Bombing of Mapperley WW1 by Zeppelin


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I would like to see a map of the Hickling Road, Mapperley area in 1916. My father was in a house there in 1916 when it was severely damaged by a bomb dropped by a Zeppelin. I wish to study the housing density at the time. Can anyone help please.

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Hello, letsavagoo. I don't have a map but this article may be of interest to you.

From what you say it could be read that 93 properties related to the total and not just to the bomb we now accept fell on Hickling Road.

Kapitanleutnant Kraushaar's is quoted as saying that he dropped eight explosive bombs and eleven incendiaries during his raid, a total of nineteen, so I have been trying to account for them all. Frustratingly, the Nottingham Evening News of 25th September 1916, quotes the figure as fourteen to sixteen in one article and fourteen in another. Although the articles do not name specific streets where the bombs dropped, it is possible to identify those that fell on the railway stations, those that fell on Canaan Street and at least one which fell on Newthorpe Street, and to compare this with information from other sources.
L-17 dropped it first bomb at North Muskham as it flew up the Trent Valley. The first bomb dropped over the city landed on the corner of Cross Street and Dunstan Street in Netherfield, demolishing six houses. The next one landed at Sneinton severing the telephone lines to the AA guns. Two bombs dropped 'on a railway goods depot' which is London Road low level station. Another 'buried itself in the municipal refuse heap' presumably Eastcroft. One landed at the now Midland Station before Kraushaar began his run through the city centre. At least one fell on Newthorpe Street killing Alfred Taylor Rogers, and his wife Rosanna, and two fell on the Primitive Methodist Church in Canaan Street, one, an incendiary, set it on fire and another fell through the floor but failed to explode. Bombs also fell on Carrington Street, Greyfriar Gate, one damaged The Caledonian Hotel on Lister Gate and another destroyed a warehouse at the junction of Lister Gate and damaged Weavers on Castle Gate. One landed on Wheeler Gate,and another landed at Victoria Station. Allowing for the one that landed on Hickling Road, we can account for at least seventeen of the bombs dropped. Based on other posts and your observations, I am happy to accept that the bomb which hit Mapperley Brickworks was not the same one that caused the damage on Hickling Road, implying that at least two bombs landed in the Mapperley Area. This would make eighteen, thereby exceeding the amount listed in the press, but one less than Kraushaar said he dropped, assuming he was including the one at North Muskham.
I think I can now account for the missing bomb. The newspaper reports that 'Harold Renshaw was in bed with his wife when a bomb crashed through their ceiling, setting fire to his clothing. Mr Renshaw was so badly burned, he died soon afterwards in hospital. His wife, lying beside him, was uninjured.' Another report describes him as 'One of the dead is a soldier, who was in bed with his wife. An incendiary bomb came through the roof and fell on his chest. He was killed outright and his wife escaped uninjured'. I looked on the 1911 census and there was only a Harold William Renshaw resident in the city at that time. I checked the BMD records and he is listed as 62079 Private Harold William Renshaw of the Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regiment) Depot. The CWGC shows that he was the husband of Ethel Millicent Parier (formerly Renshaw), of 8, Rose Street, Dame Agnes Street, St. Ann's Well Road. Nottingham. He is buried in Nottingham Church (Rock) Cemetery on Mansfield Road. Unfortunately, I have yet to establish whether he was living with his wife in St Anns when he was killed, or whether she moved there when she remarried, as this could potentially mean a third bomb fell in the Mapperley/St Anns area. Therefore, the bomb that killed Private Renshaw makes nineteen, as even if he lived in Newthorpe Street, he could not have been killed by the same bomb as that which killed the Rogers' as Mrs Rogers was blown out of the house and several properties were destroyed which implied that that bomb was one of the explosive ones. I will get his death certificate from the Registry Office to confirm where he lived. All I need now is where Alfred Taylor Rogers and his wife Rosanna are buried.

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I would like to see a map of the Hickling Road, Mapperley area in 1916. My father was in a house there in 1916 when it was severely damaged by a bomb dropped by a Zeppelin. I wish to study the housing density at the time. Can anyone help please.

At risk of seeming a bit extreme, do you know the house number on Hickling Road? It might help locate it (or its absence) eg high number end, or low number end.

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Hi Cliff Ton. The house my grandmother lived in was Number 1 Albert Villas. In sept 1916 they were asleep in the front bedroom when a bomb from a Zeppelin was dropped and caused extensive damage to the frontage. The house was pretty badly damaged and the house was uninhabitable and they were rehoused. The number of the house bears no resemblance at all to the present day numbering as many more houses now exists whereas in 1916 it was rather sparsely built on. The house in question is now, present day number 33.

I think that you Michael B have the nail on the head as it is highly unlikely a single bomb in 1916 would have damaged 93 properties so it could be reference to the total. Thanks for the map Pooh.

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The map has been a great surprise for me as I had assumed that the area in 1916 was similar to how it is now ie rows of houses quite densely packed. Not so at all with houses dotted about widely spaced.

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As you've said the house is now No 33, I can pinpoint it exactly on a map of the period - like this. The bigger house marked on the left on the old map is still there today and on Streetview can be identified as Leicester Villa 1896.

hickling.jpg

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Although I was aware of the Zeppelin raid in September 1916, I did not know until this thread appeared that bombs were dropped elsewhere than in the City centre and into the Meadows.

Thanks to all who have contributed to this, and especially Michael for the detailed description, as I have learned something new today about my Hometown.

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The area around Porchester Road (outside the City) Porchester Road has always struck me as being rather haphazardly zoned. It may have something too do with the fact that the area between Sneinton and Carlton was part of Basford Rural District until the late 1920s.

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Going back to the article that Michael posted in #5 , the Evening Post also published an article at the same time . However they omitted any location details or names presumably for security reasons.

It mentions the bomb falling through the roof onto the soldier as he lay in bed and also that they were in their mother in laws house , who was asleep on the ground floor .

The soldier Harold Renshaw married Ethel Millicent Daft not that long before the bomb dropped . She can be seen aged 15 on the 1911 Census living with her mother at 48 Queens Grove . So its possible that that is the house that got bombed 5 years later in 1916 .Of course its also entirely possible they moved house within that time !

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