Plaque unveiling and lunch
Great YarmouthThe East Anglia branch are unveiling a plaque in memory of Lt Egbert Cadbury, who shot down Zeppelin L70 in 1918, flying from Great Yarmouth. The plaque will be unveiled by Rear Admiral Simon Charlier at noon on 17th October 2013 and will be followed by a brief visit to the former Royal Naval Hospital in Great Yarmouth where a further plaque will be unveiled.
Any member wishing to attend should contact Margaret Gooch via email at [email protected]
The story
Accompanied by three V class Zeppelins L.63, L.65 and L.56, the latest X class Zeppelinn L.70 directed what turned out to be the last raid on England on the night of 5/6 August 1918, with KK Peter Strasser, Commander of the Navy Airship Department on board.
L.70 was intercepted and destroyed over North Sea, just north of Wells-next-the-Sea on the Norfolk coast, by British DeHavilland DH-4 flown by Major Egbert Cadbury (later Air Commodore) with Captain Robert Leckie (later Air Vice-Marshal) as gunner.
Both these men had shot down Zeppelins prior to L 70; Cadbury had downed L 21 (28 November 1916) and Leckie, L 22 (14 May 1917).