Wire from Schutte-Lanz airship SL11 : Gunner L W Robinson, 1 Field Artillery Brigade AIF

36 mm piece of wire from a German Schutte-Lanz airship. The wire was contained in an envelope printed with a red cross and the following text in red ink 'Price One Shilling / This is guaranteed to be a / PIECE OF THE WIRE / of the first ZEPPELIN brought / down at CUFFLEY, Herts. Sept. 3rd, 1916. / The Wire having been given to the British Red Cross Society / by H.M. War Office. It is being sold to help the wounded / at the Front.'

Wire from a Schutte-Lanz type German airship. Although not a Zeppelin, the Schutte-Lanz airships, like the SL11 were popularly called Zeppelins. Schutte-Lanz airships were wooden framed, while Zeppelins had metal frames. The SL11 was the first German airship to be shot down over England during the First World War. The airship was shot down by Lieutenant William Leefe Robinson, a member of the Royal Flying Corps No. 39 Home Defence Squadron on the night of 2/3 September 1916, and crashed at Cuffley in Middlesex, in full view of London.

The entire crew of 16 were killed. For this action Leefe-Robinson was awarded the Victoria Cross. In April 1917 he was posted to France and was shot down wounded and taken prisoner. After returning to England, he died in the influenza pandemic on 31 December 1918.

Pieces of airships, especially Zeppelins, were a very popular souvenir in England during the First World War. People travelled long distances to view the crash sites and purchase, or scavenge for, pieces of the wreckages. At the site of the crash of SL11 pieces of the airship, such as this one, were sold by the Red Cross to raise money for wounded soldiers.

31114 Gunner Leo Whitby (sometimes mistakenly recorded as 'Whitley') Robinson, a 37 year old solicitor, enlisted 11 September 1916. In 1910 he had run in the New South Wales elections for the seat of Woollahra, as an independent, but failed to win the seat, which was retained by the Liberal Party. In 1915 he married Minnie Frances O'Brien, but their marriage was short and she had died by the time he enlisted.

Robinson embarked from Sydney, NSW on 19 December 1916 aboard the troopship RMS Orontes, as a gunner with the 7th reinforcements to 7 Field Artillery Brigade (FAB). He disembarked at Plymouth, England on 17 February 1917. On 19 June he proceeded to France where he subsequently joined the 37th Battery of 10 FAB in August.

Robinson was severely wounded on 14 October 1917 suffering multiple wounds to his right forearm, foot and thigh. He was transferred to hospital in England where his right forearm was amputated. After spending time in hospital he was granted leave without pay from 25 April 1918 so that he could leave England and return to Australia at his own expense by the route of his choice. He left for New York on 21 April 1918, aboard SS Orduna. After time in America he returned home, arriving in Sydney in April 1919 aboard SS Moerak. Robinson was discharged on 1 August 1919.