The German Army and Navy had been working on airships in various forms but the most famous were to be the Zeppelins built for the German Navy and deployed on terror bombing. The author has presented a review of the use of Zeppelins on terror bombing raids over Britain and the technical and tactical war of air defence and aerial bombing – Much Recommended
NAME: Defeat of the Zeppelins, Zeppelin Raids and Anti-Airship Operations 1916-18 FILE: R2746 AUTHOR: Mick Powis PUBLISHER: Pen & Sword BINDING: hard back PAGES: 284 PRICE: £25.00 GENRE: Non Fiction SUBJECT: WWI, World War I, World War 1, World War One, the Great War, air war, bombing, tactical bombing, strategic bombing, terror bombing, airships, lighter-than- air vehicles, navigation, air defence, fighters, technology, tactics, civilian morale, radio, aircraft carriers
ISBN: 1-52670-249-5
IMAGE: B2746.jpg BUYNOW: http://tinyurl.com/y8a95e3a LINKS: DESCRIPTION: The German Army and Navy had been working on airships in various forms but the most famous were to be the Zeppelins built for the German Navy and deployed on terror bombing. The author has presented a review of the use of Zeppelins on terror bombing raids over Britain and the technical and tactical war of air defence and aerial bombing - Much Recommended The Zeppelin terror raids were intended to break the will of British civilians and cause damage. The Royal Navy had spent much of its pre-war intelligence budget on tracking Zeppelin development, so that no one could claim that this new form of warfare against civilians was unexpected. The initial problem was simple technology. Airships had received much attention because they offered an ability to carry a worthwhile payload at a time when heavier-than-air vehicles were very frail and limited to little more than carrying a pilot at some risk, with a low service ceiling, and limited endurance. Airships had already demonstrated a potential for long distance transport of passengers and cargo, including bombs. Mounting a defence against them was challenging although an RNAS pilot downed a Zeppelin over Belgium very early in the war. What was needed was a fleet of aircraft that could climb quickly to the height that Zeppelins operated at and be able to carry weapons that could bring down the large airships. The progress in developing aircraft and weapons proceeded at a good rate and pilots began developing tactics that worked against airships. Those tactics and technology could also be employed with success against the heavier-than-air bombers that would follow the Zeppelins into German service. To that improving capability, command and control was developed to get fighters up quickly to attack incoming bombers and all the emergency services were strengthened to deal with the consequences of those bombers that reached their targets. The author has researched well and produce a very effective account of how the Zeppelins were countered. The clear text is supported by an excellent selection of images in a photo-plate section.