WWI Battles

[TalkTorqueTorc]

I wonder if anyone out there in PPRuNe land can help me.

I'm trying to find a battle during the first world war that was significant for the use of air power in any way.

I'm thinking maybe the first use of combined arms or the first use of dedicated ground attack aircraft or maybe the introduction of new tactics on a mass scale.

Any ideas you can think of would be very usefull.

Cheers.:)

[South Bound]

Do ISTAR carrier pigeons count?

[EyesFront]

Germany's use of Zeppelins and 'heavy' bombers to attack civilian targets in Britain certainly set a precedent... They also forced the RFC/RNAS/RAF to divert some of their top air defence squadrons from the Western Front to defend London

Use of aircraft for reconnaissance and artillery spotting was certainly significant throughout the war. It can be argued that this was a factor in keeping the armies entrenched, as it was hard to keep the element of surprise in any breakthrough attempts. If the Germans had had effective air recon. assets, would the tanks have been so effective at Cambrai?

Sustained strafing of trenches was another 'first' but it's hard to say how effective it was. Possibly more of a morale-buster than a troop-killer

[Bo Nalls]

Might I suggest the attack on the Turks at Wadi Fara in Palestine.

Following the success of Allenby’s attack at Megido on the 19th of September, the Turkish divisions were forced to retreat through the narrow defile of Wadi Farra. On the 21st of September the Australians trapped them there, when they bombed the head and the tail of the Turkish column. Together with RAF SE5as and DH9s the Australians mercilessly bombed and strafed the terrified Turks.
In the words of T. E. Lawrence, "When the smoke had cleared it was seen that the organization of the enemy had melted away. They were a dispersed horde of trembling individuals, hiding for their lives in every fold of the vast hills. Nor did their commanders ever rally them again. When our cavalry entered the silent valley the next day they could count ninety guns, fifty lorries, and nearly a thousand carts abandoned with all their belongings. The RAF lost four killed. The Turks lost a corps."


http://www.firstworldwar.com/airwar/groundattack.htm

[Ivan Rogov]

What about the German long range bombing campain (Zeplin raids, etc.) over the UK which eventually led to the creation of a dedicated Air Force :ok:
Edit - Beaten by Eyes Front :{. Just had a little search and there is more to it than might first appear. Inadequate home defence and equipment, raids on the Zepplin sheds by RNAS, poor response to attacks on London, public outcry due to civilian casualties , etc. Oh no I'm geeking :8

[Archimedes]

Battle of Amiens, 8 August 1918 for combined air/land ops

Arras in April 1917 saw the first instance of ground attack aircraft incorporated into the flying programme (the ATO today, I suppose)

Cambrai - both German and British use of ground attack aircraft is worth a look

Neuve Chappelle 1915 - 2 & 3 Squadrons photographed the German lines and this was probably the first instance of air recce being used in the planning and preparation of a battle (the photos were used for trench maps and issued on a large scale to the BEF).

Might I ask if there's any particular reason you're looking for such a battle? Essay? Presentation?

[AC3854]

When the BEF deployed to France in 1914 it included RFC elements which were used for reconnaissance. No references to hand, being at work ...

AC3854

[henry crun]

Prior to the last big battles which pushed the Germans back and eventually led to the armistice, the allied air forces prevented German reconnaissance aircraft from seeing the build up of ground forces taking place.

[40years]

Try the battle of Le Hamel, 4th July 1918, when the battle plan drawn up by the Australian General, Sir John Monash, orchetrated Australian, American and British Infantry, guns, tanks and aircraft to win a significant victory. In what was described by Gen Fuller, the Tank guru, as the 'perfect battle', aircraft were used for ground attack, but also, by low flying and bombing, creating noise to drown out the noise created by the tanks' tracks and engines during their move up. They were also used to drop ammunition to the advancing troops

[Hempy]

40years has hit the nail on the head, Hamel (July 4 1918) was the first time that aircraft were used in direct support of infantry. The Battle of Amiens as mentioned by Archimedes used Monash's plans at Hamel as a blueprint.

[Wiley]

They were also used to drop ammunition to the advancing troopsA far bigger (and imaginative) step than some might imagine, given the almost impossible conditions of resupply on the Western Front due mud and arty indiction of reinforcements.

Troops who had made significant (by Western Front standards) but isolated advances in earlier battles were usually forced to retreat or were overrun/outflanked when the ammunition they carried with them was expended.

I understand that the idea of air dropping ammunition - and, almost as important, drinking water - to troops who had made breakthroughs was developed and first instituted by Lawrence Wackett, then a pilot with the Australian Flying Corps, in late 1917/early 1918.

Monash used Wackett's ideas to some effect in the Allied advances of 1918.

Given the number of people with rifles and automatic weapons in the immediate vicinity, it must have been very 'interesting' flying for the pilots involved, to say the least.

I think it might be said that this was the first formally planned and executed aerial delivery system to front line troops, and if Wackett's descriptions of the missions are anything to go by, 'front line' was no exaggeration - the pilots did what amounted to LAPES drops - from VERY low level, in very slow aircraft - right to the troops in the very front line, with the other side doing their very best to stop them.

Anyone interested in reading more should look for "Aircraft Pioneer, An Autobiography" (ISBN: 0207123780)
Wackett Lawrence James.

[Wensleydale]

A quote about Amiens from Sir Basil Liddell-Hart in his book "The Tanks".

Air support in this battle was to be on a larger scale than in any battle of the war. Six Army Cooperation squadrons were used for direct support, eight fighter squadrons for low flying attack on ground targets, and six to "hold the ring" by high flying patrols, and thirteen bomber squadrons to strike at the enemy's rear communications - a total of some 600 aircraft against the 130 supporting the German Second Army in that sector. The bombing attacks against bridges and rail centres were of little effect, but the nullification of enemy air reconnaissance before the battle was of great aid to the surprise achieved, and the low flying attacks helped to upset the enemy's resistance.

........ No 73 (Sqn) was provided for counter gun action, and on numerous occasions ........ helped to diminish tank losses by swooping on enemy field-guns as the tanks approached.

[Hempy]

John Laffin "Hamel" ISBN 0 86417 970 7

Monash wanted reports of progress to reach the operational commander, Sinclair-MacLagan, within minutes. Air observers were issued with map blanks and report pads; they marked on them the changing positions of Australian and enemy troops and dropped them in weighted and plumed canisters to motorcycle dispatch riders waiting at designated places. The Don Rs would then rush the information to HQ. At this time, this was the nearest thing possible to what later became 'real-time' intelligence.

The troops were issued with small flares that would fit into a packet not much larger than a cigarette box. When they occupied an enemy position, many men struck these flares simultaneously as a British observer aircraft flew over. Back at HQ Sinclair-MacLagan and Monash quickly knew what position their troops had reached.

Through Rawlinson, Monash obtained from Haig a squadron of Handley Page heavy bombers to target villages and woods were German reserves were known to be.

No. 9 Squadron RAF was standing by to drop ammunition to the fighting troops. Like everybody else involved in the Hamel operation, the fliers had practiced for their task. Flying in line astern - that is, one after another - they dropped two brown parachutes, each of them carrying a box of 1200 rounds of small arms ammunition. Some drop sites were already arranged; the infantry would mark others with a white V sign. The squadron expected that each aircraft would make four trips during the day.

Other RAF squadrons were detailed to seek out and strafe German batteries and parties of enemy infantry that might be hiding beyond the hill eastwards, ready to reinforce the front. Aeroplanes of No. 3 Australian squadron had a double duty - observing as well as protecting when necessary the planes making the supply drops.

Not before in the war had aircraft been used in so many diverse ways.

[Archimedes]

Unfortunately, as with so much of Laffin's work, the fundamental premise there

Not before in the war had aircraft been used in so many diverse ways.

is misleading...

Monash wanted reports of progress to reach the operational commander, Sinclair-MacLagan, within minutes. Air observers were issued with map blanks and report pads; they marked on them the changing positions of Australian and enemy troops and dropped them in weighted and plumed canisters to motorcycle dispatch riders waiting at designated places. The Don Rs would then rush the information to HQ. At this time, this was the nearest thing possible to what later became 'real-time' intelligence.

The troops were issued with small flares that would fit into a packet not much larger than a cigarette box. When they occupied an enemy position, many men struck these flares simultaneously as a British observer aircraft flew over. Back at HQ Sinclair-MacLagan and Monash quickly knew what position their troops had reached.


This is contact patrol - a task the RFC had been performing since early 1915. The way Laffin recounts how the troops reacted is rather different to what happened in reality, since the men tended not to light flares which provided a very handy indication of their location to enemy snipers, machine gunners and FOOs (although the RAF did a great job of suppressing the artillery so German FOOs were of little utility).

Flying in line astern - that is, one after another - they dropped two brown parachutes, each of them carrying a box of 1200 rounds of small arms ammunition. Some drop sites were already arranged; the infantry would mark others with a white V sign. The squadron expected that each aircraft would make four trips during the day.




The Germans had done this in 1917, dropping food (literally a case of taking a wicker basket containing food, attaching a parachute and sending it over the side...)


Other RAF squadrons were detailed to seek out and strafe German batteries and parties of enemy infantry that might be hiding beyond the hill eastwards, ready to reinforce the front. Aeroplanes of No. 3 Australian squadron had a double duty - observing as well as protecting when necessary the planes making the supply drops.


RFC units had been doing this sort of thing for some time. The first formalised ground attack ops (dedicated air support and interdiction by fighter-bombers) took place at Arras in 1917, and occurred during Third Ypres, Cambrai and even during the German spring offensives of 1918.

Laffin's claim about diversity only holds any water because of the fact that the dropping of ammo to troops was a new feature during the Op at Hamel. Even more remarkably, he omits to mention the cooperation between 8 Sqn and the tanks involved...

[Hempy]

Thats good. When Laffin wrote "Not before in the war had aircraft been used in so many diverse ways", perhaps he should have added "in one battle". He doesn't claim that Monash "invented" these tactics, he's merely pointing out that it was the first time that they had been combined in one operation. The OP asked;

I'm trying to find a battle during the first world war that was significant for the use of air power in any way.

I'm thinking maybe the first use of combined arms or the first use of dedicated ground attack aircraft or maybe the introduction of new tactics on a mass scale.

[Archimedes]

Hempy, agreed, but IMHO, Laffin over-eggs the pudding with his suggestion that dropping MG ammo marked the most diverse use of air power yet seen, given that Hamel was a limited op in comparison with, say, Amiens.

That was why I asked the purpose of the query, since if trying to do an essay of any length, the source mateiral is a bit thin on Hamel compared to Amiens or Cambrai.