History of Great Yarmouth and Gorleston-on-Sea

What Happened in World War I

German Navy bombards Great Yarmouth

Although, throughout the centuries, the defence of Great Yarmouth and Gorleston-on-Sea had at times been seen as a priority, by the start of World War I, on 3rd August 1914, the East Coast, from the Wash to the Thames, was largely undefended. Great Yarmouth and Gorleston had, for their protection, a battery of muzzle loading relics at South Denes.

Very early in the War Great Yarmouth paid a price for this neglect. On 3rd November 1914, it became the first town in the U.K. to be attacked by the Germans. This took the form of a bombardment from the sea by a flotilla of seven German Cruisers and attendant warships. Fortunately no-one was hurt as the shells fell harmlessly on the beaches, but I guess it put the fear of God into the local Gull population.

This was the first time that the UK had suffered an attack on its native soil in 250 years. As a result of this attack a train sporting two 12lb Naval Guns supported by machine guns was commissioned to patrol the coast from Great Yarmouth to Mundesley for the duration of the War. These guns, however never fired a shot in anger and did not stop the German Navy revisiting Great Yarmouth.

A further bombardment took place on 25th April 1915 again resulting in no damage to the town. Experience has taught us that the Germans can be persistent and this trait paid off for them on 14th January 1918 when, in a 5 minute period, they fired over 50 shells at the town resulting in 4 deaths. Where was the train with the 12lb guns? Perhaps it was late ... twice! ....it appears some things never change.

Royal Flying Corps up to 1916

After the formation of the Royal Flying Corps in 1912 it was decided that South Denes would be home to an R.F.C. airfield to protect the East Coast from Cromer to Southwold. However, the aircraft from this airfield played no part in the Naval action on 3rd November 1914 as described above.

Within a few months of this attack, the fledgling air force was again proved to be ineffective against a German onslaught. On the 19th January 1915, Great Yarmouth was the site of the first ever aerial attack on the UK in the form of a Zeppelin airship, only this time the inhabitants were not so lucky, as two people were killed. The bombs were dropped, more or less a straight line as one might expect from an airship, from Albermerle Street to South Denes. The area which received most damage was around St Peters Plain. The Royal Flying Corps were unable to counter this raid as their aircraft were not capable of reaching the cruising height of a Zeppelin airship. Since the heaviest armament on an aircraft at this time was the standard army issue rifle the previous criticism is rendered superfluous.

Royal Flying Corps 1916 onwards

Nearly two years later on 27th November 1916, the Zeppelin L21 attacked Great Yarmouth but the R.F.C. now had the wherewithall to make the Germans pay dearly for any such excursions. Now armed with incendiary darts and machine guns the R.F.C. attacked the L21 which eventually came down in flames in the sea off Lowestoft. To prove this was no fluke when Zeppelin L70 flew into the area (5th August 1918) it was shot down 40 miles NE of Great Yarmouth. An explosive bullet doing for them. For their gallant action the R.F.C. airmen, Major Cadbury (pilot) and Captain Leckie (co-pilot) were both awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. In 1918 the R.F.C. became the Royal Air Force resulting in the demise of the South Denes Airfield, which by 1920 was no more.

Civilians at War

There was also a civilian cost in WWI. Owing to the large numbers of Norfolk men joining the Armed Forces, Great Yarmouth and Gorleston found they were severely hit by shortages of manpower particularly in the fishing industry. This resulted in much hardship for the woman and children who had lost their main provider. Many public areas including the Race Course were dug up to plant vegetables. The Government recognising their plight granted aid to the area.

St Stephen's Plain 1915

Bombed Out