British Air Warfare: The First World War

British Air Warfare
The use of the airplanes changed greatly during WWI. People started to realize that they could be used not only for entertainment and sports but also in wars as powerful weapons. Air warfare was all about planning and looking at the few key factors of the flight and looking at the opponent’s weakness. Strategories and tactics, civilian population, Development of Aircraft and lastly weather were key factors in the development and expansion of Air Warfare. The British Air Force was a very skilled and tactical Military Air Service. With the advancing technology it had already suggested the changing contours of modern warfare, it persuades many, politicians and generals among them that the next war would be in air. The
For example if you look at the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in WW2, it changed the lives of everyone that was effected by the bomb, people that are still living are struggling because of the after effect of the bomb, radiation poisoning, abnormalities and etc. Bangor Daily News says that, “unleashed total war against civilian populations.”[2] The people of Japan are still being born with defects caused by the bomb of WW2. The Agriculture is a problem there because the air is still infected with the poison chemicals. The society is suffering from finical crises, due to lack of clean food and water. Aircrafts usually aim at the civilian’s population to force refugees onto the road and create chaos forcing the country to surrender. Civilians were bombed during World War one; a German Gopher plane targeted an infant school in Britain which killed thousands of innocent kids, that were at no fault. Air and naval raids threatened those who otherwise would have been at safe distance from the conflict. In every year of the First World War, British civilians were killed in their own homes by German shells or bombs. Naval blockade resulted in long-term indirect assaults on civilian populations. Employed by both Allies and Central Powers, it starved the enemy of war materials and food imports. In Germany and Austria-Hungary in particular, the blockade’s effect was
Fighter aircraft were used for offensive sweeps against enemy fighters and forward airfields. Bombers were sent on night operations against supplies and air bases in the enemy rear, operations designed to be of direct assistance to the ground forces. In addition bombers were required to carry out long-range attacks against indirect targets which would contribute to an overall weakening of enemy’s ability to wage war. Of these targets the most important were communication, trade and military supplies”. [7] The Ground and Air Service and both relied on each other for support, as Overy says, “The British doctrine of air power also relied heavily on a number of important tactical innovations. Immediate ground support was dropped in favour of a more flexible combat policy and the various air forces were directed from a central air headquarters which, while working closely with the army on the ground, was not subordinate to its demands”. [8] In the war Fighter planes were not only used to fight alone in the air with other planes but they were there to help the ground forces. Ovary has said that “The strategy of