Accurate bombing would be impossible, so the pilots reluctantly turned southeast and headed off to find another target.

Thick, towering clouds greeted the planes over the capital instead of the clear weather forecast in Belgium. From observer he had moved up to command the important Englandflieger, or England Squadrons, which he was now leading up the Thames Valley without opposition. “The Whole Street Seemed to Explode, With Smoke and Flames Everywhere”īrandenburg had marched off to war in 1914 as an infantry officer, but after being severely wounded ended up an air observer flying over the front. Meanwhile, an observer on board scribbled a message about the bomber’s problems to be carried back to a German coastal station by one of two pigeons aboard. Finally, the pilot of the troubled plane fired several red flares to indicate he was turning back and dumped his bombs into the sea. Unfortunately, Brandenburg had no radio (because of its prohibitive weight) to find out what was wrong with this Gotha, which was painted with undulating serpents from nose to tail. Another suffered fuel line problems over the North Sea and began falling behind.

One Gotha experienced engine problems halfway to the coast and landed near Thielt. (A reserve fuel tank was later installed under the upper wing to avoid this delay on future raids.) The 34-year-old Brandenburg took off with 23 bombers from grass fields near Ghent and headed for the Nieuwunster Airfield 40 miles away to refuel. The aircraft’s many unique features convinced German leaders that the Gotha was a plane capable of winning the war. Because the Gothas flew so high, tanks of liquid oxygen were available if needed by crewmembers. Twin engines gave these bombers a top speed of 88 miles per hour and a ceiling of 16,000 feet, well above the reach of most defensive fighters then based in England. The German GothaĪlthough no other bomber, German or Allied, cradled more than two 112-pound bombs, the Gotha was capable of carrying more than 10 times that amount and dropping them with remarkable accuracy by using a high-tech Goerz bombsight. The Gothas now heading toward London had a much greater potential for causing damage than the Zeppelins, which could muster only small bomb loads. They had been able to sleep soundly in their beds for about eight consecutive months with no German Zeppelins daring the North Sea with their deadly bombs. Ironically, in the spring of 1917, British residents believed the battle for the skies over their country was already won. Because the British weren’t expecting these newly designed warplanes, they were not prepared to spot their arrival or to stop them. The super-bombers were led by Ernst Brandenburg, personally selected to head Kagohl 3, the elite of Kaiser Wilhelm’s bombing squadrons organized for raids on England. German military leaders called the planes Gothas, hoping the name would add an element of terror to English citizens in their homes below.Įarlier that day the Gothas, a top-secret weapon carefully concealed at Belgian airfields, had taken off and headed toward England, about 175 miles away. The biplanes, each carrying 13 bombs, had wingspans exceeding 70 feet, immense for World War I aircraft. On May 25, 1917, a fleet of 21 bombers lumbered in a line at 12,000 feet over the English coast.

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