Reconnaissance Flights

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Reconnaissance Flights

Work in: Methods of Global History (W2)

SoSe 2006

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Hans-Heinrich Nolte

Handed in by:

Name: Selver Islamaj

Matriculation number: 0402763

Study code: A300, A312

Date: 23rd

of October 2006



2

Index

I. Preface..................................................................................................................................... 3

1. Reconnaissance Flights .......................................................................................................... 3

1.1 Prehistory ......................................................................................................................... 3

1.2 The First and Second World War.....................................................................................5

1.2.1 The First World War ................................................................................................. 5

1.2.2 The Second World War ............................................................................................. 6

1.3 Revolution of Reconnaissance after the Second World War until now......................... 11

1.3.1 Links to some Places from maps.google.com......................................................... 14

2. Epilogue ............................................................................................................................... 14

3. Sources ................................................................................................................................. 15

3.1 Internet ........................................................................................................................... 15

3.2 Literature ........................................................................................................................ 15



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I. Preface

I want to take a view on reconnaissance flights and their importance for the wars. I’m going

to show you the process of reconnaissance-flights and than the form of use. It’s not easy to

find many literature works on it. But there are some sources that can be used as main part

for this work.

First we have to ask ourselves how and why the reconnaissance-flights started. What where

they used for? In this work, I’m going to find the answers. I may take a view on the changes

of the technique and the objects that where used.

My main part will be concentrated on the Second World War; I’ll give a reason later.

1. Reconnaissance Flights

1.1 Prehistory It was always a desire of human to attack their enemies from the air, and defeat them. The

old Chinese, Romanian, Parther and Indian had thought about it. But they had not the ability

to do so. Even in the Middle Ages were people able only to imagine flying dragons, but not

more.

The first person who intensively worked on aviation was Francesco de Lana. He describes

1670 a flying ship that is going to be carried by four copper balloons, that where Vacuum-

sealed.1

The first one who was able to use aircraft during a War was the army of France. After the first

flight with a balloon on 21st of November 1783 in Paris, the army was interested in using it for

their own aims.

During the war against the Austrians, the French army used a balloon in the battle of Fleurus

on 26th of June 1794. It is said, that this could be a reason for the victory of the French army.

For these reason was built a group of balloon-flyers called “Aérostiers” that was resolved in

1799, because of the complicated use in a movement fight.2

The first use after the break-up of using balloons was by the Austrian Army during the War

against Venedig. About 110 hot-air balloons were started on the 2nd of July 1849 on board

with 22.2 kg bombs, from whom only four or five could detonate on the city, the rest had to

fight with bad wind conditions. So this action failed.3

1Jean Roeder – Bombenflugzeuge und Aufklärer, (Koblenz, 1990), S 10.





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In 1861 during the American Civil War the Union Army used also balloons the view the

movements of their enemies. But after the moving of War, from 1863 on, the balloon-flyers

had the same problem like the Frenchmen at the end of the 18 th century. They were not able

to follow the movements of the enemy, because the War had a new speed, they couldn’t

handle with such a technique.4

Picture 1:5

In 1875 begins France building up the “Aérostation militaire”, and Germany makes up leeway

in 1884, and grades up his balloons in 1896 to a better form “Parseval-Sigsfeld-

Drachenballon”. This one was more stable and had a cylinder form.

6

The first plane that was used for a War fight was the Italian “Etricht Taube” on 22nd of

October 1911, against a turkey military camp. It used a 2 kg bomb and a fire gun. 7


5 http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1861/october/reconnaissance-balloon.jpg (date 17th of October 2006).6

Jean Roeder – Bombenflugzeuge und Aufklärer, (Koblenz, 1990), S 11.7 http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luftkrieg (date: 4th of October 2006).



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1.2 The First and Second World War

1.2.1 The First World War

Before the First World War started, some countries were able to build plains that were able tocarry two persons, and fly over 150km with a speed about 64,4km/h.8

The concentration on aerial reconnaissance was on the focus of both sides, the Allies and

the Middle powers. They were interested to know the movements of the enemies. The first

success of the aerial reconnaissance was achieved by the British „Royal Flying Corps (RFC)”

that made it possible to stop the movements of the Germans on the way to Marne. 9

Picture 2:10

The plains were used for fighting and also for reconnaissance flights, because of the static

warfare. It was important to know how fast the enemies are moving and where they are

positioned. People were positioned on captive balloons to manage the artilleries. Both sides

were interested to bring their own agents on the other side to mark targets. During the first

World War the use of Reconnaissance was not such important as it will get in the Second

one.

8Jean Roeder – Bombenflugzeuge und Aufklärer, (Koblenz, 1990), S 15-16.


10 http://www.geog.ucsb.edu/~jeff/115a/history/ww1_airsurveys.jpg (date 17th of October 2006).



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1.2.2 The Second World War

The Germans attacked from the beginning of the War with their “Luftwaffe” 11, to support their

soldiers. It also had a psychological effect for both sides. This accounted for the presence of

large numbers of dive bombers in the make-up, and the scarcity of long-range heavy

bombers. This 'flying artillery' greatly assisted in the successes of the German Army in the

Battle of France (1940). Hitler wanted to be sure that they have the air superiority . We can

see it when the Germans Dünkirchen attacked. The Allies could evacuate their army before

the German Air force went on to bomb the city. The Picture shows a reconnaissance flight

over Rotterdam, before the German troops attacked the city in May 1940.

Picture 3:12

11„Luftwaffe“ ist the German „Air Force“

12Brigitte Esser und Michael Venhoff – Chroniken des 2. Weltkrieges, (Augsburg, 1997), S 48.



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The could see that the army was concentrated in the City, and the snipers were positioned in

a district on the Willemsbrücke. So the Germans knew where they could concentrate their

bombings.13

After the fast occupation of Netherlands and main part of France, they focused Great Britain.

With this security on his back he started the invasion on Britain. Both sides were focused on

the bombing of the cities. Great Britain believed, that the Germans civilian moral war easier

to break with such a strategic bombing. These bombings will last till the end of the War. They

were adopted to start the night bombing, because their warplanes were lack of defensive

armament. The invasion of Britain started on August 1940 and ended with the defeat of the

Luftwaffe in May 1941.

Picture 4:14

Great Britain was able to know when the Germans are going to attack, because they had the

“Radar”15. So they were able to attack the German Plains when they came near their country.

13Brigitte Esser und Michael Venhoff – Chroniken des 2. Weltkrieges, (Augsburg, 1997), S 48.

14 http://www.arikah.net/commons/en/4/44/Heinkel_He_III_over_London_7_Sep_1940.jpg (date 22nd of October 2006).15

Gerhard L. Weinberg – Eine Welt in Waffen, Die globale Geschichte des Zweiten Weltkrieges, (Stuttgart,

1995), S 608.



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They focused the attacks on the big bombers. So the German Air force was not able to have

any success with their attacks over London.

The 8th squadron was equipped with B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators, both high-

altitude four-engined designs with turbo-superchargers. The new bombers also featured the

strongest defensive armament yet seen - up to 12.50 calibre machine guns, depending on

the version, most of them in power-operated turrets. Flying during daylight in large, close

formations, so that they can gain the air superiority.

Germany started the War against the Sowjetunion 1941, were they also used their Luftwaffe

to bomb Leningrad, Stalingrad and Moscow.

Before the Germans attacked Leningrad, they made a reconnaissance flight to see how

strong the defence will be. With these they were able to see where the army was positioned,

and how strong they have been. The Russian Army was in the mountains behind the city,

where they had a strong artillery, which whom they could defend the city. For the Germans

was this a big problem, although they knew the position of the enemy.

Picture 5:16

16Brigitte Esser und Michael Venhoff – Chronik des 2.Weltkriegs, (Augsburg, 1997), S 125.



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But the superiority of the Air was no longer in the hands of the German “Luftwaffe”, but the

Allies had taken it over, when the United States started bombing in Europe, in 1942.

They attacked the cities during the day and the Royal Air Force bombed during the night.

On 24th of April 1942 the Royal Air Force attacked Rostock, with the focus on destroying the

industries, but this was not reached, because they destroyed the old part of the city, some

churches and Theatres. There were around 400 civilians killed during this attack. The

German Press condemned this attack as a “terror attack”, while the British government, said

that Rostock is an important and strategic place for replenishment of war material to the east

front.17

Picture 6:18

In winter 1943-44 gave Harrison the order of area-bombing on Berlin. He thought that he

could bring the people to move against their Regime. That was a fatal mistake, because

many cities where destroyed down to their grounds, like Köln, Wiener Neustadt, Berlin etc.

Picture 7: Köln after an attack of the Allies.19



19 http://www.willkommeninkoeln.de/media/bilder/021gee.jpg (date 22nd of October 2006).



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The Allies could also see that there were concentration camps in Germany and the Countriesthat were occupied. That was also a reason to speed up the War, because they knew that

people were not only held there, but get terminated. The secret service knew the main

camps with the capacity to kill thousands of people in a week. With reconnaissance flights

they could find out where the camps were situated, and could focus the liberation on this

way. With such pictures the Allies could follow the process of terminating people, because

they could see if there came smog from the Sims or not, and also see if there were new

graves near the camps.

Picture 8: Shows the Concentration Camp Auschwitz20

20 http://www.fpp.co.uk/Auschwitz/air_photos/Auschwitz_230844_lg.jpg (date on 22nd of October 2006).



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We can say that the Second World War was the main step for Reconnaissance in the history

of his being. Both sides were focused on observing the movements of the other side. They

wanted to know with which success they can enter an area. During the World Word II there

were on both sides many new plains produced that were only for Reconnaissance. From the

Beginning till the End they had pushed up the quality of the plains and also the cameras. We

can say that this time was a modernisation in many ways.

1.3 Revolution of Reconnaissance after the Second World War until

now

After the Second World War, there was a new problem in Southeast Asia. Korea started a

civil War, in which the USA and the UdSSR where invited. The War between North and



12

South-Korea lasted not long, and ended in a labile peace treaty with a demographic line.

There the Americans had to use also their Plains for Reconnaissance, to have an eye on the

movements of the Army of North-Korea, and to make tactical bombing. And also during the

Wars in Vietnam, the USA had to use Reconnaissance flights to find out where the enemy

was positions, but they had many problems there, because of the forests in the region. So

they used many sorts of bombs to destroy the forests, with not a success that they hoped to

reach.

During the end of the 1950ies the USA started a satellite-program named SAMOS. It was

made for spying on the Soviet Union. But also the Soviet Union had their own satellites in the

orbit focused on the US territory. They were used for imaginary intelligence or

reconnaissance. Doth sides were interested to know the strategic moves of the others. With

this technique the US was able to find out, that the Soviet Union was going to build up a base

in Cuba.

Picture 9: The Missile Crises21

W a s t a k e n w i t h a p l a n e

21 http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/41.jpg. (date on 22nd of October 2006).



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P i c t u r e 9 b : 22

CORONA image showing transport vehicles and bombers.

After these problem both sides were interested to have better technique to watch what the

other side is going to do. We can see that till now the improvement of the pictures is

amazing. We have plains that fly without pilots, and can be used for areas that are

dangerous, and where the satellite can’t have an eye on, because of his position.

Picture 10: The Predator 23

Till the end of 1990ies was Reconnaissance only for the Army and Secrete Services, but in

nowadays also civilians have the possibility to take a view on a city or a place he wants to

visit. You can see ground zero from your home, because there is a program called “google

earth”, or maps.google.com you can find there whatever you want. You have the Possibility

22 http://rst.gsfc.nasa.gov/Intro/Part2_26e.html . (date on 22nd of October 2006).

23 http://www.diehl-bgt-defence.de/uploads/tx_cliwsprograms/Predator.jpg . (date on 22nd of October 2006).

(Predator B is a high-flying, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed and manufactured by the US companyGeneral Atomics Aeronautical Systems in San Diego. The predecessor model Predator A has been successfully

used in many crisis regions of the world. With a length of 12mtr, a wing span of 20mtr and a launch mass of 4.7

tons, Predator B performs significantly better than its predecessor.)



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to see the bombed places to compare them how they looked after the war, and how they look

in our time.

(There are some links where you can see the pictures of Rotterdam, Berlin, Rostock etc.,

because I couldn’t print them out)

1.3.1 Links to some Places from maps.google.com

Rotterdam:http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=k&om=1&z=14&ll=51.910655,4.500961&spn=0.023933

,0.05785

R o s t o c k :http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=de&q=Rostock&sll=50.792047,7.822266&sspn=1.569

564,3.702393&ie=UTF8&z=13&ll=54.087389,12.133541&spn=0.045511,0.1157&t=k&om=1

Berlin:http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=de&q=Berlin&ie=UTF8&z=13&ll=52.528755,13.41190

3&spn=0.047203,0.171661&t=k&om=1

University of Vienna:http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=de&q=Wien&ie=UTF8&z=18&ll=48.213085,16.360171

&spn=0.001616,0.005364&t=k&om=1

2. Epilogue

We can see that it’s natural to know what the enemy is going to do, or where he is situated

was and is an old phenomenon. That is the reason why reconnaissance had to be on the up

and up with such a speed. As the War was displaced from the ground to the Air, it was more

important to know where the landing places and the ports were situated. The one, who

controls the air, was in favor. Every state wants to have this favor on his side. They are also

interested in loosing their man as few as possible. The use of internet photos can be a

danger for the future, because you can zoom as near as possible, that you can see people

walking in the street. This can be used by any terrorist organizations or people that want to

damage as more as possible.

We could see that something which started with a primitive technique, in nowadays has

reached a level that is not imaginable.



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3. Sources

3.1 Internet

• http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1861/october/reconnaissance-

balloon.jpg (date 17th of October 2006).

• http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luftkrieg (date: 4th of October 2006).

• http://www.geog.ucsb.edu/~jeff/115a/history/ww1_airsurveys.jpg (date 17th of

October 2006).

• http://www.arikah.net/commons/en/4/44/Heinkel_He_III_over_London_7_Sep_1940.j

pg (date 22nd of October 2006).

• https://reader010.{domain}/reader010/html5/0531/5b1003302193d/5b100339b0aa3.jpg(date 22nd of October

2006).

• http://www.fpp.co.uk/Auschwitz/air_photos/Auschwitz_230844_lg.jpg (date on 22nd

of October 2006).

• http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/41.jpg. (date on 22nd of October

2006).

• http://rst.gsfc.nasa.gov/Intro/Part2_26e.html. (date on 22nd of October 2006).

• http://www.diehl-bgt-defence.de/uploads/tx_cliwsprograms/Predator.jpg. (date on

22nd of October 2006). • http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=de&q=Wien&ie=UTF8&z=18&ll=48.213085,16.

360171&spn=0.001616,0.005364&t=k&om=1

• http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=de&q=Berlin&ie=UTF8&z=13&ll=52.528755,13

.411903&spn=0.047203,0.171661&t=k&om=1

• http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=de&q=Rostock&sll=50.792047,7.822266&sspn

=1.569564,3.702393&ie=UTF8&z=13&ll=54.087389,12.133541&spn=0.045511,0.115

7&t=k&om=1

• http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=k&om=1&z=14&ll=51.910655,4.500961&spn=0.

023933,0.05785

3.2 Literature

• Brigitte Esser und Michael Venhoff – Chroniken des 2. Weltkrieges, (Augsburg,

1997).

• Gerhard L. Weinberg – Eine Welt in Waffen, Die globale Geschichte des Zweiten

Weltkrieges, (Stuttgart, 1995).

• Jean Roeder – Bombenflugzeuge und Aufklärer, (Koblenz, 1990).

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