The War in the Air

Seite 1

The War in the Air

At the beginning of the war aircraft was slow, frail and unreliable, however the generals realized their value for reconnaissance very quickly. The attempt by both sides to use aircraft for reconnaissance led to air fighting or 'dog fights'. Originally pilots took pistols and rifles however soon machine guns were fitted and developed when the Germans introduced in May 1915 the Fokker monoplane which was equipped with a interrupter gear enabling it to fire through the propeller.

The Allies replied with new machines and in 1916 the Fokker was matched by more maneuverable planes such as the Bristol scout which was also equipped with the interrupter gear. The Allies also introduced new methods and usually fighters were concentrated on one particular area, leaving reconnaissance planes free to work undisturbed. This was used both by the French at Verdun and the British in the Somme. The German then regained the advantage by making newer machines such as the Albatross and copying the Allies' methods.

This was the nature of the war in the air that meant there was never one side with the advantage, at least not for a long time. However by 1918 the Allies had air supremacy mainly because the German economy was failing under the strain of war and the Allies had greater industrial capacity, especially because the USA joined the war.

Airships and Bombing

At the beginning of the war the Germans used airships, known as Zeppelins, for the war at sea however soon the Germans realized the potential of Zeppelins as bombers. The Zeppelins could not carry enough bombs to do any real damage however they did achieve psychological damage of the British civilians. By 1917 the Germans stopped using Zeppelins and started using Gotha heavy bombers because of the effective defences of the British such as barrage balloons, incendiary bullets and night fighter planes. The British also developed a huge bomber known as the Handley Page but it never had the chance to bomb Berlin.