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Bombs fell on Tipton and Bradley and then the first bombs fell on Wednesbury. They landed in the King Street area, near to a large factory.
A woman, Mrs. Smith, of 14, King Street, left her house to see what the noise was.
A little way down the street she saw fires and presumed an explosion at the factory.
She walked towards the fires but bombs began to fall behind her. She turned and hurried home, to find her house demolished and all her family killed.
The bodies of three members of her family - her husband Joseph, daughter Nellie aged 13 and son Thomas, 11, were quickly located.
The youngest girl Ina, just seven, was lying dead on the roof of the factory. Her body would not be found until the morning.
The first Wednesbury deaths had occurred.
The 13 Zeppelin victims - also victims of the war - have no memorial at all, apart from this one here below:
January 31st, 1916
Mary Ann Lee aged 59
Rachel Higgs aged 36
Frank Thompson Linney aged 36
Susan Howells aged 30
Matilda Mary Burt aged 10
Joseph Horton Smith, aged 37
Ina Smith, aged 7
Nellie Smith, aged 13
Thomas Horton Smith, aged 11
Mary Emma Evans aged 5
Edward Shilton aged 33
Betsy Shilton, aged 39
Albert Gordon Madeley aged 21
This looks like the same family who possibly moved house between 1911 and 1916 ....
1911: 9 Lloyd St, Wednesbury
Joseph Horton Smith 31 Head Iron Tube Turner married 10 yrs
Jemima Ann Smith 30 Wife - children 4, 3 still living
Nellie Smith 9 Dau
Thomas Horton Smith 6 Son
Ina Smith 2 Dau
(all born Wednesbury)
Photo courtesy of the Black Country Living Museum
- A glass negative of buildings on King Street, Wednesbury, bombed in the Great Zeppelin Raid,1916 copy.jpg (67.73 KiB) Viewed 554 times
(click photo to enlarge)
