Airship SL11 was shot down by Lieutenant William Leefe Robinson at Cuffley, Hertfordshire in the early hours of 3 September 1916. Although commonly thought to be a Zeppelin, SL11 was actually a Schütte-Lanz airship. This was the first airship to be brought down on English soil and Robinson was awarded the Victoria Cross for his achievement. The following day brought the madness of 'Zepp Sunday'. News of the victory quickly spread and over the next two days 10,000 people travelled to the village of Cuffley to see the fallen airship.

The public were not officially allowed to take pieces of the airship themselves, under the Defence of the Realm Act. Instead, the War Office gave the British Red Cross Society vast quantities of wire from the wreck to be made into brooches, bracelets, rings and cuff links which were sold for the benefit of the Society's funds.