World War One: In the Air

I read an article in the Autumn 2013 issue of the Quarterly Journal of Military History (MHQ) on WWI airplanes and air combat during that time. The opinions of civilians and military men on this new weapon and the new type of warfare it brought with it were discussed. At first the airplane was not seriously considered a threat. A British nun in Belgium said that they looked like “beautiful little birds.” This type of thinking vanished when planes started shooting and bombing.

At first the airplane’s only use was as an observer with no fighting capabilities. After a while though, pilots started carrying rifles and handguns with them. Machine guns were then mounted on the planes, but many of these early attempts to mount guns on the plane failed. One of the big problems was that the bullets from the machine guns would destroy the propeller of the plane. The Germans were the first to fix the problem. They did this by synchronizing the propeller with the fire of the gun so the bullets would go between the propellers instead of through them. The mechanism was called the Interrupter Gear. The Allied forces adopted the technique soon after the Germans did. With the ability to shoot, the planes began to shoot at each other with greater accuracy. The plane was no longer merely an observer but a fighter.

The incorporation of planes into warfare did not make everyone happy. Some people ( mainly military men) thought the new invention would ruin warfare. The majority though, saw the airplane as a game changer for the side that had the most and best of these planes. Countries scrambled to produce planes and train pilots. Most pilots were inexperienced when sent into the air and many died as a result. The few that survived though went on to teach new airmen. Slowly each country was able to accumulate a force of seasoned pilots.

The First World War sowed the seeds for future air warfare. World War I showed the leaders of the world how useful planes were, and the technological progress on airplanes during the war made a great base for future experimentation and improvement. 

Poster Propaganda

Propaganda was used by all nations in the First World War. This post will address visual propaganda, usually seen on posters. Countries used these for several reasons: to procure troops which were constantly needed, to get money, and secure civilian involvement. These posters ranged from insulting enemies to encouraging people to buy their country’s war bonds.

This Austrian image is encouraging people to buy war bonds.

This poster is encouraging young British men to join the army.

This picture tells England’s civilians to not use bread and to instead make soup so the men at the front could eat.

This German postcard shows that England is trying to take over Europe, but Germany is ready to stop them.

War stamps are shown helping to supply the US army with ammunition.

The Fullerphone

The MKV Fuller Phone

When I was on vacation earlier this summer I saw one of these in the Yellow Barn Museum in the Shenandoah Valley and decided to do a post on it.

Algernon Clement Fuller was part of the British Royal Corps of Engineers during WWI. While serving in the Corps, he invented the Fullerphone. You were not able to speak into the Fullerphone for it transmitted Morse code only. What made the phone special though, was that the Germans could not intercept messages sent from it. This was achieved by the two phone operators synchronizing their buzzers. This worked as a simple scrambling mechanism which the Germans could not make sense of. You were also able to operate the phone while wearing a gas mask which made it possible to be used in the trenches. Another nice feature of the Fullerphone was its ability to still transmit messages when the wire connecting the two phones was damaged or severed (if the line was severed and the two ends were touching the ground near each other the messages could still transmit).

Boy Scouts During the War

The Boy Scouts of America played numerous roles to aid our country during the First World War. Radio transmitters were regulated during the war, so during visits to homes in the area, Boy Scouts kept their eye out for unauthorized ones. Scouts also delivered messages, watched coasts for enemies, and reported men who were dodging the draft. $352 million in war bonds was raised by the Boy Scouts and almost that amount in war stamps. Fruit pits were collected by Scouts to be made into charcoal for gas masks. Sadly if a Scout master ( troop leader) was called away to service, the troop usually died due to the fact that their was no adult to run it. Some new rules were adopted later on to prevent this from occurring which included requiring a certain number of adults per number of boys. This way a troop did not depend on just one adult.

Lawrence of Arabia

Thomas Edward Lawrence was born in England in 1888. As he got older he became interested in military history. He joined the British army and became an officer. He was able to speak Arabic so he was dispatched to the Middle East where there had been some fighting between the British-backed Arabs and the Turks who were backed by the central powers (Austro-Hungary and Germany). He was sent with another officer to investigate. It was 1916.

After arriving, Lawrence was sent to talk to Amir Feisal, the leader of the Arabs. The two men got along well and soon Lawrence had helped Feisal to reorganize his efforts against the Turks. Lawrence helped the Arabs take an important railway from the Turks, and then he went on to help capture the city of Akaba in 1917. Through his travels with the Arab tribes he earned their respect and trust. Lawrence eventually went back to England where, in 1935, he died in a motorcycle accident. His contribution to the war in the Middle East during WWI is still debated, but to the men he fought with ... it is unquestionable.

   

The Shared National Anthem of WWI

Every country has a national anthem. The words to these anthems vary depending on the country’s views and beliefs. The song’s melody could be the same though, and so was the case of two countries during WWI, Germany and England. Before the war Germany had adopted the tune from England’s “God Save the King.” The English still use the melody today, but the Germans abandoned it after the monarchy in Germany fell postwar.  We Americans also use this melody for one of our most familiar patriotic songs. Sadly, the name of the composer of this melody is unknown. The melody possibly dates back to the seventeenth century. 

Germany's flag in 1914:

England's flag in 1914

Germany's Stormtroopers

German Stormtroopers were elite infantry units used by the Germans from 1917-1918. Their symbol was two crossed German grenades above which was a skull. The German high command believed that the use of Stormtroopers would change the tide of the war. The Stormtroopers’ job was to attack the enemy position following an artillery bombardment. They would weaken the enemy for the general infantry that would follow after them. Stormtroopers underwent rigorous training that included the use of live rounds and hours of hand to hand combat. Stormtroopers were carefully selected individuals who were young and possessed the desire for violence and hand to hand combat. The Stormtroopers did their job well, but their success was almost never rewarded with victory. The infantry was unable to keep up with the elite troops. In the time that was wasted while the infantry arrived, the enemy was able to regroup. Stormtroopers were used until war’s end but less frequently towards the very end.

   Stormtroopers advancing

Kaiser Wilhelm, Post War

Kaiser Wilhelm lead Germany in the First World War. In 1918 after their surrender the German people were not doing well. Increasing political unrest convinced Germany’s other leaders that the Kaiser had to leave. The Kaiser was at first reluctant to abdicate his throne, but unrest combined with the German army’s announcement that they no longer sided with him finally convinced the Kaiser to abdicate. After abdicating he took a train to the nearby Netherlands where he bought a house and remained for the rest of his life.

The new leader of Germany, Adolf Hitler, hated the former Kaiser. Hitler believed that the Germans’ defeat in WWI was the Kaiser’s fault alone.

While in exile, the former Kaiser’s first wife died, and his youngest son committed suicide. Even so Wilhelm remarried several years later. He lived to the age of 82 and in that time saw the rise of a new Germany. He hated the new Germany run by a man whose tactics and leadership skills he found wicked. The former Kaiser was shocked at the thuggish ways Hitler treated his people and neighbors. Kaiser Wilhelm never left the Netherlands after arriving in 1918.