The presentation will be live and online.
In the summer of 1914, as Europe teetered on the brink of war, the spectre of immediate Zeppelin raids on London and other major British towns and cities loomed large. When First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill accepted responsibility for the aerial defence of London, he recognised that Zeppelins were most vulnerable when on the ground. Despite limited resources, he believed that attack provided the best method of defence against the Zeppelin menace and, in autumn 1914, authorized the Royal Naval Air Service to carry out raids on Zeppelin bases in Germany.
Whereas much of what we study in the First World War focuses on the actions of great bodies of men - of divisions, corps and armies – this talk highlights the work of individuals, the handful of men who carried out some of history’s earliest examples of strategic bombing, at a time when aviation itself was in its infancy. It is a tale of great courage, intrepidity and much derring-do!
Ian Castle has been researching the German air raids on Britain for 15 years and during that period has written a number of books on the subject, including the first two volumes in a three-book series on the raids (Zeppelin Onslaught – The Forgotten Blitz 1914-1915 and Zeppelin Inferno – The Forgotten Blitz 1916), as well as writing articles for various journals and magazines. He has also created a highly regarded website on the raids at www.IanCastleZeppelin.co.uk
Members wishing to participate will need to register: details of how to register will be circulated via The Western Front Association's newsletter 'Trench Lines'. If you are not a subscriber to 'Trench Lines' please subscribe now.
To subscribe to Trench Lines, go to the homepage of The Western Front Association website and complete your details in the 'Newsletter sign up' box.
It is also possible to register by clicking this link: A Fine Feat of Arms
The talk will be undertaken using the 'Zoom' software which is freely available. It may not be necessary to load the software to your PC / iPad etc: but we would recommend doing so if you wish to participate in this event.
Please Note : > Once registrations hit capacity (we have a 1000 limit on the webinars) then you won't be able to register. If this happens, you can still watch the event via the Facebook Live Stream (subject to any technical hitches) on our Facebook page. Alternatively, these are loaded to our YouTube channel where they can be watched a few weeks after the event.
The image at the top of the page shows three aircraft at Belfort in France prior to taking part in the raid on the Zeppelin Works at Friedrichshafen, November 1914.