The Cuffley VC

Come along to Cuffley Hall from 3rd to 6th December and you will hear about the events that put Cuffley on the map and won a Victoria Cross for Lt. William Leefe Robinson in September 1916.
This unique musical drama, specially written for COS, honours the life of William Leefe Robinson (Billie) and follows the events before, during and after he shot down the SL11 Zeppelin on the night of 2nd September 1916 – the first of the German airships to be shot down over London by the Royal Flying Corps.
Although widely reported by official sources at the time, and for several years after the event, as a Zeppelin, in reality it was a Schutte Lanz – a smaller airship but still 575 feet long and 66 feet wide. (175 x 20 Metres)
You will begin to understand the impact of Billie’s daring deed upon Cuffley and local areas during World War 1; you will join the Eley Cartridge Factory women in Edmonton where incendiary cartridges were developed and you will experience the inquest – held at the Plough Pub – and the local events that followed. You will also hear what happened to Billie when the Red Baron’s Flying Circus shot him down!
A musical drama, devised and designed to entertain and enlighten! The show will include music and dances of the time, all selected to reflect the period and storyline of the piece. Many of the numbers, written between 1900 and 1920, have been revived over the years; you may recognise ‘I Love a Piano’, ‘12th Street Rag’, ‘The Sunshine of Your Smile’ and many more!
So, put the date in your diary, come along and learn a little of the history of our village and how it is entwined with Suttons Farm (Hornchurch), the Eley Cartridge Factory (Edmonton), Enfield, Essendon, Potters Bar, Stanmore and India! Take yourself along East Ridgeway and view the memorial, find our local street named after Billie and the model of the airship, and perhaps stop by The Plough – now a restaurant/pub!

For more information visit http://cuffleyoperaticsociety.co.uk/