Aviation

Zeppelin was shot down over the sea near Lowestoft, the date of which coming close to the moment when Robert Leckie arrived at the station and yet to make his mark and be known as one of “the Zeppelin killers from Canada”.

Lowestoft’s worst raid of world war II 80 years ago today on 23 January 1942, while convoys of lorries were still trucking the wreckage and rubble from the scene of devastation that became known as "The Waller's raid" in London Road North, Lowestoft, another deadly raid occurred. An alert had been sounded at 8.41 am, probably caused by German bombers seeking a convoy in the North Sea. Barely a minute had elapsed after the warning when a lone bomber, variously identified as as a Do 217 or Ju 88 emerged from the snow clouds overhead and dived towards the railway station from the NE.

The 620 ft (189 metres) Zeppelin L5, captained by Alois Boecker, was heard near Dunwich on the night of 15 to 16 April.

It dropped its bombs on Suffolk including at Henham Hall and the railway station at Southwold, before attacking Lowestoft at 01:15 BST.

Houses in Denmark Road were hit, and what we know, perhaps, as the Menzies building by the signal box in Denmark Road, was also damaged. This building was stables for GER.