BRITAIN'S AIR DEFENCES 1918-39

摘要

National air defence is not something that's set in stone, but rather a dynamic, complex process. The Royal Air Force was formed in 1918 in part due to the outrage over the successful attacks on southern England by the German Luftstreitkrafte, particularly the Gotha bombing of London in daylight on 13 June 1917, which killed 162 people. The Smuts Report, swiftly delivered in July, resulted in the RAF's creation, while the air defence infrastructure established to stop these raids still provides a basis for the system in place today. By 1918, the ramparts defending Britain could no longer consist solely of the Royal Navy, then with 60 battleships and battle-cruisers. They had to involve air defences as well. The new RAF had 3,000 frontline aircraft, while at the end of July, Maj Gen E. B. Ashmore - a pilot with, importantly, artillery experience - was appointed to command the London Air Defence Area, with its then-unique combination of unified ground and air defences. This comprised 16 fighter squadrons, 480 anti-aircraft guns and more than 700 searchlights, coordinated by central control and communications. The August 1917 Gotha raids having been turned back, a final night effort in May 1918 saw three Gothas falling to the anti-aircraft guns and three more to fighter aircraft, no further attacks following.