Thomas Graham’s Diary – 19th August 1939

In this entry, Thomas predicts that war is a certainty unless one of three happens in the next few days:

  1. Poland crawls down (not likely)
  2. England and France desert Poland like France deserted the Czechs (I hope not likely)
  3. Hitler gives way (not likely)

Thomas would be correct with his three predications. He also warns that air strikes will play a big role in the conflict. He states that it will be a ‘far more ghastly war’ than the last and that London ‘panicked badly and easily’ the last time it was bombed.

Britain suffered several air raids during WW1. The first attack to hit Britain occurred on 19th January 1915 when a Zeppelin bombed Great Yarmouth.

In Scotland, the first ever raid occurred on Sunday 2nd April 1916 in Edinburgh. Zeppelins had slowly made their way across the Firth of Forth and headed towards Leith. In total, 23 bombs were dropped in just 35 minutes by the L14 and L22 aircrafts.

A full report of the bombing of Edinburgh can be found at the National Records of Scotland: https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/learning/first-world-war/zeppelin-air-raid-on-edinburgh-1916

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