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Dropping bombs from planes was unheard of until 1st November 1911, when Italian Lieutenant Giulio Gavotti embarked on an aerial mission over Libya. With a handful of lightweight grenades resting in his lap, he headed to Ain Zara, a village near Tripoli, and chucked them overboard.\nThis audacious act occurred only eight years after the Wright brothers' initial flight. Early planes were difficult to manoeuvre, and unable to handle significant weight due to their construction from lightweight wood and paper. Nonetheless, the haphazard nature of the bombing attempt, involving improvised techniques and a lack of sophistication, was a bold step in the evolution of military aviation.\xa0\nIn this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how Gavotti\u2019s act laid the groundwork for aerial warfare, sparking discussions about the morality and strategic implications of bombing civilian sites; consider how the Italian press celebrated the achievement as \u2018the art of winged death\u2019; and reveal why Gavotti was not called a \u2018bomber\u2019, but \u2018a Flying Artillerman\u2019...\nFurther Reading:\n\u2022 \u2018Libya 1911: How an Italian pilot began the air war era\u2019 (BBC News, 2011): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13294524\n\u2022 \u2018The World\u2019s First Bombing Attack From The Air - Giulio Gavotti\u2019 (Century Of Flight, 2019): https://www.century-of-flight.net/the-worlds-first-bombing-attack/\n\u2022 \u2018Douhet and Command of the Air\u2019 (The Dole Institute of Politics, 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvmVyE4XfSI\nLove the show? Join \U0001f334CLUB RETROSPECTORS \U0001f334 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY!\nPlus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast.\nJoin now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!\nWe'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors\nThe Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.\nTheme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.\nCopyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023.\n\n Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices