The oases of Tagiura and Ain Zara: world's first aerial bombing targets
Fly to Tripoli (Tarabulus) and take a 2CV into the desert.
The Italians in Libya conducted the first true bombing raids in the history of war. The targets were not military or even strategic—but “psych-ops”—psychological warfare. They were the small oases (towns really) of Tagiura and Ain Zara on the North African coast. These were civilian targets chosen as the easiest way to deliver a message to the “Arabs” about the costs of resisting the Italians and their new weapons. Actually, at this stage, there were no bombs designed for planes, so the Italians used small grenades and tossed them out of the side of the bi-planes. Four bombs in total, each weighing 4 pounds (1.8 kilos), were dropped. The official Italian Air Force assessment was that the bombs had had “a wonderful effect on the morale of of the Arabs.”
Interestingly, the massive bombardment of the ancient city of Baghdad before the Iraq war at the start of the 21st century was similarly preceded by the US Secretary of Defense saying that the aim was neither military nor economic, but to create “shock and awe” amongst Iraqi civilians.
Italy is home to many great artistic schools and traditions, and one of the most aesthetically noteworthy is that of Futurism. The founder of the movement, one Tommaso Marinetti, followed a long philosophical tradition of glorifying war, conflict and destruction, all seen as part of destroying the old and creating the new. Marinetti said warfare was “hygienic.”
For his fellow Italian artists and poets in the movement, one such war in the Horn of Africa in 1911 was especially beautiful, and the new airplanes in particular provided an unmatched opportunity to mix art and practice. They mounted cameras onto their bi-planes and took real pictures of these first bombing runs and raids on African villages and oases. During the Battle of Tripoli on October 26, 1911, Marinetti himself soared into the air to shout encouragement to the Italian troops: “Fix bayonets! Charge!”
The first recorded bombing from a plane (although there had already been quite a few conducted from balloons) occurred on November 1, 1911 during the Italian-Turkish War over a Turkish camp at Ain Zara in Libya. Italy had been using aircraft to monitor enemy troop movements and search for Turkish artillery positions. One Italian pilot, a Lieutenant Giulio Gavotti, had a creative idea, and took four small grenades from a leather pouch he always carried with him (as one does), screwed in the detonators and tossed each over the side. Alas, no one was injured and little damage was done, but the principle had been established. Curiously though, the aerial bombing raids were at the time seen as barbaric and appalling, “ungentlemanly” even, and there was widespread condemnation of the Italians around the world. The ethical prohibition on bombing civilians remained until World War II, when the British, defeated by Germany at land and sea, found it their sole remaining advantage. Since then, bombing has never looked back.
Libya continues to experience periodic bombing from the democratic nations.
