Roland Garros, Anthony Fokker And The WWI Fighter Plane Revolution

Left: Roland Garros c. 1910, Right: Anthony Fokker c. 1916, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

In World War One, the French airman, Roland Garros, took the first step in revolutionizing the airplane for warfare. His dream was to be able to fire a machine gun through turning airplane propellers without endangering the aircraft. Garros’ design was simplistic and not the most efficient model, but it got the job done—he basically armored his propellers with metal wedges that deflected bullets away from the propeller blades. Even though his design was a bit brutish, Roland Garros managed to shoot down four German airplanes by the time he crashed and was captured by the Germans in 1915. He would remain a prisoner of war in Germany until 1918.

Unfortunately for the Allied Powers of WWI, Roland Garros was not all that was recovered from the crash in 1915—Germany also salvaged Garros’ airplane propeller and gun design. The Germans then handed the design over to the brilliant Dutch engineer, Anthony Fokker. Although Fokker wanted to remain neutral in WWI, and had actually tried to sell his airplanes to the Allies, the Allied Powers had refused to buy his planes and Germany became his main client. The Allies would soon regret their decision not to work with Fokker, for he would take Garros’ design and improve it exponentially.

In less than a year after Roland Garros was captured, Anthony Fokker designed a mechanism that synchronized an airplane’s machine gun to the propellers in such a way that the bullets passed by the propeller blades like clockwork without collision. With this new invention in 1915, the Fokker E-1 fighter plane was born and the Fokker Scourge of German air superiority began.

As for Roland Garros, he escaped from German custody in February of 1918 and immediately took to the skies in an Allied fighter plane. Unfortunately for Garros, however, his plane was shot down later that year, but this time, he did not survive. In a twist of irony, the German plane that shot Garros out of the sky was none other than one of Anthony Fokker’s synchronized fighter planes.

Written by C. Keith Hansley

Sources:

• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Anthony-Herman-Gerard-Fokker  
• http://www.nationalaviation.org/our-enshrinees/fokker-anthony/ 
• http://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.asp?aircraft_id=393  
• http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/29/sport/roland-garros-war-hero-french-open/

The Heart And Brain Of The WWII British Royal Air Force Fighters—Air Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding

(Photograph of Air Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, circa 1935, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

One of the lesser-known heroes from World War Two is Sir Hugh Dowding. For much of the 1930s Dowding headed the research and development of the RAF. While he directed R&D, he backed the development of radar, and he also was involved in incorporating the Spitfire and Hurricane aircraft into RAF use.

Around 1937, Sir Hugh Dowding was appointed as head of Fighter Command. In this position, he strengthened the structure of the RAF and reworked British fighter strategy and doctrine.

By April 1940, when the Battle of Britain began, Dowding had been involved in developing, structuring and drilling doctrine into the RAF. Due to his mechanical and theoretical contributions to the Royal Air Force, Britain was well equipped to defend against the larger German Luftwaffe.

Written by C. Keith Hansley

Source:

• Warfare in the Western World: Military Operations Since 1871 by Robert A. Doughty and Ira D Gruber et al. Massachusetts: D. C. Heath and Company, 1996.

In WWII, The Allies Adopted Much Of Their Airborne Tactics From The German Capture of Crete

(Airplanes and parachutes above Crete, [German paratroopers from JU 52 cargoplanes]. Greece, Crete, 1941, [Public Domain] via Flickr)

In 1941, Germany set its sights on the strategically important island of Crete. Any country that controlled the airfields of Crete could send airplanes into Greece and the Balkans, and keep an eye on Turkey’s important city of Istanbul—a place that was filled with much international intrigue during the war.

To take Crete, the Germans would need to defeat the British and Greek troops that were defending the island. The task of the German forces would be even more arduous, however, because British intelligence had already warned the defenders of Crete that an attack was imminent. In response, the Allies readied their defense on the island’s coastline, waiting for the Germans to arrive.

Germany’s General Kurt Student led the planning for the attack on Crete. He decided to attack the island using a combined invasion force of Italy’s navy and the German Luftwaffe. The ultimate objective of his plan was to use airborne paratroopers to seize the airfields of Crete at Maleme, Rhethymnon and Herakleion, where more reinforcements could be flown in to secure control of the island.

When the plan was put into action, it did not go smoothly. The Italian Navy took a beating from the Britaish ships, and the German planes carrying paratroopers (and towing gliders) were also heavily damaged. Nevertheless, the Luftwaffe aircraft flew inland and dropped their paratroopers in range of the Allied airfields. While the Allied defenses were still focused on the coast, the German airborne infantry captured the airfield at Maleme. With an airfield secured, the Germans flew in reinforcements and weaponry, allowing them to take other parts of the island. Realizing that Crete was lost, the Allied defenders withdrew.

Even though the Allies lost the strategically important island of Crete, they gained something even more vital—a respect and understanding of the power and utility of airborne warfare.

Source:

• Warfare in the Western World: Military Operations Since 1871 (Volume II), edited by Robert A. Doughty and Ira D. Gruber et al. Massachusetts: D. C. Heath and Company, 1996.