23rd September 1916 On this day: Little Firing   236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery report from Mametz Wood. Fairly quiet day and Batteries did very little firing. The enemy were singularly quiet throughout the afternoon, their artillery being almost entirely silent. At night Batteries fired a few rounds on a German working party digging a trench. Zeppelin Raids on Britain   23/24 September 1916 The German Navy remained aggressive and a 12-Zeppelin raid was launched on 23,24 September 1916. Eight older airships bombed targets in the Midlands and Northeast, while four M-class Zeppelins (L 30, L 31, L 32, and L 33) attacked London. L 30 did not even cross the coast, dropping its bombs at sea. L 31 approached London from the south, dropped a few bombs on Kenley and Mitcham and was picked up by searchlights. Forty-one bombs were then dropped in rapid succession over Streatham, killing seven and wounding 27. More bombs were dropped on Brixton before crossing the river and dropping 10 bombs on Leyton, killing another eight people and injuring 30. L 31 then headed home. Also coming in from the south was L 32, delayed by engine problems, it dropped a few bombs on Sevenoaks and Swanley before crossing Purfleet at about 0100. The Zeppelin then came under anti-aircraft fire as it dropped bombs on Aveley and South Ockendon. Shortly thereafter, at 0110, a BE2c piloted by 2nd Lieutenant Frederick Sowrey engaged L 32. He fired three drums of incendiaries and succeeded in starting a fire which quickly spread to the entire airship. The Zeppelin came down at Snail's Hall Farm, Great Burstead. The entire crew was killed, with some, including the commander Oberleutnant-zur-See Werner Peterson, choosing to jump rather than burn to death. L 33 dropped a few incendiaries over Upminster before losing its way and making several turns, heading over London and dropping bombs on Bromley at around midnight. As the bombs began to explode, the Zeppelin was hit by an anti-aircraft shell fired from the guns at either Beckton, Wanstead, or Victoria Park despite being at 13,000 feet (4,000 m). Dropping bombs now to shed weight, a large number fell on homes in Botolph Road and Bow Road. As the airship headed towards Chelmsford it continued to lose height, coming under fire at Kelvedon Hatch and briefly exchanging fire with a BE2c. Despite the efforts of the crew, L 33 was forced to the ground at around 0115 in a field close to New Hall Cottages, Little Wigborough. The airship was set alight and the crew headed south before being arrested at Peldon by the police. Inspection of the wreckage provided the British with much information about the construction of Zeppelins, which was used in the design of the British R33-class airships. One 250 hp (190 kW) engine recovered from the wreck was subsequently substituted for two (of four) 180 hp (130 kW) engines on a Vickers-built machine, the hitherto underpowered R.9. John Doran  Move to L'Etoile  Water Exchange of Fire   18th DLI report from Windy Corner in the Givenchy Sector "Very misty in early morning. Some Minenwerfer activity in morning between 3 and 5 from B & C Coy. & Poppy Redoubt Garrison evacuated their posts during firing of Heavy Trench Mortar Battery. The enemy replied fairly vigorously with TMs & blew in front line held by Left of B Coy. Berkley St & Clarges. Very quiet at night." Teh National Archives Reference WO95/2361/1  Working Parties  Recce  On the March  Concert  Into the Trenches  MGs Active  Reliefs  Reliefs Complete  In the Trenches  Training  On the March  Consolidation    Shelling  Saphead Bombed  At Rest  Accomodation  Orders  Defence Work  On the March  On the Move  Reliefs  A quiet period.  Company and Sub-Units billets are too far apart here  Pilot wounded  Aircraft Lost  Aircraft damaged  Aircraft Lost  Aircraft Lost  Aircraft damaged  Aircraft Lost  Aircraft damaged  Aircraft Lost  Aircraft Lost  Aircraft Lost Training   Training in morning as per programme of work of 21st inst. In the afternoon all officers and N.C.O.s who had not seen C.S.M. Parmee’s demonstration attended one, remaining N.C.O.s and Officers and Battalion went to a demonstration of Stokes Mortar Battery to watch the demolition of a strong point. Maj. Monier-Williams and Capt. Brice went on a reconnaissance round Reserve Army Area’s trenches. Capt. Allen met with an accident on horseback and sustained severe concussion. 7th Buffs war diary WO95/2049  Operational Order No. 50.  Return  Battery Moves to Bealcourt  NCO class under RSM.  Route March  Quieter  Company Parades  Trench Work Can you add to this factual information? Do you know the whereabouts of a unit on a particular day? Do you have a copy of an official war diary entry? Details of an an incident? The loss of a ship? A letter, postcard, photo or any other interesting snipts? If your information relates only to an individual, eg. enlistment, award of a medal or death, please use this form: Add a story.

Killed, Wounded, Missing, Prisoner and Patient Reports published this day. This section is under construction.

Want to know more about 23rd of September 1916? There are:48 items tagged 23rd of September 1916 available in our Library   These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.

Remembering those who died this day, 23rd of September 1916. Engineman Anderson. H.M. Trawler Harlech Castle Read their Story. Pte. Anthony Doyle. 7th Batallion Royal Dublin Fusiliers Read their Story. Pte. J Kerr. 7th Btn. Leinster Regiment Pte. W. Maiden. 1st Garrison Btn. King's (Liverpool Regiment) Read their Story. Add a name to this list.

Previous Day     Next Day Select another Date Day: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31   Month: January February March April May June July August September October November December   Year: 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919

The free section of The Wartime Memories Project is run by volunteers. This website is paid for out of our own pockets, library subscriptions and from donations made by visitors. The popularity of the site means that it is far exceeding available resources and we currently have a huge backlog of submissions. If you are enjoying the site, please consider making a donation, however small to help with the costs of keeping the site running. Hosted by: The Wartime Memories Project Website is archived for preservation by the British Library Copyright MCMXCIX - MMXXIV - All Rights Reserved - We do not permit the use of any content from this website for the training of LLMs or for use in Generative AI, it also may not be scraped for the purpose of creating other websites.