033 BLOODY APRIL 1917: The Birth of Modern Air Power

1-968033

Examines how 1917 air battles over the Western Front, known as Bloody April, caused Allied forces to reassess their approach to the use of airpower by considering well-known problems such as technology and training doctrine, but also how the artillery-aircraft combination had to work in late-WW I ground offensives. Analyses what each side got wrong and describes little-known parts of the April campaign, such as both sides' use of strategic bombing with heavy aircraft. Also considers the German use of advanced high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft with oxygen and heated suits while detailing the exploits of the infamous Red Baron Manfred von Richthofen.