Zeppelin Attacks (1)

Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, a brigadier general of Cavalry retired from the army in 1891 and devoted himself to the study of aeronautics. In 1894 the German government rejected his proposals for a lighter-than-air flying machine. Although now aged sixty, Zeppelin decided to invest all his own money in a company, producing airships. He continued to improve his airship and in March 1909 the German army purchased the Zeppelin Z1. By the outbreak of the First World War they owned seven of these airships. In the early part of the war Zeppelins were used for bombing raids. A Zeppeling bombed Liège in Belgium on August 6th, 1914 but was forced to land after encountering artillery-fire. Three more Zeppelins were destroyed by ground forces over the next two weeks. Although easy to hit, the Germans continued to use them for attacks on France.

The zeppelin attacks on Antwerp

Attack on Antwerp.
Verlag Farbenphotogr. Gesellschaft m.b.H. Stuttgart

Zeppelin over
Antwerp.
"Deutscher Luft-
flotten Verein"

Zeppelin over
Antwerp.
Albert Ebner
Kunstanstalt
München

The bombardment
of Antwerp.
Wezel & Naumann
Leipzig

Attack on Antwerp.
"Deutsche Luft-
flotten Verein"

The zeppelin attacks on Liège

Liège August 9th, 1914
Albert Ebner
Kunstanstalt München

Publ. by permission of
Sanders Phillips & Co.
Ltd., London

The battle of Liège
August 6th, 1914
"Illustrierte Zeitung"
Leipzig

The bombardment
of Liège.
Gustav Liersch Berlin
Kr. 45
Art by:
Hans Rud. Schulze

Monks watch the
bombardment of
Liège by a
Zeppelin Airship.
"Deutscher
Luftflotten Verein"