THIS week in Down Memory Lane I recall a famous event for Thurrock during the Great War at Purfleet 97 years ago this week.

It was on March 31, 1916, that the anti-aircraft gunners protecting the important military ammunition and explosives magazines at Purfleet scored a hit on the Zeppelin L16, as it tried to bomb the establishment, causing it to crash in the River Thames as it tried to limp back to Germany.

The Zeppelin had become a weapon of mass destruction to our communities, silently arriving, sometimes at night time, dropping bombs on various Essex towns and London.

Colonel Sir Charles Wakefield, Lord Mayor of London, offered a reward to the first person to bring a Zeppelin down!

Eventually he produced 353 gold medals to all those involved directly in the Thames Defence regiments at bringing down the Zeppelin.

My featured photograph shows one example I saw many years ago issued to Gunner T. Reynolds, thanks to his family allowing me to see the item. Engraved on it is an anti-aircraft gun with L15 WELL HIT March 31, 1916 – the other side has the Coat of Arms of Wakefield.

The centenary to the start of the Great War on August 4, 1914, will start a five-year project to collect as much as possible about all those who served in our armies and factories in Thurrock, so if you have any stories, memorabilia or photographs, I would like to display them in Thurrock Museum and tell the story of Thurrock at War, month by month, as the war unfolds.