Postcard "Zurueck von London"

crankcase · 8 July 2009, 10:59 AM

Last week I found a postcard at a Zurich fleamarket showing a drawing of a German airman in full kit, grinning as he is handed an iron cross by an officer. In the background is the silhouette of a Grossflugzeug and the caption reads "Zurueck von London" (Back from London).

The postmark dates from 1915 and the address is Wilhelmshaven. The stamp is Bavarian.

When I learn to scan and upload, I will provide an image here. In the meantime, any comments?
marc

Ritterton · 8 July 2009, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crankcase

Last week I found a postcard at a Zurich fleamarket showing a drawing of a German airman in full kit, grinning as he is handed an iron cross by an officer. In the background is the silhouette of a Grossflugzeug and the caption reads "Zurueck von London" (Back from London).

The postmark dates from 1915 and the address is Wilhelmshaven. The stamp is Bavarian.

When I learn to scan and upload, I will provide an image here. In the meantime, any comments?
marc

Marc -

Could it be an award for an early observation flight over London? Not certain when the first aerial bombins of London began, but could be for that as well.

R

crankcase · 10 July 2009, 07:33 AM

London.PDF

I think (I hope) the attachment worked!

Again, more of your comments are invited. (Thanks for initial reaction.) I still need to check the dates of the first bombing missions over Blighty!
marc

Jim · 10 July 2009, 01:56 PM

It could also simply be a public relations type thing unrelated to reality to raise morale and support for the war effort by encouraging people to believe the air war was being carried to the enemy in their very capital city. It is just a stylized painting showing a generic young heroic aviator being congratulated by a senior officer.

If it were trying to represent a particular event or series of events I would think there would be more information or detail on it to commemorate such an event.

Ritterton · 10 July 2009, 03:33 PM

I tend to agree with Jim about it...but it could be representative of an actual event so hit those books to check. Great image no matter what.

youthgoes · 13 July 2009, 04:00 PM

The first successful Zeppelin raids on England were in January, 1915 and attacked small villages around the Humber and Great Yarmouth. However, the first successful raids on London itself were in May of 1915, during which period the Kaiser approved raids anywhere east of the Tower of London. This being the case, it entirely possible that your postcard may be in reference to the pilots that accompanied these Zeppelins as armed escorts. These raids lasted until the end of 1917...but were, for the most part, discontinued after that, mostly due to the need to focus resources on defensive action on land on the Western Front and Eastern Front. In any case, that time frame seems to fit your postcard. I would see if I could get anymore background on its previous owner, and research what squadron he was in, and what missions they attempted in 1915, etc.

Thomas Trauner · 14 July 2009, 12:46 AM

Ah - weel, I don´t think this postcard has real background. In 1915 no German aeroplane reached London, at least not a simple two-seater like this beeing shown.
And I don´t think there was any sort of "fighter protection" for the Zeps.

Just my two penny

Thomas

youthgoes · 14 July 2009, 05:24 AM

Hey Thomas. I think you may actually be right on there not being "fighter protection" for the Zeppelins that early on. However, it should be noted that the Zeppelins themselves DID reach London itself by May 1915. But yes, there has to be some other reason for that postcard mentioning coming back from London...damn...I thought I hit the nail on the head!

- Chris

crankcase · 14 July 2009, 05:29 AM

...which makes this a curiosity.
i go with Jim's suggestion that this was a public relations exercise... and a realistic one given that airship raids were already taking place.

as several of you pointed out, this postcard ante-dates G-plane missions by 2 years (1915 vs. 1917) and Thomas observes that it is anyway a (B or C type) 2-seater which could not fly escort very far!

the writer of the postcard has no discernible link to aviation. i neglected to mention that i had the suetterlin script read to me and it is an inocuous private message about someone coming to visit... purely a domestic matter, so i believe this was a postcard probably available at newsstands on the civilian front, which supports the Jim's comment.

fun all the same to see that someone was at least preoccupied with perfidious albion! as they say (or said), "Gott strafe England"
marc

youthgoes · 14 July 2009, 08:35 AM

Crank...I think you have a point here. Public relations were extremely important in WWI...particularly in order to keep both soldiers and citizens enthusiastic about the war effort...even at a time early in the war where the pro-war sentiment was probably relatively positive in Germany and elsewhere. Fascinating that the propaganda teams of that era had the foresight to see the importance of it.

- Chris C.