Zeppelin Attack On Bolton

Written by Gavin Walker

25th/26th September 1916

On the night of the 25th/26th September 1916, a German L21 Zeppelin wrought death and destruction over Lancashire and in particular to our fair town of Bolton. It is thought that the pilot was off course as he had strayed so far west and the Zeppelin raids were usually in the East of the country or the industrial heartland of the Midlands as well as over the capital, London.

Zeppelins were long, cigar shaped, balloons filled with hydrogen which is extremely light but also very inflamable. They had cabins called gondolas suspended below them and were propelled by engines attached to these gondolas which made them quite slow but very quiet.

On this particular night an L21 Zeppelin flew over South Lancashire arriving at Bolton via Rochdale, Ramsbottom, and Holcombe before hitting Bolton. A number of bombs were dropped in these towns without causing significant damage or any loss of life.
It was a different matter in Bolton however. Coming in over Astley Bridge, it dropped a bomb near to Eden Orphanage. It then moved on to the Halliwell and the Chorley Old Road area where it dropped a bomb on the end house of Lodge Vale near Mortfield Bleach Works damaging it badly but with no loss of life.. Then it went on towards Deane where it managed to miss the four gasometers but dropped an incendiary device on a stable in Wellington Street Yard. A incendiary device caused damage to a factory on Parrot Street shortly after this.

Next, however, it flew over Kirk Street which at the time connected Deane Road and Derby Street and dropped a number of bombs. This is where the loss of life occurred.

There was widespread destruction of the street. Nine houses were totally destroyed and 19 families in total were rendered homeless. The total death toll was 13 with another 9 seriously injured. There is a section in the Roll of Honour commemorating the fallen of Kirk Street.

Leaving the scene of destruction the ship travelled towards the town centre where it dropped bombs behind the Town Hall causing no damage and then on towards Holy Trinity Church where it scored a direct hit but the bomb failed to explode and the damage, which was found in the morning by Thomas Sanderson, the verger, was a hole in the roof and the broken parts of the unexploded bomb. The airship then turned north and headed towards Blackburn and then it flew towards Whitby on the east coast before it crossed over to its home base in Germany. Of the 21 bombs and incendiary devices dropped on the town 5 in total hit Kirk Street.

If you are interested there are fragments of a bomb in the Bolton Museum, which was discovered in the aftermath of the attack. Below are photos of Thomas Sanderson and the aftermath of the attack on Kirk Street and also a cartoon illustrating how quiet Zeppelins were. They were often likened to a cat purring.