Zepplin Shrapnel

On the 12 April 1918 at 3:07pm, zeppelin L61 set off from her base at Wittmundhaven, located on the North German Coast. This was one of five zeppelins that were ordered to raid 'Middle England'. However, the overcast and foggy conditions within England that night meant that the L61 narrowly failed to reach its initial objective of Liverpool. Her commander, Ehrlich, who died in 1921, never realised how close he came to his objective.

The L61 wound up bombing Wigan primarily due to the fact that the commander spotted a glare coming from the six blast furnaces of the Wigan Coal and Iron Company, which was locally known as 'Top Place'  and was located in Kirkless, on the eastern outskirts of Wigan. Ehrlich mistakenly wrote in his log that he had bombed Sheffield rather than Wigan.

More Here

In Victoria Park, Widnes there is a milestone that was damaged in the raid. There are also two plaques in regards to it also.

Inscription on plaque
This was the fifth milestone standing beside the A.57 Prescot to Warrington Rd. At Bold on the 12 April 1918. When five German Naval Zeppelins made the last effective airship raid on England. Zeppelin L61 from Wittmundhaven, commanded by Captain Leutenant Ehrlich with a crew of 19, crossed our coast at Withernsea and flew almost to Crewe before turning north and crossing the Mersey at 18,000 feet above Malton. At 11.17 p.m. the first of its bombs fell damaging the milestone, the road surface, a water main and doing some minor damage to adjacent property. There were no casualties here. A second bomb dropped three minutes later made a crater seven feet deep and fifteen feet across in a field at Abbots Hall Farm, Bold. The Zeppelin went on to bomb Inoe and Wigan, before returning safely to base. The night was dark and overcast, added to which the effectiveness of the official black out prevented accurate navigation, so that the airship commander reported in his log that he had bombed Sheffield. The light from the blast furnaces of the Wigan Coal and Iron Company, which had received no air-raid warning, attracted L61. Seven people were killed and twelve injured at Wigan and a further four injured at Aspull. The milestone was kept for many years at Victoria Park at Widnes as a reminder of the second of the only two Zeppelin raids on Lancashire.

Interesting stuff. What a difference between the bombers of WW1 and WW2.