The War in the Air

1
The War in the Air the Sea
2
The War in the Air

• 1914 airplane is new and an unproven invention
  (military leaders didnt really have confidence
  in it)
• Canada had no air force of its own, so any CDNs
  who wanted to fly had to join the British Royal
  Flying Corps
• Trench warfare was known for being awful, and not
  at all glorious, so young men flocked to be part
  of the War in the Air.

3
Early Airplanes

• Max. speed between 95 and 125 km/h
• Airborne for 1 hour without needing to refuel
• First used to only scout for enemy positions.
• Pilots would carry a pistol others carried
  bricks or chains?

4
Other Air Vehicles

• Germany had about 400 aircraft
• French 156 British 113
• Germans also developed a new plane (Fokker) that
  only had one set of wings.
• Armed with machine gun and a firing mechanism
  timed so that the bullets did not hit the planes
  own propeller blades.
• Germans also used Zeppelin dirigibles or airships
  for observation missions or bombing raids. (The
  Allies eventually used them too.)

5
Allies Airplane Development

• By 1917, the Allies had developed the Sopwith
  Camel, a fighter plane.
• Fighting technique engage in aerial dogfights
  (duels), manoeuvre their lighter planes to dive
  on the enemy from the rear.

6
The Life of a Pilot

• Received better food and pay
• Wore better-looking uniforms
• Slept in warm beds at night
• Percentage killed was higher than in any other
  branch of the military
• In late 1916, it was said that the average
  lifespan of a pilot was 3 weeks.
• No parachutes
• Half of the casualties were due to mechanical
  failure.
• Ace a pilot who has shot down at least 5 enemy
  planes

7
Famous Aces

• Red Baron
• Germanys Manfred von Richtofen
• Shot down 80 planes in his career
• Taken out by a Canadian in April 1918

8
Canadian Ace Capt. Roy Brown

• The Baron spotted an Allied plane below and went
  after it.
• His target was an inexperienced pilot, Wilfred
  May. Mays gun was jammed.
• Behind the Baron came Capt. Roy Brown, who opened
  fire.
• The Baron fell into a deadly spin, and died at
  the age of 26.

9
Canadian Ace Billy Bishop

• As a boy growing up in Owen Sound, Bishop
  practiced shooting at moving targets with his
  rifle in the woods.
• Made him one of the greatest pilots in the
  British Commonwealth.
• On his first day, he shot down a German plane.
• In one 5-day period, he shot down 13 planes.

10
Canadian Aces

• Canadian fighter pilots brought down 438 enemy
  aircraft during WW1.
• 4 of the top 7 leading aces of the Royal Air
  Force
• were Canadian.

11
The War at Sea

• Early May 1915, the British luxury liner
  Lusitania was crossing the Atlantic Ocean.
• The ship was unarmed and carried almost 2000
  passengers.
• Suddenly, a torpedo streaked through the waves
  toward the full of the Lusitania.
• Moments later, there was an explosion, panic,
  chaos, and death.
• 1198 people drowned at sea.
• Thus begins the use of the newest weapon at sea
  the submarine.

12
German Submarines

• Prowling the seas since the beginning of the war.
• Downed 200 British ships by the end of 1914 and
  warned that passenger ships would not be spared.
• The Lusitania was different. More than half of
  its passengers were American. (Talk about waking
  a sleeping giant)
• Germany knew that commanding the seas was
  important to Britain, it being an island nation.

13
The German U-Boat

• Unterseeboot
• Early submarines could stay submerged for 2.5
  hours, carrying a crew of 35 and 12 torpedoes.
• Torpedoes could be shot underwater.
• U-boats preferred to come to the surface and
  shoot at its targets with gunfire.
• By 1916, German submarines were sinking an
  average of 160 ships per month!
• Germany predicted an early death for Britain.

14
The German U-Boat

• In 1917, Germany decided to take more drastic
  action to defeat the Allies.
• German navy introduced a new policy
  unrestricted submarine warfare (sound
  terrifying?)
• German U-boats would sink any Allied or neutral
  ship approaching Britain!
• During the first 4 months of this operation,
  Germany sank over 1000 British ships.
• What were they going to do????

15
The Convoy System

• Cargo ships stopped sailing alone from Canada and
  the US to Britain.
• They sailed in fleets and were escorted by armed
  destroyers, which watched for German U-boats.
• German U-boats were incredibly successful, but
  sinking the Lusitania eventually brought the US
  into the war in 1917.

16
Canadian Contributions

• Providing sailors and ships for the Royal Navy
• Canadian shipyards built more than 60
  anti-submarine ships and more than 500 smaller
  anti-submarine motor launches.
• Several thousand Canadians served in the British
  Royal Navy, the Royal Naval Canadian Volunteer
  Reserve, and in the Royal Naval Air Service.