16 Alkham Road: Site of first bomb of World War I

This typical house in Stoke Newington, Hackney, looks a lot like the rest of the houses in this terrace. However, unlike the majority of the other homes, this one has had the top floors extensively rebuilt.

The house also holds a rather unique place in London history, but we will have to travel back over 100 years to find out why.

Shortly after 23:00 on Monday May 31, 1915, the German Zeppelin LZ38 dropped its first bomb on London. This incendiary bomb crashed through the roof of 16 Alkham Road setting the upper floors alight.

The occupants, the Lovell family and two guests, all escaped without injury, with the fire being quickly extinguished by the fire brigade.

Zeppelin LZ38 continued travelling over Hackney, Dalston, Shoreditch, Whitechapel, Tower Hamlets and Stepney, dropping high-explosive and incendiary bombs on the unsuspecting, and sleeping, people below.

On this first raid the LZ38 dropped a total of 91 incendiary devices, 28 explosive bombs and 2 grenades, resulting in 7 people being killed, 35 more injured and 41 fires started.

Between 1915 and 1918 there were over 20 air raids by Zeppelin and aircraft.

Following this raid restrictions were put in place across England, ensuring that only generalised locations of bombing raids were reported to the public.

Trivia: 

The bomb that hit 16 Alkham Road was the first time London had been attacked by a foreign military power in almost 1,000 years. The last time had been 1066, when William the Conqueror entered London.