There were over 100 air raids on Britain during the Great War, starting with the destruction of a cabbage patch in Dover in December 1914, resulting in over 1,400 deaths on the ground.
Suffolk was targeted by German Zeppelins, including the first in April 1915 on
Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds (including a bomb that landed in a field between Elmswell and Woolpit), a raid on Lowestoft in 1915 and a major attack in March 1916 on Bury St Edmunds (that killed 7 people) and Sudbury (where 5 people died when their homes were hit).
The term “baby killers” was used in propaganda to describe the aerial attacks
because of the civilian casualties, including children. The name was initially applied to the Zeppelins, but was later used for the Gotha bombers too, which began daylight bombing campaigns over England in May 1917.
Caroline Drew is a Suffolk girl whose initial interest in the Great War resulted in extended research for this fascinating talk.
