[3] The 19 crew members were housed in the control cabin, rear gondola, two engine cars and open gun positions on top of the envelope.

[4] LZ 85 conducted its first flight on 12 April 1917 from Staaken to Ahlhorn under the command of Kapitänleutnant Waldemar Kölle and first officer Oberleutnant zur See Bernhard Dinter.

However the weather worsened and dense clouds were beginning to cover the East of England and by the time the airships crossed over Suffolk and Norfolk, they were caught in a thunderstorm.

The raid took place at such a great height that no British fighters could reach high enough to shoot the attacking zeppelins down, giving the airships a huge advantage.

LZ 85 continued southward to Northampton which she reached at 10.45pm, dropping 22 bombs, including 9 firebombs,[7] over Kingsthorpe, Dallington, Far Cotton and St. James End districts.

[8] The fifth bomb that was dropped passed through the roof of 46 Parkwood Street, just west of the train station, killing Mrs Eliza Gammons instantly while she was sleeping in her bedroom.

[14] When LZ 85 reached the City of London, she dropped a 300 kg (660 lb) high explosive bomb on Piccadilly Circus, which smashed the entire facade of the Swan & Edgar department store, killing five men and two women, and also wounding 18 others, that were mostly waiting for a bus.

[15] While continuing its flight over London, LZ 85 encountered a Royal Aircraft Factory BE.2c fighter, but escaped by turning southward and climbing to an extreme height.

When the airship was in safety, it dropped another bomb in Southwark, south of the River Thames, where it destroyed three houses in Albany Road near Burgess Park, killing 10 to 12 people and wounding many others.

[22] At 10.50am, commander Kölle decided to make an emergency landing on a reclaimed island near Laragne Buech, north of Sisteron in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur in south-eastern France as he knew he couldn't keep his ship in the air much longer.

The discovery resulted in 3 people from Tønder and 2 from Nordholz coming under suspicion of spying and later being found guilty and executed by a firing squad.

The raid was not viewed as a great success as the German navy lost a total of five airships: LZ 85 will always be remembered as the Zeppelin of Laragne to the people of France.

The airship dropped a total of 4,700 kg (10,400 lb) of bombs during its three raids and killed an estimated 30 people, as well as damaging many buildings.