Fragment of metal from Zeppelin L31 : Driver A M Lowe, 5 Motor Transport Company, AIF

Damaged piece of duraluminium (an aluminium alloy) frame from a Zeppelin. A small section of metal attached to the reverse has melted. On the front are two indents.

Piece of duraluminium from a German Zeppelin shot down over London collected by 13268 Driver Arthur Milbourne Lowe, born 29 October 1879, the son of Joseph and Jane Lowe. He was 20 years old and working as a station hand when he tried to enlist to fight in the Boer War. He was rejected by the NSW authorities, so he and a friend, George Munro, offered their services to the British. Both had worked in the bush and could shoot and ride. They travelled to South Africa as horse handlers on 18 March 1900. Once there Lowe was accepted as an Army assignment Scout, working for the British Cavalry Division under General Sir John French. He was later attached to Headquarters staff, interpreting, guiding and scouting for General French. Lowe served with General French's Staff scouts for about two years. After returning to Australia he enlisted with 5 Battalion NSW Commonwealth Horse, becoming part of 'A' Squadron. He was allocated the service number 51 and the rank of trooper. The battalion embarked from Sydney on 22 May 1902 on the ship Columbian. They disembarked 18 June 1902 at Durban. By then the war was over and they did not see any action. Lowe returned in the ship Manchester Merchant on 1 July, arriving at Sydney on 1 August. He was working as an electrician when he enlisted in the AIF on 25 September 1916. Lowe embarked on 22 December 1916, arriving at Devonport, England 3 March 1917. He spent a year in England serving with the 5th Motor Transport Company before embarking for service in France on 26 March 1918. On 9 April he was admitted sick to hospital for a month, was subsequently classified as B2 fitness due to his vision and problems with his left knee and was sent to England. Lowe embarked from England for Australia on 23 March 1919, arriving in Australia in May. He was discharged from the AIF on 22 February 1920. The first airship shot down over London was the SL11, shot down by Lieutenant William Leefe Robinson at Cuffley in September 1916. However this airship was wooden framed and was not a Zeppelin. It is likely this piece came from the Zeppelin L31, shot down over Potter's Bar, London on 1 October 1916 by Second Lieutenant Wulstan Tempest, 39 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps. The crew of L31 were all killed, either by jumping from the flaming Zeppelin or burning to death. They were originally buried at Potters Bar, where they had been shot down, but their remains were moved to Cannock Chase in Staffordshire in the 1960s. 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 at Cuffley, pieces of the airship were sold by the Red Cross to raise money for wounded soldiers. The souvenirs proved so popular that the Red Cross ran out of pieces of the SL11 and began selling pieces of the L31. While some parts remained as they were found, other pieces of airships were turned items such as jewellery or other small souvenirs. This piece has two indents that were believed to be finger marks, made when the metal was blazing hot after the L31 had been shot down.