The Air War at Gallipoli

A Gallipoli Association lecture - The Air War at Gallipoli by Gp Capt Christopher Finn MPhil FRAeS RAF (Retd). During 1915 the use of air power on the Western Front developed conceptually to the point where all the "Core Roles of Airpower" that we use today were evident by the end of the year. The technology was also developing, but the major changes were still to come, in 1916. But these developments were internal to the Army and the RFC. Gallipoli was different in that it was the first truly Joint campaign, with naval, land and air forces involved. Here air power was delivered by the RNAS whilst the "customer" was predominantly the Army. This talk examines the use of air power in the Gallipoli campaign by the British, French and Ottoman forces involved by considering: the environment and the enemy; technology and tactics; the impact of the Western Front on the campaign; and the issues of command, personalities and cultures. The speaker: Gp Capt Christopher Finn MPhil FRAeS RAF (Retd) was an RAF navigator with over 3000 hours flying, including a tour on Buccaneers in HMS Ark Royal. He was a weapons and tactics specialist and went on to be the RAF's Director of Defence Studies. On retiring in 2005 he spent the next ten years as a Senior Lecturer with Kings College London and, latterly the University of Portsmouth, teaching air power history and international relations at the RAF College Cranwell. Chris has extensive experience as a battlefield guide, and as a speaker and writer on air power issues. #WW1 #militaryhistory #aviation #gallipoli