Effect of Airplanes on Soldiers

[stephen]

In his autobiography after the war, Billy Mitchell said that while ground troops often ignored a lone airplane at high altitude, they were convinced that every balloon in the area was zeroing in them personally. I can find the page number if you like... Mitchell's book sheds some interesting light on this as he recounts conversations with Boom Trenchard.

[Alan]

Originally posted by stephen@Feb 27 2004, 09:03 PM
[b] In his autobiography after the war, Billy Mitchell said that while ground troops often ignored a lone airplane at high altitude, they were convinced that every balloon in the area was zeroing in them personally. I can find the page number if you like... Mitchell's book sheds some interesting light on this as he recounts conversations with Boom Trenchard.

Bingo.

Hence why Balloon nests were so heavily defended and men like Frank Luke were looked on in (eventual) admiration for the difficulty involved in being a balloon buster.

Reconassaince was, of course, the aircraft's chief role in WW1, but they also had an increasingly large effect on the civilian population. The Great War was the first time civilians had really become targets, creating a total war (everyone is involved). Prior to WW1, only people and places of military significance were targeted. The bombings of London and Paris, obviously, had a large effect on the morale on the civilian population as therefore their will to fight and continue the war.

Their also was a reverse effect, however. Nothing could boost morale like watching a German Zeppelin shot out of the sky. Ballon Busters i.e. FLJ, could increase the morale of their own troops on the ground while simultaneously decreasing that of the enemy.

Good luck on the report...

Sparky

[Dolphin]

Hi, just joined the group and although the original question was a while ago, I thought I would add my thoughts.

I have recently finished reading the war diary of Herbert Sulzbach "With The German Guns", first published in 1935. Herbert Sulzbach signed up at the outbreak of war in 1914 and served with the German Artilliary throughout WW1 (and then joined the British Army during WW2 - but thats another story). Anyway, he makes several comments about aircraft and their effect on the ground troops throughout the book.

On 21 July 1918 he wrote that French and British planes were flying in waves of between 30 and 50 at a time, "in close formation, but strung out in a line, and its dreadful to know how beautifully they can see everything from up above; the bombers come over as well, chucking down their revolting cargo in the broad light of day; and in two ticks, of course, the French batteries have got our battery positions from the observation planes, and are plastering us with fire.".

There are many other references to the air war, including attacks on German observation balloons by allied aircraft and mention of dropping propaganda leaflets by the Italians. It is well worth a read.

Cheers,

Ross

[JonathanS]

Hey Dolphin,

welcome to the Drome&#39; Would it be too much trouble for you to post the page references to that quote? It would be helpful to an outline im working on - but as i dont have acces to the text <_< you get the idea

cheers,
Jonathan

[ww1 ace]

I agree with CINNCINATI,but the RFC didn&#39;t do the ground attack,the americans did with 20 or 30 lb bombs.

If the RFC didn&#39;t do ground attack, why did they order the Salamander?

[Dolphin]

Jonathan,

The quote was from page 207 of the paperback edition which is available from the UK Amazon Website at about &#036;10 (the hardback edition on the Amazon.com website is about &#036;58&#33.

There are many other references to aircraft; the German troops were obviously kept up to date with the exploits of the German aces since Herbert Sulzbach often mentions the latest tallies for the more well known names. Indeed, Sulzbach applied to become a pilot himself and passed the medical examination, but was rejected due to a serious shortage of artilliary officers.

A couple of other examples from the book, on page 99 (Jan 1917), he mentions that French aircraft carried out night bombing of the troops. On page 154 (25 March 1918) he says that they were bombed by an enemy squadron which had also been stafing them with machine guns. He goes on to say that in an advance, they felt helpless against being bombed.

Cheers,

Ross

[ww1 ace]

Hey guess what,why does it say on this website,THE WAR ENDED BEFORE IT ENTERED SERVICE?About the Sopwith Salamander.

[Vin]

The longer the war went on, the greater the impact of aircraft upon those on the ground. In 1914, aircraft were used for reconnaissance only. By 1918, uses included observation, supply, bombing - both light and heavy, escort, communication.

I wonder how the school report went. It is a pity that those who come here and ask for help with school reports don&#39;t bother to report back.