The Last Flight of the L31 and L32

The Last Flight of the L31 and L32The Last Flight of the L31: The True Story of the Potters Bar Zeppelin by R.L. Rimell
ISBN: 978-1-906798-47-5
Published by Albatros Productions on 2016
Genres: Aviation
Pages: 24

 

 

 

The Last Flight of the L31 and L32The Last Flight of the L32: The True Story of the Billericay Zeppelin by R.L. Rimell
ISBN: 78-1-906798-47-2
Published by Albatros Productions on 2016
Genres: Aviation
Pages: 24

Ray Rimell’s two books on Zeppelins include an astounding wealth of new information and photographs. These two Zeppelins were shot down a week apart over England in 1916 and ended the lives of two of the Germany Navy’s most capable airship commanders, Heinrich Mathy and Werner Petersen.

The two slim monographs discuss the careers of Mathy and Peterson, the missions of L31 and L32, their demise in September and October 1916, the British pilots who brought down the airships, the sites where they fell, and what happened to the remains of the Zeppelin crews.

Both footnoted books are profusely illustrated with photographs (many new to this reviewer), color and B&W artwork and aircraft sketches, as well as WW1-era postcards that present a cultural view of how British and German civilians perceived the Zeppelin raids. Appendices include sources and suggestions for places to visit in England that preserve the histories of the L31 and L32.

Reviewed by Steve Suddaby, past president of WW1HA. In the 1990s he interviewed survivors of Zeppelin attacks and walked the paths of two of Heinrich Mathy’s raids.

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