“…Huns were in the London area…(having used up all my ammunition) I flew abreast of the (bomber)…making faces at him. (He) finally put a good burst through my machine, so I flew away from the KA Gotha, whose gunner I decided was a very nasty man.” So runs the July 7, 1917 report of British ace, Maj. James T. McCudden.

The appearance of Gotha G.IV heavy bombers over England in 1917 marked the second phase of Germany's attempt to create panic in the country’s citizenry. The first air raids began in January 1915 with Zeppelins. After two years of vulnerability to bad weather, anti-aircraft fire, and fighter planes, the German High Command turned from Zeppelins to long-range bombers. The finest of these was the three-seater Gotha biplane built by Gothaer Waggonfabrik. Types ranged from the G.I to the G.X, but the G.IV was used primarily for the London raids. Powered by three 260-hp Mercedes pusher engines, the G.IV had a maximum speed of 87.5 mph.

On May 25, 1917, the Germans launched the first massed Gotha attack on London, but weather prevented them from reaching the city. On July 7, the daylight raid by 22 Gothas dropped 72 bombs, killing or wounding 594. It was this group that Britain’s deadliest shot, Maj. James T. McCudden attacked as it flew back to Belgium.

Raids by the Gothas continued until May 1918. While tactically unproductive in terms of actual casualties and damage, the 52 aerial raids on England had a deep psychological effect. In 1939 many Britons would remember the Gothas as they once again watched searchlights probing the heavens for planes bearing the black cross.