Facebook post #004 (Jan 2020)
On 4 July 1917, a 21-year old Royal Navy air mechanic was one of three killed in a bombing raid on Felixstowe. This I learned today in researching family history: James Cordell was my grandad’s third cousin, and hailed from Southampton. As I’ve been looking at old planes with my son lately, I dug a bit deeper.
So, by 1917, planes like the Royal Aircraft Factory BE2 below (which we saw at RAF Hendon) had become increasingly successful in bringing down the Zeppelin airships which had terrorised London early in the War. But The resulting hiatus was suddenly ended by a series of raids by the giant Gotha biplane bombers of the new ‘England Geschwader’. The first two raids were aborted, their bombs being dropped on the south coast. The fourth was redirected due to weather conditions, and killed cousin James.
James looked after kite balloons which were beginning to have some success as observation platforms from which to spot ‘U-boats’. Flying boats based nearby were developing new techniques to destroy the submarines. Seaplanes developed in Felixstowe provided early funding for the companies which made them, and which came together after the War to form English Electric – of Lightning and Canberra fame.
In 1968, EE became a founding component of GEC, where both my parents worked. I moved to Wellingborough to work for GEC Reliance, and this is why my children were born in Northants. The Felixstowe site was used after the War by Supermarine, who developed the Southampton flying boat below, to replace the older models. Later, of course, they created the Spitfire.
Back in 1917, the third raid, on 13 June, was on London. 17 planes dropped 4 tonnes of high explosives. 162 people were killed, including 18 children in a primary school in Poplar. As a result of these raids, Jan Smuts was commissioned to review the air services. His report led directly to the foundation of the RAF, which started in 1918 as the Independent Air Force. It consisted of nine squadrons of planes including the De Havilland DH9A and Sopwith Camel, below, which now have pride of place at RAF Hendon.
The revulsion to all things German after the raids led directly to the royal family rebranding itself from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor on 17 July 1917.
