. Now used chiefly in writing to apologize (freq. ironically) for a preceding or following word or phrase. [The phrase was apparently formerly used by midwives at the birth of a child bearing a birthmark (see W. A. Henderson in N. & Q. (1895) 8th Ser. 7 373); and this may possibly be the original use (cf. quot. a1625). However, the meaning of mark in the expression may originally have been ‘sign’ or ‘omen’ (cf. sense 9a). There is no foundation in the statement of E. C. Brewer Dict. Phr. & Fable (1870) 790/2, copied in some dictionaries, that the phrase was originally used by archers.]

A bomb is a container filled with an explosive, incendiary matter, or gas that can be dropped, hurled, or set in place to be detonated by an attached exploding device. It may range in design from a homemade device used by terrorists, assassins, or clandestine raiders to a sophisticated weapon of war.

... In the 20th century the aerial bomb became the most important adaptation of the weapon. Its construction is similar to that of the artillery shell. The conventional aerial bomb consists of an explosive or chemical agent in a container, one or several fuse-and-igniter mechanisms, and external fins for directional stability. Bombs dropped from high-performance aircraft have an advanced aerodynamic shape.

... The advent of the airplane in warfare led to the development of new types of bombs. The first massive aerial bombing took place in 1915 when German zeppelins carrying more than two tons of bombs began dropping “terror from the skies” on the British Isles. In the early stages of World War I, airplane pilots had their hands full just flying, and bombing was relegated to observers who merely tossed small bombs over the side. Aircraft engineering advanced, however, so that by 1918 multiengine bombers had become a reality and 450-kg (1,000-lb) bombs were in production.