The Zeppelin Offensive

The Zeppelin Offensive PDF Author: David Marks
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1526737205
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 182

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Book Description
Airship propaganda that’s “a visual treat . . . it will appeal to all those interested in how artwork was harnessed to convey information in time of war” (Firetrench). Books on the Zeppelin raids during the First World War have, traditionally, focused on the direct impact of Britain, from the devastating effects on undefended towns and cities, the psychological impact of this first weapon of total war to the technological and strategic advances that eventually defeated the “Baby Killers.” Now, drawing on the largest postcard collection of its kind and other period memorabilia, David Marks tells the story of the Zeppelin during the First World War from a viewpoint that has rarely been considered: Germany itself. From its maiden flight in July 1900, the Zeppelin evolved into a symbol of technology and national pride that, once war was declared, was at the forefront of German’s propaganda campaign. The Zeppelin links the rampant xenophobia at the outbreak of the conflict against England (it almost never was called Britain), France, Russia and their allies to the political doctrines of the day. The postcards that profusely illustrate this book show the wide-ranging types of propaganda from strident Teutonic imagery, myths and legends, biting satire and a surprising amount of humor. This book is a unique contribution to our understanding of the place of the Zeppelin in Germany’s culture and society during the First World War. “Well-recommended for its unique visual and psychological insights.” —Over the Front “Perfectly conveys the early optimism of the Zeppelin as both a symbol of national prestige and the weapon which would win the War.” —Donna’s Book Blog

The Zeppelin Offensive

The Zeppelin Offensive PDF Author: David Marks
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1526737205
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 182

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Book Description
Airship propaganda that’s “a visual treat . . . it will appeal to all those interested in how artwork was harnessed to convey information in time of war” (Firetrench). Books on the Zeppelin raids during the First World War have, traditionally, focused on the direct impact of Britain, from the devastating effects on undefended towns and cities, the psychological impact of this first weapon of total war to the technological and strategic advances that eventually defeated the “Baby Killers.” Now, drawing on the largest postcard collection of its kind and other period memorabilia, David Marks tells the story of the Zeppelin during the First World War from a viewpoint that has rarely been considered: Germany itself. From its maiden flight in July 1900, the Zeppelin evolved into a symbol of technology and national pride that, once war was declared, was at the forefront of German’s propaganda campaign. The Zeppelin links the rampant xenophobia at the outbreak of the conflict against England (it almost never was called Britain), France, Russia and their allies to the political doctrines of the day. The postcards that profusely illustrate this book show the wide-ranging types of propaganda from strident Teutonic imagery, myths and legends, biting satire and a surprising amount of humor. This book is a unique contribution to our understanding of the place of the Zeppelin in Germany’s culture and society during the First World War. “Well-recommended for its unique visual and psychological insights.” —Over the Front “Perfectly conveys the early optimism of the Zeppelin as both a symbol of national prestige and the weapon which would win the War.” —Donna’s Book Blog

Zeppelin Onslaught

Zeppelin Onslaught PDF Author: Ian Castle
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1848324359
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 479

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Book Description
A riveting account of the first sustained, strategic aerial bombing campaign in history—by German airships on Britain in the First World War. At the outbreak of the Great War, the United Kingdom had no aerial defense capability worthy of the name. Britain had just thirty guns to defend the entire country, with all but five of these considered of dubious value. So when raiding German aircraft finally appeared over Britain, the response was negligible and ineffective. Of Britain’s fledgling air forces, the Royal Flying Corps had accompanied the British Expeditionary Force into Europe—leaving the Royal Naval Air Service to defend the country as best it could. That task was not an easy one. From the first raid in December 1914, aerial attacks gradually increased through 1915, culminating in highly damaging assaults on London in September and October. London, however, was not the only recipient of German bombs, with counties from Northumberland to Kent also experiencing the indiscriminate death and destruction found in this new theater of war: the Home Front. And when the previously unimagined horror of bombs falling from the sky began, the British population was initially left exposed and largely undefended as civilians were killed in the streets or lying asleep in their beds. The face of war had changed forever, and those raids on London in the autumn of 1915 finally forced the government to pursue a more effective defense against air attack. This German air campaign against the UK was the first sustained strategic aerial bombing campaign in history. Yet it has become the forgotten Blitz. In Zeppelin Onslaught Ian Castle tells the complete story of the 1915 raids in unprecedented detail in what is the first in a planned three-book series.

The Flatpack Bombers

The Flatpack Bombers PDF Author: Ian Gardiner
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1844684628
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
The author of The Yompers details the history of Great Britain’s innovation in combatting the German Zeppelin during World War I. Our vision of aviation in the First World War is dominated by images of gallant fighter pilots dueling with each other high over the Western Front. But it was the threat of the Zeppelin thatspurred the British government into creating the Royal Flying Corps, and it was this menace, which no aircraft could match in the air at the beginning of the war, that led Winston Churchill and the Royal Navy to set about bombing these airships on the ground. Thus in 1914, the Royal Naval Air Service, with their IKEA-style flatpack airplanes, pioneered strategic bombing. Moreover, through its efforts to extend its striking range in order to destroy Zeppelins in their home bases, the Royal Navy developed the first true aircraft carriers. This book is the story of those largely forgotten, very early bombing raids. It explains Britain’s first interest in military and naval aviation, and why it was that the Navy pursued long distance bombing, while the Army concentrated on reconnaissance. Every bomber raid, and every aircraft carrier strike operation since, owes its genesis to those early naval flyers, and there are ghosts from 1914 that haunt us still today. “Well written and very informative, this really is one of those books you go though from cover to cover as you learn so much more about those early men and machines.” —The Great War Magazine

The First Blitz

The First Blitz PDF Author: Ian Castle
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472815319
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 358

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Book Description
The First Blitz tells the story of Germany's strategic air offensive against Britain, and how it came to be neutralized. The first Zeppelin attack on London came in May 1915 – and with it came the birth of a new arena of warfare, the 'home front'. German airships attempted to raid London on 26 separate occasions between May 1915 and October 1917, but only reached the capital and bombed successfully on nine occasions. From May 1917 onwards, this theatre of war entered a new phase as German Gotha bombers set out to attack London in the first bomber raid. London's defences were again overhauled to face this new threat, providing the basis for Britain's defence during World War II. This comprehensive volume tells the story of the first aerial campaign in history, as the famed Zeppelins, and then the Gotha and the massive Staaken 'Giant' bombers waged war against the civilian population of London in the first ever 'Blitz'.

Zeppelins of World War I

Zeppelins of World War I PDF Author: Wilbur Cross
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Aerial operations
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
"Zeppelins of World War I details the German Naval Airship Division's (Luftschiffe) history, the psychological horrors of its bombing attacks on London, and the zeppelin's ultimate failure to remain a wartime vehicle or peacetime transport. With riveting first-person accounts and archival photographs, Wilbur Cross depicts the aerial battles between brave German airmen and British fighter pilots. Action from both sides of the war is presented including the determined efforts of Lieutenant William Leefe Robinson of the Royal Flying Corps, the first pilot to shoot down a zeppelin; the launching and aftermath of the greatest airship raid in history; and the spectacular death of Zeppelin L-48 (including the miraculous survival of the young German officer) that foreshadowed the ultimate demise of the Luftschiffe and Strasser's own violent death."--Jacket.

Zeppelin Inferno

Zeppelin Inferno PDF Author: Ian Castle
Publisher: Frontline Books
ISBN: 1399093932
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 468

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Book Description
At the beginning of 1916, as the world entered the second full year of global conflict, the cities, towns and villages of Britain continued to lay vulnerable to aerial bombardment. Throughout that period German Zeppelin airships and seaplanes had come and gone at will, their most testing opposition provided by the British weather as the country’s embryonic defences struggled to come to terms with this first ever assault from the air. Britain’s civilians were now standing on the frontline — the Home Front — like the soldiers who had marched off to war. But early in 1916 responsibility for Britain’s aerial defence passed from the Admiralty to the War Office and, as German air attacks intensified, new ideas and plans made dramatic improvements to Britain’s aerial defence capability. While this new system could give early warning of approaching raiders, there was a lack of effective weaponry with which to engage them when they arrived. Behind the scenes, however, three individuals, each working independently, were striving for a solution. The results of their work were spectacular; it lifted the mood of the nation and dramatically changed the way this campaign was fought over Britain. The German air campaign against Britain in the First World War was the first sustained strategic aerial bombing campaign in history. Despite this, it has become forgotten against the enormity of the Blitz of the Second World War, although for those caught up in the tragedy of these raids, the impact was every bit as devastating. In Zeppelin Inferno Ian Castle tells the full story of the 1916 raids in unprecedented detail in what is the second book in a trilogy that will reveal the complete story of Britain’s ‘Forgotten Blitz’.

Zeppelins and Super-Zeppelins

Zeppelins and Super-Zeppelins PDF Author: R. P. Hearne
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Aeronautics, Military
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
Page xiv (blank on the first edition), printed as a footnote to the Introduction on the second edition. "Since the first edition went to press two more Zeppelin raids were made on England..."

London 1914–17

London 1914–17 PDF Author: Ian Castle
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
ISBN: 9781846032455
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Ian Castle tells the story of Germany's air offensive against Britain in World War I (1914-1918), in which, from May 1915 until October 1917, zeppelins dropped thousands of tons of bombs on London. Initially the city was woefully unprotected but an integrated air defense system was progressively developed in response to the early months' destruction and casualties. Over a year was to pass before the first zeppelin was downed over British soil by the Royal Flying Corps but successes then steadily mounted as observation and communication networks improved and new tactics were learned. In his revealing account of a terrifying campaign which was to be repeated only decades later in the Luftwaffe's Blitz, the author describes the birth of a new arena of warfare, "the home front."

Zeppelin Blitz

Zeppelin Blitz PDF Author: Neil Storey
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0750963212
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 374

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Book Description
In 1907, H.G. Wells published a science fiction novel called The War in the Air. It proved to be portentous. In the early years of the First World War, German lighter-than-air flying machines, Zeppelins, undertook a series of attacks on the British mainland. German military strategy was to subdue Britain, both by the damage these raids caused and by the terrifying nature of the craft that carried them out.This strategy proved successful. The early raids caused significant damage, many civilian casualties and provoked terror and anger in equal measure. But the British rapidly learnt how to deal with these futuristic monsters. A variety of defence mechanisms were developed: searchlights, guns and fighter aircraft were deployed, the British learnt to pick up the airships’ radio messages and a central communications headquarters was set up. Within months aerial strategy and its impact on the lives of civilians and the course of conflict became part of human warfare. As the Chief of the Imperial German Naval Airship Division, Peter Strasser, crisply put it: ‘There is no such thing as a non-combatant any more. Modern war is total war.’Zeppelin Blitz is the first full, raid-by-raid, year-by-year account of the Zeppelin air raids on Britain during the First World War, based on contemporary official reports and documents.

The Great War in the Air

The Great War in the Air PDF Author: John H. Morrow
Publisher: University of Alabama Press
ISBN: 0817355456
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 511

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Book Description
Starting in 1909 with the beginnings of military aviation and the aviation industry and ending with their catastrophic postwar contraction, the book examines the totality of the air war: its heroism, romantic myths, politics, strategies, and cost in men and materiel. John H. Morrow, Jr., also elaborates on the advancements in aircraft and engine technology and production during airpower's development into a viable and threatening military weapon within a decade of its origins.