Infantry aviators
The infantry pilots served in the First World War for military reconnaissance of the opposing positions. They became an important ally of the infantry .
History and probation
In the material battle on the Somme , the mutual artillery attacks had completely redesigned the area and fundamentally changed the fighting of the infantry. Any connection with the foremost combat groups had become impossible due to enemy bolt fire. The exact position of the front line was often not known even to the infantry command, much less to the artillery as a long-range weapon. Their support was particularly lacking when it was needed most urgently by the infantry in order to be able to hold land that had been won. In ignorance of the situation, the leadership often did not know where to use reserves and where to put barrages of artillery if their own troops were not to be endangered. Even when the opposing offensive subsided and the later transition to defense, the situation did not change. The only thing left was the view from above through the aircraft, who had to see the infantry with the eye from the lowest flight altitude. Very soon it became the target of machine guns and sniper troops .
"The activity of the infantry aviator touches on perhaps the highest and most devoted thing that the young aviator has achieved in the mighty struggle of nations."
The infantry pilots Hans-Georg Horn and Wilhelm Paul Schreiber were awarded the Pour le Mérite .
Individual evidence
See also
literature
- Georg Paul Neumann: The entire German air force in the 1st World War . Berlin 1920. Reprint, Bremen 2011, ISBN 978-3-86741-672-6
- Regulations for trench warfare for all weapons , Part 6: The infantry pilot and the infantry balloon . Berlin 1917. Reprint 2001
- The infantry aviator and the infantry balloon . Berlin 1917
Web links
- Excerpts from Neumann
- flieger-album.de ( Memento from January 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- Fliegerabteilung 221 (artillery)