Abstract
In the Spring of 1909 Field Marshal Earl Roberts inquired of General Sir William Nicholson, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, about the state of British military aviation. Nicholson’s response is quite revealing, especially in light of Alfred Gollin’s chapter. ‘As regards aeroplanes’, Nicholson said, ‘we maintain an open mind and hope not to be behindhand, but so far I am not quite convinced about their military value’. Since aeroplanes had to travel at least 30 to 40 miles per hour, Nicholson seriously doubted their value as a reconnaissance arm and ‘as regards dropping explosives with any attempt at accuracy’, there was, he said, ‘Nothing to guide us in forming an opinion’.1
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© 1990 The Military Studies Institute of Texas A & M University
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Kennedy, T.C. (1990). Comment. In: Adams, R.J.Q. (eds) The Great War, 1914–18. Studies in Military and Strategic History. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-11454-2_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-11454-2_5
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