At the beginning of the Great War in August 1914, the British were fearful of the potential threat posed by the German airships. In late September, the Royal Naval Air-Service (RNAS) embarked on what was the world's first strategic bombing campaign. The first of what would be four attacks in the autumn and early winter of 1914 took place in late September when a flight of Sopwith Tabloids attempted to attack German Zeppelin sheds in Belgium but the mission did not achieve any results.

On October 8th, 1914, a pair of Sopwith Tabloids carried out what was to be the only attack of the campaign to achieve any real success. The two British pilots, Squadron-Leader D A S Grey and Flight-Lieutenant Reggie L G Marix, were charged with bombing the huge German Zeppelin storage sheds at Cologne and Dusseldorf. Thick, murky cloud forced Grey to switch targets and attack the Cologne railway station. Marix, however, had better luck and found the Zeppelin shed at Dusseldorf where the airship LZ.25 was stored inside. Marix dropped his bombs from a height of 600ft and the Zeppelin inside the shed ignited and then exploded spectacularly, the fireball almost consuming Marix's aircraft. Both Tabloids managed to make it back to base and both Grey and Marix were awarded DSOs for their efforts.

 After the raid on Dusseldorf, the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) planned a follow-up raid on German Zeppelin sheds, an operation much more complex and bold. On the evening of November 13th, 1914, operating under great secrecy, a train arrived at Belfort in south-east France, an airship field located 50 miles from the German border (and only 12 miles from the Swiss border). On board the train were four Avro 504 aircraft, dis-assembled and packed into crates, along with British RNAS air-crew under the command of Squadron-Leader Shepherd.   Permission to use the location as a launching base for the attack had been gained only after lengthy and delicate negotiations with the French with the condition that the raid be carried out before December.   The small force planned to launch a surprise bombing raid on the German Zeppelin sheds at Friedrichshafen, located some 125 miles to the east. Time was of the essence as it could only be a matter of time before the base was discovered. The RNAS personnel assembled the Avro aircraft and fitted the special bomb-racks, designed to carry and drop the 20-pound Hale bombs, four of which would be carried by each aircraft. Although the 504 was a two-seater, the pilot would fly each plane alone, the other cockpit rigged to serve as a spare fuel tank.   During the preparations in cold weather, Shepherd fell ill and damaged one of the aircraft during taxying trails. He was replaced by Squadron-Leader Roland Cannon. On the morning of November 21, the four aircraft were wheeled out and take-off commenced at 9.30am. One of the Avros (Cannon's), the one that had been damaged, proved unable to lift off despite the makeshift repairs so only three aircraft began the mission, piloted by Squadron-Commander Edward F Briggs and Lieutenants John Babington and Sydney Sippe.   Unable to fly in formation due to the Avro's high cruising speed, the three pilots flew individually to the target. Briggs was the first to reach the Zeppelin base at Friedrichshafen at 11.30am but his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire after he dropped his bombs. His aircraft force-landed at the base and Briggs, badly injured, was captured.   Sippe arrived next, dropping three of his bombs whilst the fourth failed to detach. Flying low over Lake Constance, he evaded the AA fire and made it back to base.   Last to attack was Babington who dropped his bombs at the target despite his plane having engine trouble. Forbidden by the French to carry maps, Babington got lost en route home but by good luck, he landed his fuel-starved plane in French territory.   Briggs, Babington and Sippe were all awarded DSOs and the British Press made the most of the raid's propaganda value, proclaiming it a great success. In reality, actual damage inflicted to the Zeppelin base was slight, limited to minor damage to one of the workshops and to the main doors of one of the airship sheds, along with damage to a nearby house. Casualties on the ground were one killed and two injured.     After the raid, the Germans strengthened AA defences around their Zeppelin sheds and where possible, moved them deeper into German territory, out of range of Allied air attack.

On December 25th, 1914, the Royal Navy carried out the fourth and final attack of the Zeppelin Sheds campaign. It would be the first ever co-ordinated sea and air attack on an enemy target. Three RN seaplane tenders with several warships as escorts, sailed into the North Sea and set up a temporary base at the small island of Helgoland. On Christmas Day, the tenders launched a total of nine Short seaplanes of various models in near-zero temperatures. The engines of two of the planes refused to start in the freezing conditions and both aircraft had to be winched back on board but the remaining seven aircraft managed to get airborne.   Their objective was the Zeppelin sheds at the Nordholz air-base near Cuxhaven. Poor visibility and heavy anti-aircraft fire hampered the bombing attack on the air-base and the damage inflicted was limited. However the British were pleased with the results of the raid as it proved the feasibility of such operations and none of the aircrew's lives were lost. Of the seven aircraft who participated in the raid, three were recovered intact by the tenders, three more landed near the Island of Nordeney and their crews were rescued by a British submarine (the aircraft were deliberately scuttled) and the last aircraft was reported missing but the crew was rescued by a Dutch trawler. One of the aircrew who took part as an observer was Lieutenant Erskine Childers, famous for being the writer of the espionage novel The Riddle of the Sands which had been a bestseller before the war. A staunch Irish nationalist, Childers became radicalised after the war and was a leading figure in the Anglo-Irish troubles prior to his death by execution in 1922.