In 1916 the German Air Force formed the ‘England Squadron’, designed to break Britain’s fighting spirit. During the year-long campaign in 1917, German bombers carried out 52 raids on British cities, alongside Zeppelin missions, which killing hundreds of people and caused outrage among British citizens. In this new era of total warfare, these air-raids brought the conflict into peoples’ houses, schools and workplaces. Professor Edgar Jones, of King’s College London, considers the effects of air-raids on civilian morale, offering useful insights for today’s policy makers grappling with the threat of terrorism.
Read Air-raids casualties in the First World War on the History of Government Blog
