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Post by Tom Kwiatkowski Sr. on Jun 24, 2012 11:11:30 GMT -5
This series will be about WWI which is barely discussed these day. I hope you enjoy it.  Instructions to RFC crew, 1915
[1] The “go-as-you-please” methods have been abandoned definitely, both by the French and ourselves, in favour of attacks carried out by swarms of airplanes. It is now an accepted principle that attacks on all important objectives should be carried out by as many aeroplanes as possible. [2] All machines flying in line at the same height is a formation above all to be avoided, as being the most vulnerable against attack by Anti-Aircraft guns. [3] The French attack downwind...[...We have tried] a downwind attack only once – by the III Wing in the attack against Hervilly aerodrome on the 14th December. The majority of the bombs fell short. [4] The growing importance of bombing operations cannot be too fully impressed upon pilots. There are still pilots who belittle the importance and utility of these operations. Skill in bomb-dropping can only be achieved by constant practice. Notes on bombing attacks,
by Major Evelyn B. Gordon,
HQ, RFC, 21 December 1915Source: Dawn Patrol User Guide |
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Post by Tom Kwiatkowski Sr. on Jun 25, 2012 9:01:18 GMT -5
Fighting it out: the RFC and RNAS
When, in 1912, the Royal Flying Corps was established, it consisted of a Military Wing, a Naval Wing, and a Central Flying School. But rivalry between the army and navy spilled into the RFC. The Naval Wing eventually dubbed itself the Royal Naval Air Service and the Military Wing continued to be known as the Royal Flying Corps. Each Wing had a different view of its own role and loyalties. The Military Wing saw itself as the reconnaissance eyes of the ground troops; the Naval Wing emphasized the need for aerial home defense, and also looked ahead to anti-submarine patrols and strategic bombing missions. So, when war broke out, The RNAS and the RFC were already rivals: for the best aeroplanes, the best pilots, and the best flying records. As a result, it was sometimes unclear which flying service should defend Britain against air attacks, or which should bomb German Zeppelin and aircraft factories. A wounded plot, Pemberton Billing, won an independent seat in Parliament on the issue. Finally, it was recognized that the times demanded an air force that was independent of both army and the navy. Marriage between the two air arms was attempted a second time, when on 1 April 1918, the two branches were united into the Royal Air Force. Yet, By 1939 the navy had its own air force again – the Fleet Air Arm.
Source: Dawn Patrol User Guide
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Post by Jim Broshot on Jun 25, 2012 16:55:54 GMT -5
Yet, By 1924 the navy had its own air force again – the Fleet Air Arm.
Alas a not entirely correct and somewhat misleading statement.
The Royal Air Force "was founded on 1 April 1918, with headquarters located in the former Hotel Cecil, during the First World War, by the amalgamation of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS)."
"Naval aviation in the form of the RAF's Fleet Air Arm was returned to Admiralty control on 24 May 1939."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Air_Force.
"The Fleet Air Arm was formed in 1924 as organisational unit of the Royal Air Force which was then operating the aircraft embarked on RN ships – the Royal Naval Air Service having been merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps in 1918 – and did not come under the direct control of the Admiralty until mid-1939."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleet_Air_Arm
The Royal Navy had an arm between the wars but it was part of and controlled by the RAF.
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Post by Tom Kwiatkowski Sr. on Jun 25, 2012 17:27:42 GMT -5
Thanks for the correction Jim. Very informative. That is all, Major Tom |
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Post by Tom Kwiatkowski Sr. on Jun 26, 2012 9:43:24 GMT -5
“I know that I shall meet my fate Somewhere in the clouds above...”
W.B. Yeats, “An Airman Foresees his Death”
A pilot's life expectancy was short. Superior enemy machines and pilots were a great threat. Unreliable aircraft , inadequate training and ground-fire shortened the odds further. Moreover, official policy – such as the RFC banning fighter escorts for reconnaissance aircraft – could sometimes make the odds sacrificial. Among British pilots, life expectancy at the Front declined to eight days at one stage, and three weeks at another. In “Bloody April”, 1917, the RFC lost 316 airmen, while during the second half of 1917, between 153 and 214 RFC aircrew were either killed or missing in action, each month. During the two-week Battle of Cambrai in November 1917, losses among those RFC pilots detailed to strafe troops and transport were 30% per day. Ground strafing was also used during the German offensive of March 1918: “Bomb and shoot up everything.... All risks to be taken.” Of the 1,300 British aircraft flying in support of their troops during the German offensive of March 1918, only 200 were left just a few weeks later. Statistically, the survival rate was much higher in the trenches than among airmen. In the air the chance of being killed was almost as great as the chance of being wounded, whereas on the ground, despite overwhelmingly high losses, troops were actually much more likely to be wounded than killed outright.
Source: Dawn Patrol User Guide
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Post by yardbird78 on Jun 26, 2012 12:14:57 GMT -5
Inter-Service rivalry was, is and always will be part of the military. We just hope to impress on all concerned that we are still FIGHTING ON THE SAME SIDE.
Darwin
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Post by Jim Broshot on Jun 26, 2012 23:51:37 GMT -5
Source: Dawn Patrol User Guide
What is the "Dawn Patrol User Guide"?
Sounds like the manual to some sort of game.
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Post by Tom Kwiatkowski Sr. on Jun 27, 2012 15:23:42 GMT -5
Busted. Correct Jim. It's the User Guide from a WWI flight Simulator which was produced in 1994 by Rowan Software LTD. and published by Empire Interactive Entertainment. I throw nothing out which my late Better Half used to hate. That is all, Major Tom |
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Post by Tom Kwiatkowski Sr. on Jun 27, 2012 17:42:15 GMT -5
The Paint Pot
In the first few weeks of the war, friendly fire caused the British and the French to paint their national colors on their aircraft. Initially, the British used a rectangular Union Jack, but troops firing from below tended to confuse it with the German Iron Cross. So, at the end of 1914, Britain adopted the roundel, similar to that used by the French – but with the colors reversed. Other Allied air forces – Belgian, Italian and Russian – also used roundels in their national colors.
Pilots in peace-time
Two years before the war, France's enthusiasm for flying far outpaced that of the rest of the world. Out of 2,480 qualified pilots world-wide, 966 were from France. Great Britain and Germany trailed, with 382 and 345 respectively. Despite the exploits of the Wright brothers, air flight had failed to catch the imagination of the American public: the U.S. possessed only 193 qualified pilots. Italy followed close behind, with 186. Russia had 162 pilots, and Austria 84.
Source: Dawn Patrol User Guide[/u]
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Post by Jim Broshot on Jun 27, 2012 22:49:10 GMT -5
Busted. Correct Jim. It's the User Guide from a WWI flight Simulator which was produced in 1994 by Rowan Software LTD. and published by Empire Interactive Entertainment. I throw nothing out which my late Better Half used to hate.
That's hardly a recommendation for acquiring a copy. And with all due respect I daresay there are better and more accurate sources out there, perhaps even on the internet. Ever read Sagittarius Rising by Cecil Lewis? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecil_Arthur_Lewis
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Post by Tom Kwiatkowski Sr. on Jun 28, 2012 15:21:25 GMT -5
America arrives at the Front
“Lafayette, we are here.” - Col. Charles Stanton, address of behalf of the American Expeditionary Force, at the tomb of the Marquis de Lafayette, 4 July 1917America renounced its neutrality in April 1917, and began to mobilize. It was a signal for the air arm to begin preparing in earnest. An Aviation Section (Signal Corps) of the US army had been founded in 1914, numbering 60 officers and 200 men. But the 1916 Battle of Verdun where the Escadrille Lafayette saw its baptism of fire – had alerted Congress to the growing importance of aircraft in wartime. It allocated $13,000,000 to the infant air service and to the air industry, a figure which was dwarfed by a further vote of $640,000,000 after the declaration of war. When America declared for the Allies, it still only had one combat squadron, 1,228 officers and men, and 250 uncompetitive aeropanes. Its readiness compared unfavorably with that of France, Germany and Britain in 1914, three years and a whole era before. However, by the time of the Armistice a year and a half later, the US air arm had grown to 195,024 personnel, to Britain's 291,175 and France's 90,000. Beginning with the 1st Aero Squadron which reached France in September 1917, forty-five American squadrons arrived to do battle all told. It was well short of the 263 due by mid-1918, but enough to make a difference. In the last two months of the war alone, 353 confirmed victories were attributed to American flyers. Source: Dawn Patrol User Guide P.S. Jim, I'll get back to you.
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Post by Jim Broshot on Jun 28, 2012 23:37:00 GMT -5
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Post by Tom Kwiatkowski Sr. on Jun 29, 2012 13:19:12 GMT -5
Flying for France – The American Squadron
After the outbreak of war, some adventurous Americans eschewed (shunned) US neutrality, and went abroad to join the Allied forces. In all, about 200 Americans flew for France, fifty or so being members of the Escadrille Lafayette. The Lafayette squadron grew from a group of American volunteers who'd enlisted in the French Foreign Legion, and were keen to fly. After intensive lobbying by the Legionnaires and by Americans in Paris, Escadrille N. 124 - soon after retitled Escadrille americaine – was founded. After a formal protest from Germany, on the grounds that the name gave the lie to America's neutrality, the squadron was re-named the Escadrille Lafayette. The name of the Marquis de Lafayette, a hero of both the Americans and the French revolutions, only intensified the aura of romantic, idealistic valor which surrounded the squadron. Source: Dawn Patrol User Guide
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Post by Jim Broshot on Jun 29, 2012 21:29:44 GMT -5
Flying for France – The American Squadron
Again, an original source (written by two members of the squadron who achieved some fame later as authors, including a trilogy about HMS Bounty) The Lafayette flying corps, ed. by James Norman Hall & Charles Bernard Nordhoff, associate editor: Edgar G. Hamilton (Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1920.) Available for downloading, for free archive.org/details/TheLafayetteFlyingCorpsvolume1
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Post by Tom Kwiatkowski Sr. on Jun 30, 2012 15:59:57 GMT -5
From “le chevalier seul” to “these band of brothers”
By early 1917, the solitary pilot of the early years was giving way to the formation. The lonely hunter of the skies became prey to the close-knit unit, thinking and acting in concert. In September 1917, when Jagstaffel 10's Werner Voss (“The Flying Hussar”) was caught hunting over the British lines by seven SE5s from No. 56 Squadron, led by James McCudden, their epic battle signaled the demise of “le chevalier seul” The new breed of aces – such as James McCudden and Edward “Mick” Mannock – won renown as much for their leadership as their fighting prowess. Even the remote, solitary Manfred von Richthofen was a gifted team leader. Ironically, his nemesis came in April 1918, when he dived away from his 15-strong formation, in lone pursuit of a Camel heading for the British lines.
Aces of Britain and the Empire
Britain, pursuing the most active air policy, and with an empire to draw on, produced 784 aces. Irishman Edward “Mick” Mannock (73) led narrowly from Canada's William Bishop (72), who was followed by his compatriot Raymond Collishaw (60). England's James McCudden (57) was close behind. The South African A. Beauchamp-Proctor (54), was the fifth-highest scoring ace.
Source: Dawn Patrol User Guide
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