The presentation will be live and online.
The Battle Of the Somme, seen through the eyes of those British Airman flying above it, offers a fascinating glimpse of the potential, and relevance, of air power over the Western Front. Whilst many accounts focus on the fighter squadrons, described by Lloyd George as ‘the cavalry of the clouds’, it was the utility roles of the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service in intelligence gathering and artillery co-operation that show the true worth of Britain’s flying services throughout the battle.
Using contemporary accounts and more recent academic study, Clive Harris will discuss the integral role the flying services played in the battle, from its adaption to rapid expansion through to its maintaining of offensive operations over German airspace, a costly policy deemed a necessity to allow the vital work of aerial observation to continue with reduced interference.
Whilst air-and integration was not fully achieved between July and November 1916, the Battle of the Somme did provide a significant stepping stone to such capability that proved so successful in the final year of the war.
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 home page of the WFA web site and complete your details in the 'Newsletter signup' box.
It is also possible to register by clicking this link: Wings Over the Somme
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.