WAR IN THE AIR

WAR IN THE AIR

1. AIRSHIP

   • Reliable
   • Able to carry heavy load
   • Had greater range
   • Britain
     • used for escorting ships & spotting U boats
       • Used it for bombing later
   • Germany
     • More advanced airship called: Zepplein, Used for bombing targets
       • Later replaced by Gotha

2. AIRCRAFT

   • Recent invention
   • unreliable at the start of the war
   • used for reconnaissance at first
   • Used for communication later
   • evolved rapidly during the war
     • 1918: more than 8000 aircarft by the end

3. RECONNAISSANCE

   • Meaning: military observation of a region to locate an enemy or for strategic reasons
   • Airmen began to experiment and improvised weapons to bring down rival reconnaissance flights
     • This innovation led to the emergence of aerial dog fights

4. DOG FIGHT

   • common sight over the trenches
   • helped strike ground troops
   • at first pilots attacked each other using pistols and rifles
     • By 1915, machine guns were fitted so that they could shoot through the propeller

5. GROUND ATTACK

   • attacking civilians played a big part in undermining the enemies morale
   • 1918: Ground attack aircraft played huge in allied victory by dropping 1563 bombs