Sir Charles Wakefield Medal - Zeppelin L15 (2)

The commander of the L15 was Kapitanleutnant Joachim Breithaupt. On the 31st March 1916 (note date!), at 21.45 hours, the L15 received a direct hit from the AA gun at Purfleet, Essex. The AA shell damaged four of the gas cells (numbers 9, 11, 12, and 16), and the L15 began to lose height - despite the crew chucking out everything, to lose weight. While the L15 got closer to earth, it was attacked by 2Lt Alfred de Bathe Brandon RFC, 19 RA Sqn (Hainault Farm), in a BE 2C. Brandon climbed above the L15 and tried to destroy it by dropping incendiary bombs, and Ranken darts onto the top of the hull. He was not succesful. But eventually the Zeppelin became too heavy to fly, and she came down in the sea off Margate at 00.15 (1st April) - close to the Kentish Knock lightship. One crew member, ObsigMt Willy Albrecht, was drowned. The rest of the crew (16 members in total) were rescued by the armed trawler Olivine (and then transferred to HMS Vulture). This image is of a gold medal awarded by Sir Charles Wakefield, Lord Mayor of London. Originally he had promised a significant monetary reward for the first gun crew to shoot down a Zeppelin. However, in the event numerous gun crews put in a claim as being the one which hit the Zeppelin, all having fired on it. As a result some three hundred medals were issued to various members of the gun crews and searchlight batteries involved, the large money prize funding their manufacture in 8-carat gold. The sodden, half-sunk remains of the L15 were then taken under tow but the airship broke up off Westgate and only small sections were hauled ashore, where parts were obviously liberated by souvenir hunters. Eventually the sea reclaimed what was left of the airship on the beach. Other photos show the L-15 Zeppelin and photos of the captured crew from a copy of the Illustrated London News, dated Saturday, April 22 1916.

L15号齐柏林飞艇的指挥官为海军上尉约阿希姆·布赖特豪普特（Kapitanleutnant Joachim Breithaupt）。1916年3月31日（请注意该日期！）21时45分，L15号遭到埃塞克斯郡珀弗利特的高射炮直接命中。该高射炮弹击穿了其4个气囊（编号9、11、12及16号），导致L15号开始下坠——尽管艇员倾弃了所有可丢弃物品以减轻艇体重量。
就在L15号不断贴近海面之际，隶属于皇家飞行军团（Royal Flying Corps, RFC）、皇家炮兵第19中队（驻地海诺特农场）的少尉阿尔弗雷德·德·巴斯·布兰登（2Lt Alfred de Bathe Brandon），驾驶BE 2C型战机发起攻击。布兰登爬升至L15号上空，试图通过投掷燃烧弹及兰肯空投弹（Ranken dart）击毁该飞艇，但未能成功。
最终，齐柏林飞艇因重量超标无法维持飞行状态，于次日（4月1日）0时15分在马盖特附近海域坠毁，距肯特诺克灯塔船（Kentish Knock lightship）仅咫尺之遥。艇上观测官威利·阿尔布雷希特（ObsigMt Willy Albrecht）不幸溺水身亡，其余16名艇员被武装拖网渔船"奥利文号（Olivine）"救起，随后被转移至"秃鹫号（HMS Vulture）"军舰。
本图片为时任伦敦市市长查尔斯·韦克菲尔德爵士（Sir Charles Wakefield）所颁发的金牌。最初他承诺为首个击落齐柏林飞艇的炮组提供巨额奖金，但由于多支炮组均宣称自己是命中该飞艇的部队——所有炮组均对其开火射击——最终共有约300枚奖章被授予参与作战的高射炮班组及探照灯分队，该巨额奖金被用于制作8K金奖章。
随后，L15号被海水浸透、半沉于水下的残骸被拖曳，但该飞艇在韦斯特盖特附近海域解体，仅少量碎片被拖上岸，其中不少显然被纪念品爱好者掳为私藏。最终，剩余的飞艇残骸被大海吞噬于海滩之上。
另有照片展示了L-15号齐柏林飞艇，以及1916年4月22日出版的《伦敦新闻画报（Illustrated London News）》复刻版中所载的被俘艇员影像。