Luton joined with London and the South-Eastern counties in the joy and excitement yesterday [September 3rd, 1916] over the bringing down of the first Zeppelin [1] on British soil.

One heard the news almost as soon as one got out of doors on Sunday morning and, although not a word concerning it was to be found in many of the Sunday papers which reached the town, the information came from such sources and in such detail that one could not doubt its accuracy.

Exactly where the wrecked airship had been brought down no one seemed to know, but police and military alike spoke of the wonderful spectacle of a sky lit up for miles around "somewhere" in the direction of London.

From inquiries made among those whose duties caused them to be out at two in the morning it seems clear that the flash of the searchlights and the ball of fire which the Zeppelin presented as it fell to earth was plainly visible from Luton. Hundreds of people appear to have witnessed the spectacle from the town, and those who obtained a view from positions of vantage describe it as a sight never to be forgotten.

Several Lutonians were among the hundreds of thousands of excited folk who yesterday made the pilgrimage to Cuffley Hill to get a view of the wreckage, and they say that Derby Day never once provided anything to approach the scenes along the Hertfordshire roads and on towards London.

One motoring party from Luton were fortunate enough, through the good offices of R.F.A. officers from Biscot Camp, to get into the field in which the charred and mangled remains of the Zeppelin lay and thus secure a fine view of the wreckage at close quarters.

Last night souvenirs of pieces of the envelope and aluminium from the Zeppelin were being handed round for inspection in Luton, and naturally they aroused the greatest interest.

[The Luton Reporter: Monday, September 4th, 1916.]

[1] The 'Zeppelin' was in fact a German Schutte-Lanz airship, SL-11. All 16 crew members lost their lives.