The first night-bombing raid on England by Kagohl 3, the raid led by its commanding officer Hauptmann Rudolf Kleine.
The primary target was Chatham, with Margate and
Sheerness as the secondary targets.
Five
Gotha GV's were despatched, with one turning back due to engine trouble. In bright moonlight the first enemy aircraft was spotted at Westgate at 22.35hrs, the Chatham attack beginning at 23.10hrs.
A total of 2,898 lbs of bombs were dropped, some falling into the sea. 46 bombs, about half of those plotted as falling on land, fell on Gillingham and Chatham.
128
* men were killed in the Drill Hall at Chatham Naval Barracks with c90 men injured, the worst UK bomb incident in the First World War. A sailor was killed in Maxwell Road and his girlfriend and another couple injured. A civilian man was killed in Church Terrace Chatham.
From Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drill_Hall_LibraryThe Bombing of 3 September 1917.
Throughout its life, the Drill Hall has been used as a temporary overflow dormitory when the barrack accommodation blocks were full. In September 1917 the problem of housing the men had been further exacerbated by two unanticipated events: Firstly, the men who had been earmarked to join the battleship HMS Vanguard had been forced to remain at the barracks, after she had been sunk at Scapa Flow in July 1917. Secondly, an outbreak of 'spotted fever' in the barracks meant that the sleeping accommadation had to be increased in an effort to avoid further infection. It was the necessity of using the Drill Hall at this time that precipated the saddest episode in the history of this building. On Monday 3 September 1917, the Drill Hall was therefore being used as an overflow dormitory for around 900 naval ratings when, at about 11.00pm, it suffered two hits from bombs dropped by German Gotha aeroplanes. One of the First of the First World War 'moonlight raids', it resulted in the loss of some 130 lives.
At 9.30 pm, 5 Gotha G.V bombers left Gontrode in Belgium. Since the greatest loss of the bombers was during the daylight raids, a decision was made to carry out a night-time attack. One of the bombers encountered engine problems and had to return to their air-base but the remaining four carried on and passed over Eastchurch at around 11pm where they followed the River Medway towards Chatham. As this was the first night-time raid, the Medway Towns were unprepared and the whole of Chatham was illuminated with none of the anti-aircraft guns prepared for attacks.
A practise alert had been carried out earlier in the day within the town, and when the planes were finally spotted and an alert sounded, a lot of people ignored the warning believing it to be another practise drill. 46 bombs were dropped over Gillingham and Chatham causing much damage. The Drill Hall suffered a direct hit. The bomb shattered the glass roof, sending dangerous shards of glass flying through the drill hall before exploding when they hit the floor. The clock upon the drill hall tower stopped at 11.12, giving the exact time the bomb exploded. The men asleep or resting inside had little chance of survival, those that were not injured from the explosion were cut to pieces by the falling pieces of glass from the roof.
Ordinary seaman Frederick W. Turpin arrived at the drill hall to offer assistance, he later recorded the scene in his notebook: "It was a gruesome task. Everywhere we found bodies in a terribly mutilated condition. Some with arms and legs missing and some headless. The gathering up of dismembered limbs turned one sick. It was a terrible affair and the old sailors, who had been in several battles, said they would rather be in ten Jutlands or Heliogolands than go through another raid such as this."
The rescuers spent 17 hours searching through the rubble for their fellow seamen, many using their bare hands to dig through the rubble. Officers and men carried the dead bodies of comrades into buildings which had been transformed into a mortuary and the seriously wounded cases into motor ambulances which sped to the local hospital.
Mr E. Cronk, who also attended to offer assistance, stated later: "The raider dropped two bombs; one in the middle of the drill shed and one near the wall of the parade ground just where the sailors were sleeping. I shall never forget that night- the lights fading and the clock stopping. We of the rescue party picking out bodies, and parts of bodies, from among glass and debris and placing them in bags, fetching out bodies in hammocks and laying them on a tarpaulin on the parade ground (you could not identify them). I carried one sailor to the sick bay who was riddled with shrapnel and had no clothes left on him. In the morning, to show that the officials could tell who was who, they had a general Pipe asking all the sailors of different messes if they could identify any of the lost; it was impossible in most cases. It was one of the most terrible nights I have ever known, the crying and the moaning of dying men who had ten minutes before been fast asleep."
Mr Gideon Gardiner described the scene of the temporary morgue within the gymnasium: "Some had never woken up; apparently the shock appeared to have stopped their hearts. They were stretched out, white, gaunt, drawn faces, with eyes nearly bolting out of their heads. Others were greatly cut up, mangled, bleeding and some blown limb from limb."
The sailors who survived with injuries were treated on site by medics and the sick bay staff, however many of the injuries were too serious and they later died at the hospital. It is estimated 90 men died whilst in their hammocks and another 40 so seriously injured they were not expected to live. The official total of dead after the raid was 98 however with the seriously ill in hospital the total rose to around 136 dead.
The funeral took place on Thursday 6 September with the procession consisting of 18 lorries draped with the Union Jack and each carrying 6 coffins. These 98 men were buried at Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham with another 25 men being interred elsewhere and later burials taking place once the ratings had been identified. All the men were buried with full military honours and were followed by a procession of marching soldiers and sailors with thousands of people lining the streets.
A list of the naval dead is @
http://www.naval-history.net/xDKCas1917-09Sep.htm 3 September to 11 September.
At the time the number of enemy bombers was grossly over estimated. A British patrol line was flown from Goldhanger to Dover, but the enemy was not seen. Searchlights were ineffective due to the bright moonlight and there was minimal anti-aircraft fire.
16 defence sorties were flown, all by the Royal Flying Corps, Admiralty policy at the time was not to attack enemy aeroplanes at night.
Defence sorties.
7 flown by 37 squadron at Goldhanger and Stow Maries, flying B.E.2ds and Es.
2 flown by 39 Squadron at Northweald, flying B.E.2es.
3 flown by 44 squadron at Hainault, flying Sopwith Camels. Thus proving that Camels, a 'difficult' aeroplane, could be flown safely at night.
4 flown by 50 squadron at Bekesbourne, flying B.E.2cs.
In total there were 132 killed and 96 injured. Damage was estimated at £3,993.
*My reading is that 128 men were killed in the drill hall or died of wounds, 2 sailors were killed elsewhere in Chatham Dockyard, and one sailor and one civilian killed outside the dockyard.
