Online Collection

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Lord Wakefield Zeppelin Medal, awarded to Bombardier Delve, Royal Garrison Artillery, 1916

Gold medal with, on the obverse, a coat of arms with a scroll bearing the motto in Latin, 'Vigiland et Audax' (Vigilant and Bold), within a circlet bearing the inscription, 'Presented by the Lord Mayor Colonel Sir Charles Wakefield'. On the reverse an anti-aircraft gun with the inscription 'L15', a scroll bearing the inscription, 'Well Hit March 31st - April 1st 1916' and the engraved rank and name of the recipient, 'Bombr Delve'.

Around 2,000 British people were killed or wounded during German airship raids. Colonel Sir Charles (later 1st Viscount) Wakefield, the Lord Mayor of London in 1915-1915, offered a bounty of £500 to the first pilot or gun crew to shoot down a Zeppelin.

Zeppelin L15 (LZ48), commanded by Kapitanleutnant Joachim Breithaupt was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Purfleet on 31 March 1916. The zeppelin, harried by Royal Flying Corps aircraft, came down in the sea off Margate early on 1 April 1916. All but one of the crew survived and were captured. It was decided that as several gun crews were involved in disabling the airship, each man would receive a commemorative gold medal instead of splitting the financial reward.

NAM Accession Number

NAM. 1985-06-38-1

Copyright/Ownership

National Army Museum, London

Location

National Army Museum, Army At Home gallery

Object URL

https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?acc=1985-06-38-1