War relics, Zeppelin Wires
Country
England
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Object detail
Description
War relics, Zeppelin Wires. Wire has been attached to a pin and designed to be worn as a brooch. The wire was scavenged from a World War I zepplin which was shot down on September 3, 1916 over Cuffley in Essex. The brooches are mounted on cardboard backing with explanatory text.
Classification
TRANSPORT Aviation aircraft parts
COSTUME ACCESSORIES Jewellery brooch
COSTUME ACCESSORIES Jewellery brooch
Production place
Measurements
L32 x W37 x H3 mm (brooch 2)
L69 x W43 x H3 mm (brooch 2 on card.)
L37 x W9 x H3 mm (brooch 1)
L70 x W43 x H3 mm (brooch 1 on card.)
L69 x W43 x H3 mm (brooch 2 on card.)
L37 x W9 x H3 mm (brooch 1)
L70 x W43 x H3 mm (brooch 1 on card.)
Media/Materials description
Steel, cardboard.
Signature/Marks
'Genuine / Zepplin Wire, / from the first Zepplin brought / down at Cuffley in Essex / Sept. 3rd. 1916 / Given by H.M. War Office exclusively to the \ British Red Cross Society.
History and use
This brooch is made from a piece of wire from a German airship that was shot down over Cuffley, Hertfordshire, by a British pilot on 3 September 1916. The SL11 (Schütte-Lanz 11) was the first German airship to be shot down on British soil during World War 1 and the pilot responsible, Lieutenant William Leefe Robinson, was awarded Britain’s first WW1 Victoria Cross. Similar airships had conducted successful bombing raids on England since early 1915, so the event attracted enormous public interest. Two more airships were downed later the same month, and souvenir hunters flocked to the sites to claim their piece of history. Many pieces such as this one were made into souvenirs that were sold to raise funds for the British Red Cross Society.
The card reads ‘Cuffley in Essex’ when in fact Cuffley is in Hertfordshire; this error has been attributed to confusion with the second Zeppelin that was shot down on 24 September over Billericay in Essex.
The airships are commonly known as Zeppelins after Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, who invented the first rigid airships c.1900.
The card reads ‘Cuffley in Essex’ when in fact Cuffley is in Hertfordshire; this error has been attributed to confusion with the second Zeppelin that was shot down on 24 September over Billericay in Essex.
The airships are commonly known as Zeppelins after Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, who invented the first rigid airships c.1900.
Registration number
H4815
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