Why is there a memorial for German soldiers at an Essex bus stop?

Visitors to a bus stop in rural Essex may have looked over their shoulders and wondered what the small, grey gravestone was.

The masonry greets people at Greens Farm Lane in Billericay using the number nine for Brentwood or the 251 to Warley.

Look closer, and you will see a picture of a Zeppelin airship along with a mention of 22 German soldiers who lost their lives on 24 September 1916, during World War One.

But 110 years on, why is the memorial there of all places?

In January 1915, the Germans started launching airships towards Britain with the aim of bombing civilians and testing the country's morale.

Taking them down using regular rounds proved difficult, but explosive and incendiary ammunition was developed to ignite the gas inside.

The first German airship - a Shütte-Lanz - was shot down by Flt Cdr William Leefe Robinson in Cuffley, Hertfordshire, during a raid on London.

However, the first genuine German Zeppelin was shot down by Lt Frederick Sowrey in Great Burstead, near Billericay.

On 24 September 1916, Sowrey approached the L32 from below in his aircraft and fired three drums of incendiary ammunition into the belly of the airship's giant gas bag before it exploded.

Taking down these airships was a challenge for the British Army to solve.

The Zeppelins were approximately 150 to 200m (492 to 656 ft) long and were initially capable of reaching about 3,500m (11,500ft) above ground - higher than Yr Wyddfa, also known as Snowdon, in Wales.

They were kept afloat by thousands of cells filled with gas much lighter than air.

Ian Flint, chief executive of Stow Maries Great War Aerodrome near Chelmsford, said a solution was needed once they found regular bullets were ineffective.

"The .303 round is fine and dandy against people, but if you shoot it against a bag of canvas, it goes through the bag of canvas and out the other side," he said.

"Let's say it goes through a hundred bags before it goes out the other side, you've got a hundred bags that are leaking gas. OK, fine. Then you've only got another 49,900 or something silly to hold you up.

Because they were so high up, the airships struggled to navigate and therefore followed rivers to find towns and cities.

"Essex had been hammered a little bit," he said.

"We had had attacks and we continue to have attacks over Maldon and over Essex because it was on the route of the Crouch and the Blackwater that you could follow into London.

"So even with their misdirecting navigations, they could find their way to a settlement."

He said crowds gathered as soon as Sowrey shot the Zeppelin down.

"It was immediately plagued with people that were hunting it down and wanting to get souvenirs and take chunks of it home," he said.

"So, here at Stow Maries, we regularly get people turn up with sections of duraluminum infrastructure mounted on pieces of wood that they're adamant are parts of L32 shot down over Billericay."

On 24 September 2016, Billericay Town Council placed a gravestone on Greens Farm Lane to mark 100 years since the deaths of the German crew.

Deborah Tonkiss, town clerk, said: "This was an important event in the history of Billericay and we therefore felt it was only right and proper to highlight the location of the crash with a marker stone and to honour the German airmen that sadly lost their lives."

It was one of two airships to come down in Essex on the night of 23-24 September 1916.

Sowrey was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his bravery that night, and later the Military Cross for his service in France.

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