31st January 1916 On this day: Enemy Fire   6th County of London Brigade RFA report a quiet morning. Enemy concentrated fire on the trenches behind the Copse, Lens Road and Hairpin at 1500 probably in retaliation for our shelling the barricades. Enemy shelled our communication trench to Loos with 5.9s and 4.2s at intervals from St Pierre. Liaison officer (Centre Battalion) reported that no direct hits were obtained on Snipers House during fire by Poole Group. Lt J.H. Van Den Bergh & Lt S.C. Woollett proceeded to 47th Divisional Gunnery school at Gosnay. At 1930 Lowe Group in conjunction with other artillery violently bombarded the German front line, then their communication trenches and then right back along their line. This strafing lasted for about half an hour. War Diaries Zeppelin raids in West Midlands   Tipton, Bradley, Wednesbury and Walsall were bombed in one of the heaviest air raids of the war, with the loss of 35 lives. Nine Zeppelins set out from the north west coast of Germany with Liverpool being their primary target. The L21 dropped bombs on the Black country between 2000 and 2030 when Kapitan Leutnant Max Dietrich, lost in the clouds, mistook the Black Country for Liverpool. Three high explosive bombs fell on Waterloo Street and Union Street, Tipton, demolishing two houses and setting the gas main on fire. Three incendiary bombs then fell on Bloomfield Road and Barnfield Road. Fourteen residents of Tipton were killed. Five high explosives fell on Lower Bradley, resulting in the deaths of Maud and William Fellows, on the bank of the Wolverhampton Union Canal, a commemorative plaque still hangs on the wall of the Bradley pumping station nearby. At 2015 the Zeppelin was over Wednesbury, dropping bombs near the Crown Tube works, in the area of King Street and at the back of the Crown and Cushion Inn in High Bullen and Brunswick Park Road. Fourteen lives were lost. The Zeppelin then headed north and bombed Walsall, destroying Wednesbury Road Congregational Church, on the corner of Wednesbury Road and Glebe Street. It went on to bomb the grounds of the General Hospital, Mountrath Street and the town centre, where three lives were lost outside the Science and Art Institute in Bradford Place, including Mary Julia Slater, the Lady Mayoress of Walsall, who was a passenger on the number 16 tram. A second wave of bombs was dropped by L19 at about midnight, causing considerable damage to buildings in Wednesbury, Dudley, Tipton and Walsall. 31st Jan - 1st Feb 1916. The first raid of 1916 was carried out by the German Navy. Nine Zeppelins were sent to Liverpool on the night of 31 January, 1 February. A combination of poor weather, difficult navigation and mechanical problems scattered the aircraft across the English Midlands and several towns were bombed. A total of 61 people were reported killed and 101 injured by the raid. Fifteen of these fatalities occurred in the town of Tipton. Despite ground fog, 22 aircraft took off to find the Zeppelins but none succeeded. Six aircraft were damaged beyond repair and two pilots were killed when attempting to land. One airship, L 19, crashed in the North Sea because of engine failure and damage from Dutch ground,fire with all 16 crew being lost. http://www.expressandstar.com/millennium/1900/1900-1924/1916.html  More info.  7th Northumberlands into Trenches  In the Trenches  Stand To  Into Billets  On the March  Relief  Quieter  Casualties  Holding the Line    Enemy Lines  Shelling  Working Parties and Training  Shells  Working Parties  A Temporary Corps Attachment  Route March  Funeral  On the March  Inspection  Orders Received  Football  Training  Reliefs  In Action    Very quiet day and night.  Indirect Fire  In trenches.  A Quiet Day  Working parties, supporting Royal Engineers  On the Move  Drills  Theft  Shelling on both sides.  Instruction  Alert  Positions Improved 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.

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Want to know more about 31st of January 1916? There are:39 items tagged 31st of January 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, 31st of January 1916. Cpl. William Chappell. 16th Btn. Kings Royal Rifle Corp Read their Story. Pte. William "Wallie" Chappell. 16th Btn. King's Royal Rifle Corps Read their Story. Pte. H. Cox. HMS Astraea Royal Marine Light Infantry Read their Story. Pte. John Goodman. 1st Btn. B Coy Lincolnshire Regiment Read their Story. Pte. John Edward Marshall. 6th Btn. Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry Read their Story. RSM. Joseph Edwards Williams. 1st Btn. Royal Scots Read their Story. Add a name to this list.

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