Activities of German Aviation in the Sinia-Palestine Front of the World War I

Abstract

Other states were also involved in the First World War, which started as a result of the political struggle between England and Germany, on the axis of their own interests. In this context, the Ottoman Empire entered the First World War within the Alliance Group in order to recapture the lands it lost recently and regain its former power. The Ottoman Army entered the war with 6 active and flying aircraft and 6 pilots to use these aircraft. The Ottoman Commander-in-Chief tried to compensate for the lack of aviation with the aircraft, personnel, and mechanic it procured from Germany. In this context, during the war from Germany; 415 aircraft were recruited and air operations were carried out with 390 German pilots and 1740 German mechanics assigned to the Ottoman fronts. Meanwhile, Pilot Captain Serno was appointed as the head of Ottoman aviation with the permission of the German Commander-in-Chief.
 Although many studies have been conducted on the land battles of the First World War, the use of air power and its effect on the outcome of the war have not been sufficiently investigated yet. However, air power frontal battles; had an impact on the course of the war with aspects such as an attack, reconnaissance, bombardment, declaration, and material transfer. While the war was going on, the Ottoman Commander-in-Chief used some of the aircraft, pilots, and mechanics it supplied from Germany on the Sinai-Palestine Front.
 In this study, the cooperation between the Ottoman State and Germany in the field of aviation in the region, from the opening of the Sinai-Palestine Front to the end of the war, will be included using archive documents.