the Air Raids That Shook Britain During Great War: Shown in a Chronological Series of Official Ordnance Survey Maps

Air raids on the United Kingdom during the Great War began as isolated and relatively small-scale operations but evolved into a concerted campaign from late 1916 onwards. The establishment of the German Air Force's England Squadron, under the command of Captain Ernest Brandenburg, marked a strategic shift towards sustained aerial offensives intended to erode British morale.Between May 1917 and May 1918, this unit's Gotha G.IV and R.VI "Giant" bombers conducted fifty-two raids across Britain, resulting in 836 fatalities and 1,982 injuries. These fixed-wing bombing operations intensified and ultimately succeeded the earlier Zeppelin attacks-long-range missions carried out by hydrogen-filled airships converted for military use. By the war's conclusion, official statistics published in January 1919 recorded a total of 1,413 air-raid fatalities across the United Kingdom.Originally issued in 1935, independent of the seven text volumes of the official War in the Air series, this collection of seventy Ordnance Survey maps represents a unique cartographic record of the aerial campaign against Britain. In this edition, the maps are presented with newly commissioned expert commentary by Ian Castle, the leading authority on First World War air raids against the United Kingdom. His analysis contextualises each raid within the broader strategic and operational framework of the conflict, offering insight into both the conduct and consequences of the air war on the British home front.This volume constitutes an indispensable resource for scholars of the First World War, air power, and the civilian experience of total war.