by Barry Parker
THE FIRST WARPLANES
The first powered aircraft had been flown by the Wright brothers only a decade before World War I began, but the airplane was soon to play a major role. At first planes were only used for observation and reconnaissance, and indeed they were able to provide an important new view of the battlefield. At the Battle of Mons in southern Belgium on August 23, 1914, British forces rushed to the rescue of the French as the Germans attacked them. Just before the clash, the British sent out an observation plane to see what was going on and discovered, to their surprise, that the Germans were trying to surround them. The British high command immediately ordered a retreat, which saved them from a disaster. A little later a French observation plane noticed that the Germans had exposed their flanks, and the French attacked, stopping an attempted drive to Paris. The value of the observation plane was soon evident.5
It wasn't long, however, before observation planes on opposite sides began to come in contact. At first they merely fired at one another with pistols and rifles, although at times they also tried to throw rocks at one another's propellers. One of the first pilots to escalate air warfare was Roland Garros of France. Although most of the early airplanes used in the war were “pushers,” like the Wright brothers’ craft, with the propeller behind the pilot, it was soon discovered that the “tractor” design, with the propeller in the front, was much more effective. The problem with this, however, was that if machines gun were to be mounted so pilots could easily aim and fire them, they would have to fire through the whirling blades of the propeller, and this would quickly destroy the propeller blades. Garros decided to protect the blades by adding steel deflectors to them.
In early April 1915 he tried out his new invention for the first time. The recipients of his attacks were no doubt surprised when they saw Garros's airplane flying straight at them, shooting a stream of bullets. Garros shot down four German airplanes using his new device, but on April 18 he was forced down behind German lines. His airplane was seized, and the German high command called in Anthony Fokker of the Fokker aircraft company and ordered him to copy the device. Fokker saw, however, that it was seriously flawed: many of the bullets hitting the blades were deflected, and some of them were being deflected backward. Fokker and his team therefore began working on a system in which the machine gun was synchronized with the propeller blade. A cam was placed on the crankshaft of the airplane; when the propeller was in a position where it might be hit by a bullet, the cam actuated a pushrod that stopped the gun from firing. The new device was placed on German airplanes, and for many months the Germans had a tremendous advantage in the air.6
In the meantime the British were also experimenting with the mounting of a machine gun on an airplane. Aviator Louis Strange attached a machine gun to the top of the upper wing of his plane so that the bullets would clear the propeller. However, on May 10, 1915, his gun jammed. He stood up on his seat in an attempt to pry it loose, but as he worked on it the plane suddenly stalled and flipped over, then it began to spin downward. Strange was flung out of the plane, but he managed to hang on to the gun on the upper wing. For several moments he swung his legs around wildly, trying to get back in the cockpit. Fortunately, he succeeded and was able to pull the plane out of its dive just before it would have crashed.
Nevertheless, with the new Fokker design, the Germans quickly achieved air superiority. Strangely, most of their new guns were mounted on the Eindecker G, a plane that was generally inferior to most British aircrafts. The casualties, however, were not as great as they were later in the war because the British pilots stayed clear of the Eindecker. The morale of the British, however, had been shaken, and they rushed to produce fighters that could match the Eindeckers.
The era of the dogfight had begun. A dogfight was an aerial battle between two or more aircraft. The Germans had an advantage when the dogfights first began. As a result, they began knocking down British planes at the rate of the about five to each of their losses. German aces such as Max Immelmann and Oswald Boelcke became heroes at home as a result of the large number of British planes they downed. Between them they shot down almost sixty enemy aircraft before they were stopped. Finally, though, in the fall of 1915, the British introduced two fighters, the FE 26 and the DH2, which were a good match for the German planes, and they also developed tracer ammunition that helped. With it a pilot could see his stream of fire and adjust it if needed.
Pilots with eight kills became known as aces.7 At first, most pilots went out alone, searching for enemy planes, but after 1917 squadrons were introduced on both sides. The British developed squadrons of six planes that usually flew in a V-shaped formation with a commander in the front. In combat, however, they would break up into pairs, with one of the two planes primarily on attack while the other was a defender. The German squadrons were usually larger, and their groups eventually became known as circuses.
One of the leading British aces was Mick Mannock. He was a leading developer of British air tactics, and between May 1917 and July 1918, he shot down seventy-three German planes. Almost all pilots were under the age of twenty-five, with many as young as eighteen. Many, in fact, were sent into battle with as little as thirty hours of air training. So, as expected, their life expectancy once they joined up was not long.
Dogfight tactics were well known, and everyone used them as much as possible. The major tactic was diving toward another plane from above when the sun was shining in the eyes of the opposing pilot. Both sides also used clouds for cover as much as possible; they would attack, then head for the clouds.
The best-known ace of the war was, no doubt, the German Manfred von Richthofen, who was also known as the Red Baron. He was credited with eighty combat victories during his career. As in the case of most aces, however, many of them were against greenhorn pilots with only a few hours of experience. He did, however, down one of the leading British aces, Major Lance Hayden. During 1917 he was the leader of the German squadron called the Flying Circus. The plane he piloted was painted red, both inside and out. His career came to an end on April 21, 1913, when he was shot down by ground fire near the Somme River.
On the Allied side, Billy Bishop was one of the most celebrated aces; a Canadian, he was credited with seventy-two victories, and he was instrumental in setting up the British air-training program. At one point he fought against the Red Baron, but neither man gained a victory. He was awarded the Victoria Cross in 1917. The best-known American ace was Eddie Rickenbacker. Before he became a pilot he was a racecar driver, so flying a fighter plane was a natural next step for him. When the United States entered the war in 1917 Rickenbacker enlisted immediately and was soon flying over Germany. On September 24, 1918, he was named commander of a squadron. In total, he shot down twenty-six German aircraft. Another major American figure was Billy Mitchell; by the end of World War I he commanded all American air combat units.
Although the fighter planes got the most attention during World War I, a much larger plane also played an important role. It was developed to carry and release bombs over enemy territory. Strategic bombing was used quite extensively during the war. Its object was to destroy factories, power stations, dockyards, large installations of guns, and troop-supply lines. The first bombing missions were by the Germans, who launched terror raids using large Zeppelins (huge balloons) to bomb small villages and civilians as a way to destroy the enemy's morale. There were a total of twenty-three of these raids over England, and at first there was little defense against them. But quite quickly it became evident that they were easy targets, as most were filled with flammable hydrogen and therefore easy to shoot down. So the airship raids finally stopped, but Germany soon developed bomber airplanes. The British also developed the Handley Page bomber in 1916, and in November of that year they bombed several German installations and submarine bases. By 1918 they were using four-engine bombers to attack industrial zones, with some of the bombs weighing as much as 1,650 pounds. They developed a squadron that was able to penetrate deep into Ge
rmany and hit important industrial targets. The Germans retaliated, bombing both British and French cities, but in the end the British dropped 660 tons of bombs on Germany—more than twice the amount the Germans dropped on England.
THE WAR AT SEA AND THE MENACE BENEATH THE SEA
When the war began the British immediately set up a blockade in an attempt to stop materials and supplies from getting to Germany. And it worked fairly well, particularly in the later stages of the war. The British navy was given the job of enforcing the blockade; it was, after all, the most powerful navy in the world, and for many years it had been the model for other countries. Furthermore, at the beginning of the war its battleships and cruisers easily outnumbered those of Germany: twenty-one large battleships and nine cruisers to Germany's thirteen battleships and seven cruisers. Germany had no interest in meeting the British navy head-on at sea, and so it generally kept a low profile. Nevertheless, both sides expected considerable conflict, but an incident that occurred at the time gave some indication of what would come.
The British navy trapped the German battle cruiser SMS Goeben and a light cruiser in the Mediterranean. British officers knew that it was likely going to try to break through near Gibraltar, and they waited for it with their guns ready. Although the Goeben had slightly larger guns and greater speed than the British ships, it was outnumbered, and it looked like it was easy prey. But to the surprise of the British, it held them at bay with its superior range, and it easily steamed around them unharmed. In fact, on its way out it picked off a couple of the British ships. The British were stunned, and it was soon obvious that they were no longer lords of the sea. They hadn't fought a battle in a hundred years and were obviously not well prepared for war.
So there were no great sea battles between German and British battleships, but for the next few years there were problems for the British navy. By 1914 the Germans had the best submarines in the world, and although the British didn't take them seriously at first, they were a formidable enemy. In fact, they became a real thorn in the side of the navy, and British leaders weren't quite sure what to do about them. Furthermore, it soon became obvious that they had almost no defense against them. On September 22, 1914, three large British armed cruisers were sunk in less than an hour by the German submarine U-9. Fourteen hundred men drowned, making it one of the worst disasters for the British navy in three hundred years.
Large numbers of German U-boats were now being seen in the North Sea, but they still weren't taken too seriously. For the most part, the submarines were warning their targets that they were going to be sunk, so the loss of life was relatively low. But in November 1914, the German chief of naval operations decided to do away with the warning, and in February 1915, all waters around Great Britain and Ireland were declared a war zone. This meant that all merchant vessels, including neutrals, would be sunk without warning, and over the next four months the Germans sank thirty-nine British ships. This became a serious problem for the British, and they soon began to look for better defensive measures. Then came the sinking of the luxury liner Lusitania, and they knew they had to do something fast.8
On May 1, 1915, the Lusitania began its 202nd crossing of the Atlantic. It set out from New York and headed for Liverpool, England, with 1,257 passengers and a crew of 702. They would never reach their destination, and most would perish. Waiting in the waters near Ireland was the German submarine U-20. On May 7, when the Lusitania approached the Irish coast, the captain of U-20 spotted it coming toward him, and as it approached it turned thirty degrees, making it an easy target. Within seconds a torpedo was on its way. Several people on the Lusitania saw bubbles in the water as the torpedo approached, and someone yelled, “torpedoes on the starboard side.” A large explosion followed, then a second muffled explosion came from the bottom of the ship. Almost immediately the ship tilted by twenty-five degrees, making it difficult to launch lifeboats. One thousand one hundred and ninety-eight people perished—almost as many as in the sinking of the Titanic.9
America was particularly enraged because 128 of those lost were Americans. President Woodrow Wilson sent a strong protest to Germany, threatening to break off relations if there wasn't an immediate stop to the German attacks on neutral ships, and the British were of course outraged. Other nations added their condemnation, and much to the surprise of England, the Germans called off all U-boat activity, and for almost a year and a half no British ships were sunk. This gave the British time to develop effective weapons against submarines. By June 1917, they had developed hydrophones that allowed them to pick up the sound of the propeller of a submarine from beneath the surface. Then they developed depth charges, which were oil drums filled with TNT set to explode at certain depths. In addition, they developed a device for throwing numerous depth charges outward from the deck of the ship.
The British were therefore ready when Germany resumed submarine warfare in January 1917. Less than three months later the United States entered the war, and by then another technique had also been developed to protect ships from submarines: the use of convoys with destroyer escorts. A submarine was lucky if it could sink a single ship of the convoy, and when it tried, it was in constant danger from depth charges. In addition, large numbers of mines were laid at depths up to six hundred feet in the North Sea and in the region between Scotland and Norway. U-boats soon became completely ineffective.
THE FINAL HORROR—POISONOUS GAS
The stalemate was a serious problem for both sides; each wanted to attack but knew that it would be suicide unless some sort of new weapon was developed. In their frustration the German high command turned to the physical chemist Fritz Haber. He had helped them earlier with a problem related to their ammunition, and German leaders hoped he could help again. Was there something that could be fired into the Allied trenches that would force the troops in them to flee? Haber immediately thought of poisonous gas. Several German generals had reservations, saying that the Allies would no doubt retaliate the same way, but Haber assured them that their chemical industry would have a hard time producing a similar gas. Despite these reservations, Haber was told to produce the gas. Haber decided on chlorine, and the Germans introduced it in April 1915, near Ypres. This region of the line was held by a combination of British, Canadian, French, and Algerian troops. Thousands of tanks containing chlorine were transported to the German lines. Fans were then used to blow the poisonous gas toward the enemy.10
On the evening of April 22, 1915, French and Algerian troops noticed a large yellow-green cloud drifting slowly toward them. Puzzled, they became suspicious that it was being used to conceal offensive troop movements, and they stood their ground waiting for an attack. Within minutes the cloud was all around them, and they were choking and gasping for breath. The inhaled gas was destroying their respiratory organs. When they realized what was happening they began to panic, and many of them fled in disorder. Within a short time a four-mile gap was opened along the line. Strangely, though, the Germans were as surprised by the effectiveness of the gas as the French were. And although German troops did advance, they did so nervously and hesitatingly. They managed to seize some land, but the British and Canadians on the right fought valiantly, and in the end little was gained. But a new phase in the war had begun.11
The British press immediately condemned the attack and played up the incident, and other countries, including the United States, soon joined in. Despite the condemnation, though, the British immediately went to work on research into poison gases that they could use to retaliate. There was, however, a problem with the delivery of the gas. If the wind changed direction while it was being delivered, it could blow back upon the troops delivering it. And indeed this happened to both the British and German troops. A better delivery system was needed. Again, the German high command went back to Haber. Was there a poisonous gas that could be easily packed into artillery shells and exploded in the trenches? Haber and his team went to work immediately and soon came up with phosgene. It was similar to chlorine gas, but un
like chlorine it caused no coughing or choking while it destroyed the lungs. As a result, soldiers usually inhaled much more of it before they realized what was happening. As a weapon it was therefore much more potent.
Then Haber came up with the most dreaded gas of the war—mustard gas. The Germans used it for the first time against the Russians in September 1917. Mustard gas was almost odorless, and it caused serious blisters both internally and externally.
Each time the Germans developed a new poisonous gas, however, the Allies soon developed the same gas and used it on the Germans, so in the end it was of little advantage to either side. The Germans inflicted several hundred thousand casualties, but they suffered around two hundred thousand themselves, with about nine thousand deaths.12 Toward the end of the war, however, there were few casualties, as gas masks had been developed.
Although Haber apparently never felt any guilt for his role in developing poisonous gas, his wife was so appalled at what he had done that she committed suicide. His close friend Albert Einstein also severely reprimanded him for his role in slaughtering so many fellow human beings. But in the end it backfired for him. He was of Jewish descent, and in 1933 he had to flee Germany as the Nazi's began rounding up Jews.