First World War, 1914-1918 – Arial Warfare

Question 1

Pre-war attitudes in Britain

Answer 1

• In 1914, the British military saw aircraft as scouts for recon, with little thought about usage in offensive operations or as a fighting force on the scale of the army/navy

Question 2

State of planes in 1914

Answer 2

• Slow – max speed about 70mph
• Flimsy– made of lightweight wood and fabric
• Had unreliable engines
• Often crashed and unable to fly in bad weather.
• Second fiddle to the army and navy, as they soaked up funds, especially since the launch of the battleship HMS Dreadnought in 1906
• As a result of a lack of government funds, manufacturing was left up to individual plane makers like Avro and Sopwith
• Only in 1912 the Army Balloon Factory became the Royal Aircraft Factory

Question 3

When was Avro founded?

Answer 3

1910

Question 4

When was Sopwith founded?

Answer 4

1912

Question 5

Growth of air power

Answer 5

• In 1914, the Britain had just over 100 military airplanes, but by 1918, the new RAF (Royal Air Force, est. 1918 by merging the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service), had more than 22,000. Had various roles like:
• Recon
• Air photography
• Artillery spotting
• Communication and supply
• Ground attack
• Tactical and strategic bombing

Question 6

Early stages of the war

Answer 6

• Rudimentary aircrafts - FE-2a, max speed 55mph
• Main use - reconnaissance
  
  • Very useful during the Battle of the Marne
• Very useful to identify trench systems