The First Air Battles & Air Aces of WWI | A Not-So-Brief History Of Military Aviation #3

Late 1915 saw the arrival of the ’Fokker Scourge’, where the German air force reigned supreme. This began one of the first true mechanical arms races, and the conflict in the sky gave birth to the first “Aces“ of the war. It would also see a shift in tactics, and a type of reformation take hold of the air services on the Western Front. Combat aircraft would become organised in the first dedicated fighter squadrons, rather than being handed out piecemeal. Advancements would be made in the development of bombers, and the user of Zeppelins to raid English soil would become commonplace. 1916 saw the battles of Verdun and the Somme, which saw aircraft utilised in larger numbers for the first time, setting the foundation for the final two years of the war which would see aircraft production enter an industrial level.