(This is the first chapter taken from Neil Datson's The British Air Power Delusion 1906-1941)
On 13 June 1917 seventeen German aircraft flew over London and dropped seventy-two bombs on the city. In all 162 people were killed and over 430 injured, making it the worst air raid of the war. One especially momentous bomb fell on Upper North Street School, Poplar, in the modern Borough of Tower Hamlets and little more than half a mile north of Canary Wharf. Rather than exploding on impact it broke into two pieces when it hit the building’s roof. One piece fell through three floors, killing two children on its way down, and exploded in the basement where there was a kindergarten class of sixty-four children in progress. Sixteen were killed and more than twice as many injured. Only two of the victims were more than five years old. A soldier who was one of the first to arrive on the scene related:
‘Many of the little ones were lying across their desks, apparently dead, and with terrible wounds on heads and limbs, and scores of others were writhing with pain and moaning piteously in their terror and suffering.
‘Many bodies were mutilated, but our first thought was to get at the injured and have them cared for. We took them gently in our arms and laid them out against a wall under a shed.’[i]
Jack Brown, one of the surviving children, later recalled that the following day was the first time that he saw a grown man cry, when the school’s headmaster broke down as he read out the register.
No less than ninety-two British aircraft, from both the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service, took off in a vain attempt to intercept the bombers. Their efforts were piecemeal and ineffective. Although the sky was clear and the raiders could be seen from many miles away few of them got close enough to open fire. One that did was a two seat Bristol Fighter from No 35 Training Squadron. The volume of the Germans’ defensive fire was such that the pilot was compelled to abort his attack, his observer slumped dead in the seat behind him.
The attack was the first time that London was visited by Gotha GIVs, a type of aeroplane that first flew late in 1916. The GIV, the first Gotha model that was considered worth building in quantity, was a remarkable and innovative machine. It had a wingspan of nearly eighty feet and, when used on daylight operations, could carry a bomb load of 700 lbs up to a height of more than 16,000 feet. To enable the crew of three to function in the intense cold and thin air of such altitudes they were supplied with flying suits which had electrical heating elements woven into their fabric, and supplementary oxygen cylinders from which they could inhale direct through breathing tubes. The aircrews were somewhat ambivalent about the oxygen as it produced an unpleasant dry sensation in their throats. One pilot later wrote: ‘We rather preferred to restore our body warmth and energy with an occasional gulp of cognac.’[ii] The low temperatures frequently caused machine guns to freeze and jam, so the GIV’s defensive armament was also kept warm by electric heating. On night missions they operated at lower altitudes but carried a greater load of bombs. Their two engines were a new Mercedes type, each developing 260 hp, and built in right-hand and left-hand versions so that the machine’s airscrews would balance each other, ensuring stable flight characteristics. To help safeguard the lives of the crew, should they be compelled to ditch in the sea, the GIV was equipped with flotation bags and other aids that could keep them afloat for up to eight hours. Altogether, the GIVs fully merited the soubriquet bestowed on them by one French commentator: ‘les grands oiseaux de morts’.[iii]
The Gothas were operated by a squadron with the curious title of the Ostend Carrier Pigeon Detachment. Commanded in the air by Hauptmann Ernst Brandenburg, the squadron was specially trained as well as equipped, and tasked with carrying out disciplined, close formation, raids on targets in enemy territory – although in context ‘targets’ is scarcely the right word. At the time accurate bombing could only be carried out at very low altitudes. The closest that any air force came to hitting particular targets was to drop their bombs in something like the right area of a large city like London. For many airmen finding smaller cities at all was frequently too great a challenge. The Carrier Pigeons certainly didn’t set out with the intention of killing children, but to damage the London docks and other strategically important infrastructure. In the account given in the official British history Brandenburg reported to his superiors on what he claimed was a successful mission:
‘Our aircraft circled round and dropped their bombs with no hurry or trouble. According to our observation, a station in the City, and a Thames bridge, probably Tower Bridge, were hit. Of all our bombs it can be said that the majority fell among the docks, and among the city warehouses. The effect must have been great.’[iv]
13 June 1917 was the third occasion on which the Carrier Pigeon’s machines attacked the British mainland. On 25 May they had set out for London but had been compelled by the weather conditions to divert to towns on the Kent coast. A second attempt on 5 June got as far as Sheerness.
The little victims of the bombing were buried a week later in a common grave in a London cemetery. The crowd of mourners was possibly the largest and the funeral cortège the grandest ever seen in East London. The service was conducted by the Bishop of London and attended by government representatives. A message of condolence from King George V and Queen Mary was read out. Hardly surprisingly, the public were not placated by evidence of official or even royal concern. There was widespread anger; the authorities were blamed for their failure to protect the people and for their passivity in leaving German cities unmolested by British aircraft. The reputation of the RFC and the RNAS fell away; some airmen were even attacked in the streets. In the House of Commons the Member for East Hertfordshire, Noel Pemberton Billing, demanded an adjournment debate to discuss the raids. The nation’s most popular newspaper, the Daily Mail, demanded that the Germans should be repaid in the same coin:
‘The true defence lies in the most violent and sustained offensive through the air, attacking the German air stations and towns, not at long intervals but continually.’[v]
A few months later Pemberton Billing and the Daily Mail were to get their way. The cruel slaughter of the toddlers in Upper North Street School on 13 June was to lead – very nearly directly – to the greatest blunder in the history of British defence policy: the establishment of the Royal Air Force.
The damage done by splitting off a third service from the army and navy was not noticed at the time. Rather, its advocates claimed immediate - and total - success. In the 1920s Britain's traditional strategic policy was thrown aside in favour of a speculative theory for which there were no sounder foundations than newspaper speculations and mass popularity. The harms done were inexorable. By the mid-1930s faith in the RAF's theory of war was leading Britain's rearmament and even her foreign policy; misplaced trust in it underwrote Appeasement. Far worse, when the fighting started Britain's war effort failed because the nation's forces were badly divided, and they were directed by men who were every bit as deluded about modern warfare as the man in the street. In both blood and treasure the nation paid a heavy price.
[i] ‘German Airmen Kill 97, Hurt 437 in London Raid.’ New York Times, 14 June 1917.
[ii] Kurt Küppers to Fredette, 2 May 1965. Raymond H Fredette. The First Battle of Britain 1917-1918 and the Birth of the Royal Air Force, p 41.
[iii] Marcel Poëte. Barry D Powers. Strategy Without Slide-Rule, p 53.
[iv] Ernst Brandenburg. Sir Walter Raleigh and Henry A Jones. The War in the Air, vol 5, p 28. The War in the Air was published through the 1920s and 1930s in six volumes of narrative text and one of appendices. Walter Raleigh, really a Cambridge ‘man of letters’ rather than historian, was commissioned by the Air Ministry to write it. He died in 1922 and the task was handed over to the civil servant Henry Jones.
[v] ‘Again, No Warning! The Air Raid on the City of London.’ Daily Mail, 14 June 1917.
"Kama ilivyoelezwa katika kitabu cha Neil Datsun, ""The British Air Power Delusion"" (1906-1941), ndege 17 za Ujerumani zilipiga mabomu London mnamo Juni 17, 1917." Watu 162 waliuawa na zaidi ya 430 kujeruhiwa, na hilo likawa shambulio baya zaidi la anga katika vita hivyo. Bomu moja kubwa zaidi lilipigwa kwenye shule ya Upper North Street, Poplar, katika eneo la kisasa la Tower Hamlets na umbali wa zaidi ya nusu maili kaskazini mwa Canary Wharf. Badala ya kulipuka wakati wa mgongano, ilivunjika vipande viwili ilipogonga paa la jengo hilo. Kipande kimoja kiliporomoka kwenye ghorofa tatu, na kuua watoto wawili, na kulipuka kwenye chumba cha chini cha nyumba ambapo kulikuwa na darasa la shule ya chekechea lenye watoto sitini na wanne. Watu 16 waliuawa na zaidi ya watu wawili walijeruhiwa. Ni wawili tu kati ya wahasiriwa hao waliokuwa na umri wa zaidi ya miaka mitano. "Jeshi moja lililokuwa miongoni mwa wale wa kwanza kufika mahali hapo lilisimulia hivi: ""Wana wengi walikuwa wamelala kwenye meza zao, wanaonekana kuwa wamekufa, na walikuwa na majeraha mabaya sana kichwani na viungo vyao, na wengine wengi walikuwa wakijikwaa kwa maumivu na kuugua kwa huzuni kwa sababu ya hofu na mateso yao." ‘Mwili mwingi uliharibiwa, lakini wazo letu la kwanza lilikuwa kuwafikia waliojeruhiwa na kuwapa utunzaji. "Wakati wa kuuawa kwa mtoto huyo, Jack Brown, mmoja wa watoto waliosalia, alikumbuka kwamba siku iliyofuata alikuwa ameona mtu mzima akilia kwa mara ya kwanza, wakati mkuu wa shule alipovunjika moyo aliposoma kitabu hicho.""" Ndege 92 za Uingereza, kutoka kwa Royal Flying Corps na Royal Naval Air Service, ziliondoka katika jaribio la bure la kuwashambulia mabomu. Jitihada zao zilikuwa za vipande-vipande na hazikuwa na matokeo. Ingawa anga lilikuwa wazi na wapiganaji hao wangeweza kuonekana kwa umbali wa maili nyingi, ni wachache kati yao waliokaribia sana kufyatua risasi. Ndege hiyo ilikuwa ni ndege ya Bristol Fighter yenye viti viwili kutoka No. 35 Training Squadron. Kiasi cha moto wa ulinzi wa Wajerumani kilikuwa kikubwa sana hivi kwamba rubani alilazimika kukomesha shambulio lake, na mtazamaji wake akaanguka akiwa amekufa kwenye kiti kilichokuwa nyuma yake. Ndege hiyo ilikuwa ya kwanza kutumiwa na ndege ya aina ya Gotha GIV, ambayo iliruka kwa mara ya kwanza mwaka 1916. GIV, mfano wa kwanza wa Gotha ambao ulionwa kuwa unafaa kujengwa kwa wingi, ilikuwa mashine ya kushangaza na ya ubunifu. Ndege hiyo ilikuwa na upana wa mabawa ya karibu futi ishirini na, ilipotumiwa katika shughuli za mchana, ingeweza kubeba mzigo wa mabomu ya pauni 700 hadi urefu wa zaidi ya futi 16,000. Ili kuwezesha wafanyakazi watatu kufanya kazi katika hali ya baridi kali na hewa nyembamba ya urefu huo, walipewa suti za kuruka ambazo zilikuwa na vifaa vya umeme vya kupasha joto vilivyofungwa kwenye kitambaa chao, na silinda za ziada za oksijeni ambazo wangeweza kuvuta hewa moja kwa moja kupitia mirija ya kupumua. Wafanyakazi wa ndege walikuwa na shaka fulani kuhusu oksijeni hiyo kwa sababu ilitokeza hisia mbaya ya ukame katika koo zao. "Mmoja wa marubani aliandika baadaye: ""Tulipendelea kurudisha joto na nishati ya mwili wetu kwa kunywa cognac mara kwa mara. "" [ii] Joto la chini mara nyingi lilisababisha bunduki za mashine kufungia na kugonga, kwa hivyo silaha za ulinzi za GIV pia zilihifadhiwa joto kwa joto la umeme." Katika misheni za usiku walifanya kazi katika urefu wa chini lakini walichukua mzigo mkubwa zaidi wa mabomu. Injini mbili za Mercedes zilikuwa aina mpya, kila moja ikitengeneza nguvu za 260 hp, na kujengwa katika matoleo ya mkono wa kulia na mkono wa kushoto ili screw ya hewa ya mashine iweze kusawazisha kila mmoja, kuhakikisha sifa za ndege thabiti. Ili kuokoa maisha ya wafanyakazi wake, meli hiyo ilikuwa na mifuko ya kuelea na vifaa vingine ambavyo vingeweza kuifanya iendelee kuelea kwa muda wa saa nane. Kwa ujumla, GIVs walihitaji kikamilifu soubriquet iliyopewa na mchambuzi mmoja wa Kifaransa: <unk>les grands oiseaux de morts<unk>. [iii] Gothas ziliendeshwa na kikosi chenye jina la kushangaza la Kikosi cha Pigeon cha Ostend Carrier. Iliamriwa hewani na Hauptmann Ernst Brandenburg, kikosi hicho kilikuwa kimezoezwa maalum na pia kilikuwa na vifaa, na kilipewa kazi ya kutekeleza utaratibu, muundo wa karibu, mashambulizi juu ya malengo katika eneo la adui - ingawa katika muktadha "malengo" ni neno sahihi. Wakati huo mabomu sahihi yangeweza kutekelezwa tu katika urefu wa chini sana. "Kama vile ilivyokuwa kwa jeshi la anga, lengo la kwanza lilikuwa ""kuangusha mabomu katika eneo sahihi la jiji kubwa kama London.""" Kwa marubani wengi, mara nyingi ilikuwa vigumu sana kupata majiji madogo. Kwa hakika, njiwa hao hawakuwa na nia ya kuwaua watoto, bali ya kuharibu bandari za London na miundombinu mingine muhimu ya kimkakati. "Katika simulizi lililotolewa katika historia rasmi ya Uingereza, Brandenburg aliripoti kwa wakuu wake juu ya kile alichodai kuwa ni utume uliofanikiwa: ""Ndege zetu zilizunguka na kutupa mabomu yao bila haraka au shida." Kulingana na uchunguzi wetu, kituo katika Jiji, na daraja Thames, pengine Tower Bridge, walikuwa hit. Ya mabomu yetu yote inaweza kusemwa kwamba wengi alianguka kati ya docks, na kati ya maghala ya mji. "Kama ilivyotarajiwa, ""Kikosi cha Carrier Pigeon"" kilipiga kwa mara ya tatu katika kipindi cha Juni 13, 1917." Mnamo Mei 25, meli hiyo ilisafiri kuelekea London, lakini hali ya hewa ililazimisha meli hiyo iende kwenye miji ya pwani ya Kent. Jaribio la pili lilifanywa Juni 5, na kufikia Sheerness. Waathiriwa wadogo wa shambulio hilo la bomu walizikwa juma moja baadaye katika kaburi la kawaida katika makaburi ya London. Huenda umati wa waombolezaji ulikuwa mkubwa zaidi na msafara wa mazishi ulikuwa mkubwa zaidi kuwahi kuonekana katika London Mashariki. Ibada hiyo iliongozwa na Askofu wa London na kuhudhuriwa na wawakilishi wa serikali. Ujumbe wa huruma kutoka kwa Mfalme George wa Tano na Malkia Mary ulisomwa. Haishangazi kwamba umma haukushangazwa na uthibitisho wa hangaiko la serikali au hata la kifalme. Maofisa wa Ujerumani walilaumiwa kwa kushindwa kulinda watu na kwa kutofanya chochote ili kuacha miji ya Ujerumani isivurugwe na ndege za Uingereza. Utukufu wa RFC na RNAS ulipungua; baadhi ya marubani hata walishambuliwa barabarani. Katika Baraza la Commons Mbunge wa Mashariki Hertfordshire, Noel Pemberton Billing, alidai mjadala wa kusitisha ili kujadili mashambulizi. "Jarida maarufu la Ujerumani, Daily Mail, lilidai kwamba Wajerumani wanapaswa kulipwa kwa sarafu moja: ""Ulinzi wa kweli uko katika mashambulizi ya kikatili na ya kudumu kupitia hewa, kushambulia vituo vya ndege na miji ya Ujerumani, sio kwa vipindi virefu lakini daima.""" Mauaji ya watoto katika shule ya Upper North Street School ya Uingereza mnamo Juni 13 yaliongoza karibu moja kwa moja kwenye kosa kubwa zaidi katika historia ya sera ya ulinzi wa Uingereza: kuanzishwa kwa Royal Air Force. Uharibifu uliosababishwa na kugawanyika kwa huduma ya tatu kutoka kwa jeshi na jeshi la wanamaji haukugunduliwa wakati huo. Badala yake, watetezi wake walidai mafanikio ya papo hapo - na kamili. Katika miaka ya 1920, sera ya jadi ya Uingereza ilitupwa kando kwa niaba ya nadharia ya uvumi ambayo haikuwa na misingi ya msingi kuliko uvumi wa magazeti na umaarufu wa wingi. Uharibifu uliosababishwa haukuweza kusahaulika. Kuanzia katikati ya miaka ya 1930, imani katika nadharia ya vita ya RAF ilikuwa ikiongoza upangaji silaha wa Uingereza na hata sera yake ya kigeni; imani isiyofaa katika hiyo iliunga mkono Uvumilivu. Na jambo baya zaidi, wakati mapigano yalipoanza, jitihada za vita za Uingereza zilishindwa kwa sababu majeshi ya taifa yalikuwa yamegawanyika vibaya, na yalielekezwa na watu ambao walikuwa na udanganyifu wa kila kitu kuhusu vita vya kisasa kama mtu wa mitaani. Taifa hilo lililipia gharama kubwa kwa damu na hazina. "Kama ilivyoelezwa katika makala ya ""Kufariki kwa Wajerumani 97 na kujeruhiwa 437 katika London Raid"" (New York Times, 14 Juni 1917)." Kurt Kübers, Fredette, 2 Mei 1965 Raymond H Fredette. Vita vya Kwanza vya Uingereza 1917-1918 na Kuzaliwa kwa Jeshi la Anga la Uingereza, p. [iii] Marcel Poëte. Barry D. Powers Mkakati bila Slide-Rule, ukurasa 53. [iv] Ernst Brandenburg. Sir Walter Raleigh na Henry A. Jones. Vita katika Anga, vol. Vita katika hewa ilichapishwa katika miaka ya 1920 na 1930 katika mabuku sita ya maandishi ya hadithi na moja ya nyongeza. Walter Raleigh, ambaye kwa kweli alikuwa "mwanamume wa fasihi" wa Cambridge badala ya mwanahistoria, aliagizwa na Wizara ya Anga kuiandika. Baada ya kifo chake mwaka 1922, kazi hiyo ilipewa na afisa mkuu wa serikali Henry Jones. [V] 'Kwa mara nyingine tena, Hakuna Onyo! "Mashambulizi ya anga ya London, ""Daily Mail,"" 14 Juni 1917"