Zeppelin Raid in Ramsgate, 1917

On June 16, 1917, six Zeppelins left their home base at Nordholz in northern Germany on a bombing mission, the intended target being areas of London.

Due to high winds only two Zeppelins reached the English coastline with the winds making it impossible to continue the planned attack on London. Instead of abandoning the mission and ditching its bomb load, Zeppelin L42 followed the English coastline looking for coastal infrastructure to bomb.

At 2am on June 17, the L42 was over Ramsgate. Thinking the target was Dover at night, the L42 dropped its payload of 300kg bombs and aerial torpedoes. One 300kg bomb hit the fish market on the cross wall narrowly missing the Clock House. The blast from the explosion was very intense as the fish market was being used by the Royal Navy as an ammunition store. All the buildings in the harbour precincts and along Harbour Parade took the full force of the blast.

The Ramsgate Royal Harbour letter books in the Maritime Museum do list the extent of the damage to the harbour and its precinct in an entry on June 21, 1917.

The entry reads that the Clock House withstood the blast with doors and windows blown in. Slate tiles were blown from the roof and the clock face was shattered; damage was estimated to be £100. Fortunately, the clock mechanism was intact. Damage was also reported to harbour masonry on the cross wall and the fish market was destroyed.

Every building along Harbour Parade lost all their windows and had doors blown in. Surprisingly the damage was listed as superficial damage in the harbour report as most buildings were left intact. The Custom House was reported to have lost windows, doors blown in and “plaster in places”. Today there is a reminder of the raid as one room upstairs in the Custom House does have a flat ceiling whereas other ceilings are ornate.

Written by:
Councillor Tony Ovenden,
Sir Moses Montefiore Ward