World War One Aviation   
A decade after the Wright Brothers historic flight, airplanes entered the battle theater. World War I was the first war in which aircraft were deployed on a large scale. From observation balloons to Zeppelins to all manner of fighter planes, bombing raids and dogfights ruled the skies. Click on a thumbnail image for preview and caption.
 

World War One - Aviation<br>A British airman drops a bomb, complete with written messages, on the enemy.<br>Undated ©TopFoto/ The Image Works
ETPM1284078
Dogfight between British and German aircraft, World War I, c1916-c1918. ©Stapleton Historical Collection / HIP / The Image Works
EHIP6001153
World War I. English observation balloon of the Royal Flying Corps. © Roger-Viollet / The Image Works
ERVL0099914

World War One - Aviation<br>German air force and pilots rush to rescue aircraft and put out a fire after a bombing raid by allied forces (note the bomb crater). undated 1914-1918 ©TopFoto/ The Image Works
ETPM1284138
World War One - Aviation<br>A British chaplain preaches to the troops from the cockpit of an aeroplane.<br>1918 ©TopFoto/ The Image Works
ETPM1284121
Edward Vernon Rickenbacker (1890-1973), nicknamed Fast Eddie, American fighter pilot and air ace of 94th Aero Squadron during the First World War. Seen here in northern France in his Spad XIII. © Robert Hunt Lbry / Mary Evans / The Image Works
EMEP0528244

Crashed British plane World War I . 1914-1918 ©2004 TopFoto / The Image Works
ETPM0762498
World War One - Aviation<br>14 October 1915<br>The L 15 zeppelin during a forced landing outside Nordholz base, Germany, after a raid on England.<br> ©TopFoto/ The Image Works
ETPM1284100
World War One - Aviation<br>6 August 1917<br>Captain (later Air Marshal) William Avery Bishop VC, CB, DSO and Bar, MC, DFC, ED, tending to the machine gun in the cockpit of an aeroplane.<br>Canadian First World War flying ace, officially credited with 72 victories, making him the top Canadian ace, and according to some sources, the top ace of the British Empire. ©TopFoto/ The Image Works
ETPM1284119

World War One - Aviation<br>A Russian three and a half ton Ilya Muromet aeroplane.<br>The Russians built 73 Ilya Muromets bombers between 1913 and 1918. During this period, they were the first in aviation history to perform bombing from heavy bombers, bomber group raids on enemy targets, night bombing and photographic bomb damage assessment. They were also the first to develop defensive tactics for a single bomber engaged in an air combat with a number of enemy fighters.<br>The Ilya Muromets performed more than 400 sorties and dropped 65 tons of bombs during the war. The Russian government and Sikorsky sold the design and production license to the British and French governments. The Germans tried to copy its design, using the fragments of the Ilya Muromets they had shot down. ©TopFoto/ The Image Works
ETPM1284116
World War One - Aviation<br>A German official photograph demonstrating the method of escape from an observation balloon in the event of attack.<br>undated ©TopFoto/ The Image Works
ETPM1284142
WW2: German troop train being taken by the chief officer of the Zeppelin. (or WW1?) ©2003 Topham Picturepoint/ The Image Works
ETPM0782722

Aircraft taking off from Aircraft carrier in World War I 1914-1918 ©TopFoto / The Image Works
ETPM0712706
WWI British Royal Air Force fighter plane aircraft SE or Scott Experimental stationary at an airbase . 1914-1918 ©TopFoto/ The Image Works
ETPM1235658
WWI - A plane flying over the Western Front<br>undated - 1914-1918 ©Fotomas / ©Topfoto / The Image Works
ETPM1280586

World War One - Aviation<br>German air force and pilots rush to rescue aircraft and put out a fire after a bombing raid by allied forces (note the bomb crater). undated 1914-1918 ©TopFoto/ The Image Works
ETPM1284138
Britain's first fighter ace, Captain Albert Ball at the age of 20. he usually flew a Nieuport Scout . WWI 1914-1918 ©TopFoto / The Image Works
ETPM0686444
World War One - Aviation<br>The Avro 529 was a twin-engined biplane long-range bomber of the First World War. Two prototypes were built but no production ensued.<br>April 1917 ©TopFoto/ The Image Works
ETPM1284111

WWI - A plane flying over the Western Front<br>undated - 1914-1918 ©Fotomas / ©Topfoto / The Image Works
ETPM1280586
Women's Participation in War . Women workers doping the canvas covering of aircraft wings ©2003 Topham Picturepoint/ The Image Works
ETPM0686252
A striking photograph taken in mid-air showing a british airman in action with a revolver . 1914-1918 WWI ©2005 TopFoto/ The Image Works
ETPM0969273

The fuselage of a German Fokker E.III aeroplane, captured in France, is paraded up Fleet Street as a trophy, through the City of London during the Lord Mayor's Show of 1916, Great Britain. 8/1/1916 ©Press Association / The Image Works
EPRS1391020
Two nurses take care of several children who have been wounded in an air raid. , 01.01.1914-31.12.1918 Air attacks on Germany, First World War, 1814-1918 german empire, 01.01.1914-31.12.1918 ©SZ Photo / Scherl / The Image Works
ESVB0473734
A squadroon of British battle planes is ready for takeoff., 01.01.1914-31.12.1918 British aircrafts - shot planes, First World War, Luftkrieg Fliegertruppe, Germany 1914-1918 german empire, 01.01.1914-31.12.1918 ©SZ Photo / Scherl / The Image Works
ESVB0472828

World War I. French airplane shot down by Germans. © ND / Roger-Viollet / The Image Works
ERVL0096716
World War I. A Farman biplane ready to take-off. France, 1915-16. © Roger-Viollet / The Image Works
ERVL0096507
World War I. The French bomber Bréguet (1916). © Jacques Boyer / Roger-Viollet / The Image Works
ERVL0397117

An Italian Ansaldo SVA 5 reconnaissance biplane, developed in 1917 and used towards the end of the First World War. © Robert Hunt Lbry / Mary Evans / The Image Works
EMEP0537196
An anti-aircraft gun with the name Skinny Liz painted on it, on the Western Front during the First World War. © Robert Hunt Lbry / Mary Evans / The Image Works
EMEP0528850
Baron Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (1892-1918), also known as the Red Baron, legendary German fighter pilot during the First World War. Seen here just after landing from a combat flight in an early Fokker plane (possibly a Dr.I), which can be seen in the background. © Robert Hunt Lbry / Mary Evans / The Image Works
EMEP0528192

British soldiers of the Royal Horse Artillery attached to the 1st Cavalry Division firing at a German plane with an automatic rifle (a Hotchkiss Mark 1) fixed to a limber towards the end of the First World War. © Robert Hunt Lbry / Mary Evans / The Image Works
EMEP0528574
German Friedrichshafen G III bomber, Ljungbyhed airfield, Sweden, 1919. From the Landskrona Museum Collection. Sweden ©IBL Bildbyra / HIP / The Image Works
EHIP6600461
Zeppelin airship in WWI ©Topham / The Image Works<br>PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IMAGE CONTAINS A HALF TONE SCREEN. EXPERIENCE HAS SHOWN THAT MOST PRINTERS ARE ABLE TO MATCH<br>THE DOT PATTERN. LET US KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY DIFFICULTY WITH THE IMAGE. <br>
ETPM057187

Women workers, World War I - British women aeroplane workers in the Midlands, acetylene welding frame lugs for planes during World War I ©Mary Evans/Robert Hunt Collection / The Image Works
EMEP0272346
France - 1916 World War I. In a forward trench, men carrying aerial torpedos on their back. ©Photo12 / The Image Works
EPHD1019376
Battle of Broodseinde - Silhouette of an anti aircraft gun (13 pounder 9 cwt) mounted on a motor lorry being fired by soldiers at the Battle of Broodseinde on 4th October 1917 during World War I 4th October 1917 ©Mary Evans/Robert Hunt Collection / The Image Works
EMEP0265382

World War I. The american senior master sergeant Lufberry in front of his fighter Nieuport equipped with a machine gun, in 1916. BOY-8105 1916 © Jacques Boyer / Roger-Viollet / The Image Works
ERVL0100811
Sopwith Camel, 1917.A Sopwith Camel, First World War fighter seen outside a hangar. The Camel, being small and lightweight, represented the latest in fighter design at the time. It shot down 1,294 enemy aircraft during World War I (1914-1918), more than any other Allied fighter. More men lost their lives learning to fly it than using it in combat, because it was so hard to fly. ©Science Museum/SSPL / The Image Works
ESSP0155903
French air ace Adolphe Pegoud, 1914-1915. Pegoud, 4th from right, standing in front of his plane on the day when fellow officers presented him with a bouquet in celebration of his latest citation. Pegoud was a test pilot for Bleriot before World War I and in 1913 became the first pilot to intentionally perform aerobatics. He was killed in action in 1915. Ann Ronan Picture Library / HIP / The Image Works
EHIP0110379

The crew of the first aircraft to shoot down another aeroplane, 1914. Flight-Sergeant Joseph Frantz, a French army pilot, and his mechanic Louis Quenault who, on 5 October 1914 shot down a German Aviatik from their Voisin biplane, claiming the first victory in aerial combat. Ann Ronan Picture Library / HIP / The Image Works
EHIP0110386
Hamptons Munitions Works, Lambeth, 1916. Men making wooden aircraft propellors at Hamptons Munitions Works, Belvedere Road, Lambeth. The floor is covered with wood shavings. During World War I many factories were converted to support the war effort. ©HIP-Archive / Topham/ The Image Works
EHIP0497753
TO THE DEATH! - To the Death! - A Glorious Incident of Aerial Warfare on the Western Front, showing a British biplane crashing into a German plane in a dogfight during the First World War 1918 ©Mary Evans / ILN / The Image Works
EMEP0235793

Bristol F.2B fighter<br>World War I<br>©Topham / The Image Works
ETPM0076406
The Most Magnificent Man in a Flying Machine, The Red Baron. Von Richthofen, the German Wold War I ace who downed 80 allied planes in the cockpit of his red-painted Albatross D.Va. ©Topham / The Image Works
ETPM052063
German Fokker triplane WWI ©Topham / The Image Works
ETPM052053


phone: 800-475-8801  845-679-8500    fax: 845-679-0606
Home | Search | Email | Help

© 2010 The Image Works. All Rights Reserved
Important: All the images on this site are distributed by The Image Works, are the property of the photographers and are protected by United States and international copyright laws. They may not be reproduced, stored, manipulated, and/or digitized without the written permission of The Image Works. Images may be used for viewing, comping and layout purposes only.