Effect of Airplanes on Soldiers

HI I'm doing a report for school about what effect the use of airplanes had on people on the ground if anyone has information on this topic, please reply!!!

[JonathanS]

grudn78,

Although your question is a little broad, I would argue that it had a number of effects both +/- depending on who was giving and or getting that aerial attention.

some things to look at would be moral, intelligence, artillery observation (known also as 'spotting&#39, protection ie straffing/support etc...

that should get you started

cheers,
Jonathan

[Barrett]

Also, things like Gothas & Zeppelins made an impression upon folks on the ground!

[Rod_Filan]

Also Barrett... sometimes folks made Gotha and Zeppelin impressions on the ground.

[CincinnatiRedlegs]

I know from reading the Royal Flying Corps in World War One by Ralph Barker that in the German Spring offensive of 1918 that British airplanes had a tremendous effect on the Germans. The RFC during during the Allied retreat would hamper German attacks by strafing and bombing the advancing German troops. This not only devastated the German formations but also caused severe demoralization on the German side. It also caused some resentment by the German ground troops at the German Air Service, they said that the German fighters were hardly ever seen and did not do a whole lot to stem the British attacks. This is an example of what it did to the soldiers in the field.

The effect of aircraft on the civillian population, especially the British was tremendous. Tactically the Germans did little damage, but psychologically and strategically the effect was great. At the height of the German raids the outcry of the British population was so great that the RFC had to recall frontline units to home defense. So the aircraft had a great effect on the civillian population as well.

[Shooter]

Far be it for me to dispute the statement of one of Marge Schott's guys, but I am of the opinion that the most effect that the air operations had on the outcome of the Great War was "spiritual" (as in moral and psychological).

The actual effect in men and material was negligible. But at some times more than others the impact was greater than that. The effect of aerial reconnaissance in a few moments was critical, and the effect of local interdiction during retreats could be considerable. But for the most part, the technology and the doctrine for the use of aerial warfare was just not capable of making a heavy impact on the war.

IMHO.


Shooter sends

[JonathanS]

deleted

[JonathanS]

sorry about that i posted prematurely and it didnt make any sense

Ok, back to what i was originally going to say:

Shooter,

I would tend to agree with your analysis of the importance of the aeroplane on the overall effect of the war. Except, that at the moment I am researching a paper on the is very subject (I cant believe my TA is letting me do this ). More and more it seems - to me at least - that the aeroplane actually had a greater effect on the daily war effort than it is usually given credit for.

For instance take William Barker's exploits while as a BE2 pilot. He would regularly fly extremely low while spotting - to the point that his mount would be riddled with bullet holes. If he was unsatisfied (as he often was) with simple signal communication, he land and if nessecary go straight to the top to have the artillery directed to help the PBI.

Now i could be wrong, but this support - although localised - would if it were carried out along a wide area of the front be quite influencial in the everyday saving of mens lives.

Another example on the other end of the 'importance' spectrum would be the Canadian Corps' attack on Vimy Ridge. As I gather it - this attack succeeded for at least two main reasons. First Arthur Currie had the forsight to utilise the rolling barrage to its fullest potential. The other element that helped in this success was the extensive mapping done previous to the assault. These photos - proved essential to creating the mock battle field model used to train those involved on the mission.

Now I realise that these are only two examples, but to me i would argue that (and here's the rub) if these examples are not isolated incidents then the aeroplane did have a greater effect than its given credit for - not that it ended the war early or anything - just so much so that its worth more than a paragraph or two in the history books.

cheers,
Jonathan

[TonyWilliams]

There is no doubt that the principal effect was in reconnaissance; the ability to keep a close watch on what the enemy was doing. I have even read that this may have prolonged the war, since it was impossible for an army to secretly amass large forces near the front in preparation for a major attack. So the defenders had a good idea that an attack was coming, and where, even if they didn't know exactly when, and that made it much easier to defend against.

The direct tactical effect in bombing and strafing was variable. Against troops unused to this sort of unwelcome attention the morale effect was considerable and strafing could turn the tide of a battle. However, with experience troops eventually got used to that and realised that they could hit back with machine gun and rifle fire. When that happened, the effect was much less and strafing became very dangerous for the pilots, with high loss rates being suffered.

Tony Williams: Military gun and ammunition website and discussion
forum

[curtisswright]

Hi,
Have not read this entire discussion, but I have some things that might be of interest.

Anyone researching the effects of aviation related warfare should give consideration to "The Baby Killers," a work that treats the psycological effects of the German Zeppelin raids on London. I think the overall thesis of the work is that while the military effects of the raids were strategically negligible, the psycological effects were most effective. The raids also influenced the British to look seriously into beefing up air defenses, not only in London, but in surrounding areas as well.

Also, it seems that Germany made a serious attempt to use von Richtoffen as a propaganda tool later in his career. Frequently, the Baron would fly over German lines simply to wave to the troops entrenched in an attempt by the German military to boost moral. Von Richtoffen would also go on short "tours," when not medically cleared for combat flying, to speak with German ground forces.

This is a wonderful topic for a larger study!!!! Hope this helps