A memorial at a Billericay bus stop marks where British pilot Frederick Sowrey shot down the Zeppelin L32 on 24 September 1916; 22 German airmen died. Billericay Town Council installed the stone in 2016 to mark the centenary.
Flying below the L32, Sowrey fired three drums of incendiary ammunition into its gas bag, setting it alight. Ordinary bullets were ineffective against the airships, Ian Flint of Stow Maries Great War Aerodrome said, because they passed through the fabric and gas cells.
Zeppelins followed the Crouch and Blackwater rivers to navigate towards London, bringing attacks over Essex, Flint said. The L32 was one of two airships that came down in Essex on the night of 23–24 September 1916.
