Airships were, initially, the best forms of aircraft for fighting, more particular bombing. They were effectively huge bags of low-density hydrogen gas. Within them were the cockpit and a metal framework, which carried the bombs that could be released from a bullet-proof cage. They were used in the war at sea by both sides for escorting and spotting ships, gaining advantages over their adversaries. German airships, known as Zeppelins, were more sophisticated and widely used than British equivalents, however. This was due to them flying higher and faster, generally being more efficient in the role they played. Thus, this made airships a key weapon in the early war at sea.
Later on, the Germans realised the potential of Zeppelins as ruthless bombers, in contrast with British airships. In 1915, the first raids on British towns began at night. They did not cause real damage, as the Zeppelin could not carry enough bombs to produce decisive damaging effects, but psychological damage was achieved. Nonetheless, these raids were exaggerated somewhat and measures were put in to display the exposures of Zeppelins. Searchlights, fighter planes with incendiary bullets, night fighter planes and barrage balloons could all halt Zeppelins. Their slow nature, weak armour and flammable hydrogen gas could all be targeted. Bad weather and poor navigation also played a part. This all resulted in the Germans having to phase out Zeppelins by early 1917.
The work planes did on the Western Front contributed to the war effort in small but effective ways, spotting artillery batteries, machine gun posts and other things. Examples of reconnaissance such as at Mons in the war of movement at the start, or spotting a gap in German lines on the Marne helped the Allies. When the Germans were in full retreat, such efforts from planes helped also. However, this was far from being decisive in making any breakthrough on the Western Front. The Germans used reconnaissance too. Two developments helped this – good cameras fitted to planes and radio that provided air to ground communication. Neither side had the advantage in this case, so it soon became clear for both sides to try and deprive their enemy the vital information it was gaining due to reconnaissance. It started off with simply throwing bricks, grenades or rope in a hope that enemy planes’ propellers or pilots would suffer. This later went on to handheld guns being used. When planes had guns successfully mounted to them in 1915, the era of air combat had begun. Dogfights were common above the Western Front.
Again, neither side could gain an advantage over the other. Major limitations were put upon the mounting of machine guns, due to the awkward position of the propeller. Placing the gun in the most natural place, between the pilot and propeller, could not be done, as bullets would go straight into the propeller blades. Solutions such as the Frenchman Roland Garros’ metal deflectors, mounting the gun above the propeller and mounting it at the back of the plane were quite good remedies, but were all scrapped. In May 1915, after Garros was shot down, the German Anthony Fokker designed the interrupter method – mechanically linking the gun to the propeller so that the gun fired synchronised shots between the propeller blades. The Germans, for a time, had air superiority known as the ‘Fokker Scourge’. This was not for long though. Tactics were used to counteract it, such as formation flying and mass produce of aircraft. The key event that allowed the Allies to create planes similar to the Germans happened when one pilot became enshrouded in dense fog above France. On landing in France, the pilot and plane were captured, giving the Allies access to the technology of the Fokker planes. Rickety early planes had now given way to sleek new fighters.
April 1917 saw the British air forces suffering severe losses, meaning it was close to defeat in the air. However, a new generation of British fighters got them back to their feet and, again, when one side gained an advantage the other gained it back.
By the later stages of the war (mainly late 1917 to 1918) aeroplanes could drop bombs, seeing the rise of air to ground attacks as a prominent weapon. The Germans developed the Gotha heavy bomber and the British, similarly, the huge Handley Page bomber. Dropping bombs by hand quickly gave way to newly designed bomb racks. Inaccuracy due to poor sight, limited bomb quantity, limited bomb power and inexperienced pilots restricted bombers considerably. In 1918, British bombers carried out extensive attacks on the Ludendorff offensive to not much effect, as it was inevitably going to run out of steam anyway. The founding of an Independent Air Force (RAF as opposed to RFC initially) by the British near Armistice Day, to carry out strategic bombing, was more the sign of the future than a contribution to winning the war. All these innovations were too late to cause any effect to the outcome of the war and were forerunners of bombers that could cause mass damage years later. Altogether, both British and German forces killed less than two thousand men by bombing – not impressive figures considering the casualties over the whole period of the war.
Anti-aircraft weaponry on the ground was used when the danger of aerial warfare became apparent. Flak cannons were used – effectively anti-aircraft artillery fired into the air, exploding in clouds of smoke and shrapnel – hindering enemy aircraft and causing damage also. This was another reason raids could not be carried out and aircraft could not be used to their full potential at the time.
Throughout the war, air production increased on all sides incredibly dramatically, showing the importance that aviation could have had to the war and did have in the Second World War. Although there were definitely many technological advances in just four years - taking aircraft from string bags to complex machines - it played more of a subordinate role to the rest of the war. There were no major air battles in the war - just simple dogfights, various small bombing campaigns and reconnaissance. If anything, it played a small role at sea and on land by reconnaissance, where aircraft could spot enemy ships and aspects of trenches, respectively. World War I pointed the way to better, more decisive developments in the air in the 1920s, 1930s and into the Second World War. Tactics such as strategic bombing, close air support in blitzkrieg and proper fighter planes were more significant in the Second World War rather than the first, simply because each side countered the others’ developments and aviation was still in its infancy, albeit the steps made during the war. In conclusion, air warfare was not particularly important in winning the First World War.
