Gotha's and hostile civilians

G'day All,

I have often read of the panic in the streets as Gothas dropped their bombs on London etc. I have been reading an essay Stan Goble wrote when attending the RAF staff college.

His view of the raids during April - July 1917 were as follows;

"During the period mentioned the daylight raids by enemy bombers were commenced and it was a matter of interest to see the change in attitude of the man in the street towards the flying officer in uniform. Admiration was replaced by openly expressed hostility".

Does anyone know of any other pilots expressing the civilian populations anger towards them during these raids? So much for the famous stiff upper lip

Andrew

Andrew: Recently read the book "Strategy Without Slide-Rule." It talks about the civilian and government and political reactions to not only the Gothas but the Zeps. Showing you how my mind works, I also saw something on the web about civilians giviing pilots a hard time. The pilots were Brits or Canadians or Americans, and the civilians were French. It seems that, everytime the pilots would attack the local bordello, the civilians would shoot at them as they left. The problem was with the ladies giving the well-heeled pilots the *best service, while the poor locals got what was left. If you think about it, there is a parallel there somewhere.
* * * * * * * DD

[Dreamer]

For what its worth;

I've read interesting descriptions, by pilots who were downed during WWII, about the attitudes of civilians towards them (both the "enemy" and the "allies"), that show surprise. Apperently, during both world wars, all pilots, never considered what their weaponry was doing to people on the ground. In fact, according to the few histories that bring up the subject, it was not until the end of the twentieth century that we begin to see indications that pilots are even considering the havoc that they are creating. I'm sure this was a sort of "mental defence" against the horrors of war. After all fighter pilots are by definition 'Fratricides".

[Vigilant]

I have just been reading this in John McGavock Grider's Diary of an Unknown Aviator:

May 10 1918:
When we got to the station it was already packed. We couldn't get down to the platform so camped on a landing half way down. The air was foul as the Black Hole of Calcutta and these people certainly were scared. We cheered the girls up and drank the whicky and felt better. Every one had broughtcamp stools and it sure was a funny sight. I hadn't realized before how successful the raids are. It doesn't matter whether they hit anything or not as long as they put the wind up the civilian population so thoroughly. These people wanted peace and they wanted it quick.

The station in question was a London underground station of course. No mention of abuse from the civilians in this case.

Vig.

I am reading Combat and Command by Sholto Douglas and, in it, he says: "There were instances I heard of in which the men and officers of the Royal Flying Corps were attacked by irate civilians for not putting up a more effective stop to the raids, but such an experience was never mine. In fact, I found that the civilians were rather sympathetic toward the Royal Flyinf Corps...(166). The raids in question are Gotha raids.
DD

I wonder how often Sholto-Douglas had a stroll amongst the folk of London?

Thanks for the info guys.

Andrew.

Andrew: Often enough to comment. Douglas also talked about reactions to him in Ireland. He went there to inspect sites for air bases. When he flew into an area, he was received with enthusiasm; the lads had never seen a airplane. When, he drove to a location, he was just another Brit officer that deserved....
DD