ISSUE 91 : Nov/Dec - 1991 - Australian Defence Force Journal

The First Battle of Britain
By Air Commodore A. D. Garrisson, OBE,
RAAF, (Ret).
Lite fad that zeppelins bombed London in the
First World War is fairly well known. The extent
and duration of these raids is perhaps not so well
known. Tltat London and other cities in England
were also attacked by heavy bombers is hardly
known at all. In fact, these raids were quite
devastating and reached 'blitz'proportions. The
zeppelin raids and bomber raids led to a most
impressive defence network in Great Britain, and
a great struggle for air supremacy in the skies
above. These events led directly to the creation of
the Royal A ir Force as a separate and independent
service. Also, many of the basic principles and
tactics of air defence evolved in those far off days
were again applied with equal success in the later
and far more famous Battle of Britain which we
now celebrate each year on the 5th September.
First Air Attacks
The first bomb to ever fall on British soil was
dropped on Dover on 24th December 1914. It
was a single bomb, weighing a mere 10 kg. and came
from a lone German aircraft. There were no
casualties, and damage was estimated at forty
pounds. Another aircraft had been the first to
actually enter British air space three days earlier, but
it turned away after dropping two small bombs
harmlessly in Dover Harbour. On both occasions,
surprise was complete, and the raiders returned to
their bases unharmed.
This type of 'hit-and-run' raid by one or two
aircraft on the coastal towns was to continue
throughout the war. They did little harm, and
produced few casualties. In fact, the first casualties
from these raids did not occur until 13th September
1915 when two people were killed and six injured in
a raid on Margate. Also, it was not until 19th March
1916 that any of these coastal raiders were even shot
down. Guns and aircraft were certainly deployed
against them, but they were considered to be mainly
nuisance raids. The main threat was expected to
come from raids by airships, and after a late start it
certainly did.
The British had fully expected devastating attacks
bv zeppelins to begin from the moment war began
on 4th August 1914, but no such attack occurred for
nearly six months. Meanwhile, they were able to do
much to improve their air defences, the responsibility
for which lay with the Admiralty and not the War
Office. The origin of this arrangement went back to
the ver\ beginning of the British air services.
Early Air Defence
The Royal Flying Corps formally came into
existence on 13th April 1912, absorbing the Air
Battalion created the year before. The new service
came entirely under War Office control, but consisted
of a Naval Wing as well as a Military Wing.
Right from the start, however, the two wings
developed quite separately and became very independent
of each other. This was recognised
officially on 1st July 1914 when the Naval Wing
became the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) and
was placed directly under the control of the
Admiralty. The Military Wing adopted the title of
the Royal Flving Corps (R FC), and remained under
the War Office.
Originally the War Office was to be responsible
"for... air supremacy in the British Isles or in any
land operations in which the army are concerned."
The Admiralty was to be responsible "for all aerial
services of the fleet." It was further agreed that the
Navy would have the task of preventing air attacks
against warships, dockyards, and all other naval
targets along the coast. Even so, the War Office
insisted they operate under Army Control, thus
claiming complete responsibility for the Air Defence
of Great Britain.
Despite this responsibility, the War Office made
no effort to establish any units or organisations for
home defence. The Admiralty on the other hand,
decided to set up a chain of air stations right along
the east coast from north to south. When WWI
began the army did not even have enough aircraft to
meet their complement to accompany the Expeditionary
Force to France. They were just able to
muster a total of four squadrons for this purpose,
with nothing left over.