Your first thought will probably be that this is something that occurred in World War II. However, this was a quite shocking event - unknown to many today - that happened way back in 1917.
During the first World War, London had been the target of a number of air raids, more often than not by Zeppelins. This was to change on Friday, 25th May, 1917, although, as it turned out, it was the Kent seaside town of Folkestone (and the surrounding area) that was to suffer.
The Germans sent a squadron of 23 Gotha G.IV bombers to attack London that day, but heavy cloud cover forced the abandonment of the plan. After two of the squadron were forced to return due to mechanical issues, the remaining 21 aircraft were ordered to bomb secondary targets in Kent. These were Folkestone, and the Shorncliffe Army Camp just to the west of the town.
At Shorncliffe Camp, 16 Canadian soldiers were killed, along with 2 British. Another 90 servicemen were wounded. In Folkestone (and the surrounding area), a total of 77 civilians were killed, along with many more injured.
The single worst incident was a bomb that fell outside Stokes Brothers greengrocers in Tontine Street. Nearly 60 were killed instantly, with more later succumbing to their injuries.
A number of other bombs fell at the military camps in Dibgate and St. Martin's Plain, plus several in the neighbouring towns of Cheriton, Hythe, Lympne, and Sandgate. Considering that, outside of the major bombings of the WWII Blitz, this was one of the worst single air attacks in Britain, it is quite alarming that it has now been largely forgotten,
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