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麻豆社,2 mins

Cuffley, Hertfordshire: First German Airship Shot Down on British Soil

World War One At Home

Available for over a year

The first German airship to be shot down in the UK was destroyed over Cuffley in Hertfordshire. Flying on the night of 2 September 1916, the SL-11 was one of 16 airships taking part in the biggest raid to date. Among the pilots scrambling to counter the attack was Lieutenant William Leefe Robinson, fighting with the Royal Flying Corps. He attacked the airship from beneath with machine gun fire. It burst into flames and crashed in a field behind the Plough Inn at Cuffley, killing all sixteen men on board. Lieutenant Leefe Robinson was awarded a Victoria Cross for his actions, which helped to bolster public morale and a memorial to him was erected close to the site of the crash. Location: Cuffley, Hertfordshire EN6 4DW Image: The scene where the Zeppelin landed with Lt Robinson (top left), courtesy of Potters Bar and District Historical Society

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