aviation

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(63)

1911

September

29
- Italo-Turkish war breaks outOn 29 September 1911 Italy declared war on the Ottoman Empire to seize Tripolitania and Cyrenaica. Turkey's weakness emboldened the Balkan states.

1914

August

30
- First German air raid on ParisOn 30 August 1914 a German Taube dropped a few small bombs on Paris and a note urging the city to surrender. It was the first air raid on the French capital.

September

22
- First wireless link between an aircraft and artilleryIn September 1914 Royal Flying Corps airmen over the Aisne first directed artillery fire by wireless. It was the beginning of aerial artillery observation.
28
- First markings on German aircraftAt the end of September 1914 it was noted that German aircraft bore black crosses. The markings were meant to protect airmen from their own troops' fire.

November

12
- Markings on British aircraftOn 12 November 1914 an order required all Royal Flying Corps aircraft to carry identification marks. The Union flag gave way to a French-style roundel.

December

1915

March

April

01
- Roland Garros shoots down an aircraft through the propellerOn 1 April 1915 Roland Garros shot down a German Albatros with a gun firing through the propeller, shielded by steel wedges. The fighter aircraft was born.

August

12
- First ship sunk by a torpedo from a seaplaneOn 12 August 1915 a British Short 184 seaplane torpedoed a Turkish ship near Bolayır. It was the first combat aerial torpedo attack in history.

October

01
- Start of the "Fokker Scourge"In autumn 1915 German Fokker monoplanes with a machine gun firing through the propeller gave Germany air superiority over the Western Front.

1916

February

28
- British squadron formed to bomb German industryIn February 1916 the British naval air service formed a squadron of Sopwith aircraft to raid factories in Germany. It became the nucleus of No. 3 Wing RNAS.

April

May

June

18
- Death of Max ImmelmannOn 18 June 1916 near Lens Max Immelmann, the "Eagle of Lille" and Germany's first great ace, was killed. His Fokker broke up in a fight with British F.E.2bs.

July

September

October

28
- Death of Oswald BoelckeOn 28 October 1916 over the Somme Oswald Boelcke, creator of fighter tactics and a 40-victory ace, was killed in a collision with a squadron comrade.

November

1917

March

April

30
- Bloody AprilIn April 1917 over Arras German fighter squadrons shot down more than 240 British aircraft. RFC airmen called the month "Bloody April".

May

June

July

August

22
- Last daylight raid on EnglandOn 22 August 1917 Gothas bombed Margate, Ramsgate and Dover. The defences shot down three of them, and the Germans gave up daylight raids on England.

September

November

29
- The Air Force ActOn 29 November 1917 the British Air Force Act received royal assent. It paved the way for merging the army and navy air services into the RAF.

December

21
- Creation of the Air CouncilOn 21 December 1917 an Order in Council of King George V set the membership of the Air Council, which was to run an air force independent of the army and navy.

1918

January

02
- The Air Ministry is createdOn 2 January 1918 Lord Rothermere became Secretary of State for Air, and on 3 January the Air Council took over the duties of the Air Board.

March

07
- Giants raid LondonOn the night of 7 March 1918 German giant bombers attacked London without moonlight. A bomb weighing a ton destroyed houses in Warrington Crescent.

April

May

June

July

August

05
- Last Zeppelin raidOn 5 August 1918 five naval airships set out for England. A British DH.4 shot down L 70 over the sea, killing Peter Strasser, the head of the airship service.

September

October

November

05
- Sinking of HMS CampaniaOn 5 November 1918 Campania, a former liner converted into a seaplane carrier, sank in the Firth of Forth. Torn from her anchorage, she rammed two warships.