51416: Topical Budget 194-1, Zeppelin raid results on Southend

Newsreel item on the damage done to Southend and Westcliff by the Zeppelin raids of March and April 1915. A hotel, the "Cromwell Board Residence," has been hit by a bomb. Firemen work to put out the various fires. The burnt-out firebombs are displayed in a heap by a policeman. A charred dead dog is held up for the camera. A man holds his (apparently unharmed) baby daughter up for the camera also. This issue was released by the Topical Film Company before it was taken over by the British government in April 1917. The material may have been re-released as part of a government compilation film at a later date.