The British air campaign during the Battle of the Somme April-November,1916: A pyrrhic victory.

详细信息   

• 作者：Bradbeer ; Thomas G.
• 学历：Ph.D.
• 年：2011
• 导师：Wilson, Theodore A.,eadvisorEarle, Jonathan H.ecommittee memberLewis, Adrian R.ecommittee memberSteele, Brent J.ecommittee memberKipp, Jacobecommittee member
• 毕业院校：University of Kansas
• Department：History
• ISBN：9781124681764
• CBH：3457516
• Country：USA
• 语种：English
• FileSize：13028805
• Pages：431

文摘

The Battle of the Somme was Britains first major offensive of the First World War. Just about every facet of the campaign has been analyzed and reexamined. However, one area of the battle that has been little explored is the second battle which took place simultaneously to the one on the ground. This second battle occurred in the skies above the Somme, where for the first time in the history of warfare a deliberate air campaign was planned and executed to support ground operations. The British Royal Flying Corps RFC) was tasked with achieving air superiority over the Somme sector before the British Fourth Army attacked to start the ground offensive. This study focuses on the Royal Flying Corps, its organization and leaders, as well as the strategy and doctrine it employed in its attempt to regain air superiority from the German Army Air Service GAAS) in the spring of 1916. Prior to the start of the ground battle, the commander of the RFC, General Hugh Trenchard, directed his squadrons accomplish six tactical tasks in order for the RFC to achieve aerial superiority over the Somme. These tasks were: 1) aerial reconnaissance, 2) aerial photography, 3) observation and direction of artillery, 4) tactical bombing, 5) contact patrols in support of the infantry and 6) air combat against the GAAS to enable achievement of the other five tasks. Critical to answering the question of whether or not the RFC accomplished its assigned tasks this study also examines the development of air power strategy by the RFC before and during the battle. Five factors are used to frame the analysis: strategy, organization, leadership, selection and training of aircrew. Although the RFC suffered high losses because it rigidly adhered to an offensive strategy throughout the air campaign, when the battle ended, the RFC still controlled the skies above the Somme. While the ground campaign failed to accomplish most of its stated objectives, historians have argued that the air campaign was a victory for the RFC. This paper contends that because of the heavy aircrew casualties it in fact proved to be a Pyrrhic victory. The consequences of maintaining a continuous air offensive over the Somme led to nearly disastrous results for the RFC in its subsequent air campaign over Arras in April, 1917.