Ray Rimell - The German Army Air Service in World War One
Arms & Armour Press | 2002 | ISBN: 0853686947 | English | 66 pages | PDF | 15.54 MB
Vintage Warbirds 2
Arms & Armour Press | 2002 | ISBN: 0853686947 | English | 66 pages | PDF | 15.54 MB
Vintage Warbirds 2
The German Army Air Service, like many other nations' air forces, evolved in spite of, rather than because of, the conservative traditionalists, the old generals and warlords, who were only able to conceive of modern war in terms of men, horses and cannon. Indeed, the First World War was two years old before it was possible to place German air units on anything like an organized footing and under those who understood aviation and could comprehend its potential effect on warfare. Those German militarists who had prepared for a large-scale European war envisaged a brief campaign designed speedily to vanquish a comparatively ill-prepared foe, and as a result the deployment of aircraft was barely considered. When, however, the Allies halted the initial German advances, assisted ably by aerial reconnaissance, some members of the German War Staff began to realize the value of developing an effective air service.