|
The best-known German strategic bombing campaign during World War I was the campaign against England, although strategic bombing raids were carried out or attempted on other fronts. The main campaign against England started in January 1915 using airships. From then until the end of World War I the German Navy and Army Air Services mounted over 50 bombing raids on the United Kingdom. These were generally referred to as "Zeppelin raids": although both Zeppelin and Schütte-Lanz airships were used, the Zeppelin company was much better known and was responsible for producing the majority of the airships used. Weather conditions and night flying conditions made airship navigation and therefore bombing accuracy difficult. Bombs were often dropped miles off target (one raid on London actually bombed Hull) and accurate targeting of military installations was impossible. The civilian casualties made the Zeppelins an object of hatred, and they were widely dubbed “baby-killers”. With the development of effective defensive measures the airship raids became increasingly hazardous, and in 1917 the airships were largely replaced by aeroplanes. Although the direct military effect of the raids was small, they caused widespread alarm, leading to the diversion of substantial resources from the Western Front and some disruption to industrial production. Concern about the conduct of defence against the raids, the responsibility for which was divided between the Admiralty and the Army, led to a parliamentary inquiry under Jan Smuts, whose report was to lead to the creation of the Royal Air Force (RAF) on 1 April 1918. The defence organisation developed by the British was an important precursor of the fighter direction system that would prove vital in winning the Battle of Britain.〔Fredette 1974, p. 212〕 The raids were also influential because they led to an overestimation of both the material and psychological effects of the bombing of cities.〔Fredette 1974, p. 245〕 Airships made about 51 bombing raids on England during the war. These killed 557 and injured another 1,358 people. More than 5,000 bombs were dropped on towns across Britain, causing £1.5 million in damage. 84 airships took part, of which 30 were lost, either shot down or lost in accidents.〔Liddell Hart 1934, p. 76.〕 Aeroplanes carried out 27 raids, dropping of bombs for the loss of 62 aircraft, resulting in 835 deaths, 1,972 injured and £1,418,272 of material damage〔Fredette 1974, p. 266〕 ==Early raids== On 6 August 1914 the German Army Zeppelin Z VI bombed the Belgian city of Liège, killing nine civilians. This was followed by night raids on Antwerp on 25 August and 2 September. In the first month of the war Germany formed the "Ostend Carrier Pigeon Detachment", a cover name for an aeroplane unit to be used for the bombing of the English Channel ports. During the opening months of the war a German pilot flying a Taube regularly dropped bombs on Paris. The first raid consisted of five small bombs and a note demanding the immediate surrender of Paris and the French nation. Before the stabilisation of the Western Front, German aircraft made a number of raids on Paris, slightly damaging Notre Dame Cathedral. The first German bombing raids on England were nuisance raids carried out against Channel ports. German press reports mention a raid carried out on 27 October, but there is no British record of any incident on this date. The first confirmed raid occurred on 21 December, when a Friedrichshafen FF.29 dropped two bombs into the sea near the Admiralty Pier in Dover. These raids, usually carried out by one or two aircraft during daytime, continued throughout the war, with little effect. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「German strategic bombing during World War I」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|