First Aerial Bombing
Ain Zara and Tajura, near Tripoli, Libya
What happened
Lieutenant Giulio Gavotti, a pilot in the Italian army, during the Italo-Turkish War between Italy and the Ottoman Empire. In 1911 Italy went to war with the Ottoman Empire to take Libya. On 1 November, Gavotti flew a small Etrich Taube monoplane over Ottoman positions. He screwed the detonators into four small grenades by hand and dropped them over the side, three on the Tajura oasis and one on a camp at Ain Zara.
Why it matters
Why it matters: It was the first time bombs were dropped from an aeroplane in war. The Italo-Turkish War was one of the first conflicts to use aircraft, and it changed how wars would be fought.
What came next
Italy won the war, and the Treaty of Ouchy in October 1912 gave it control of Libya's coast. The war encouraged the Balkan states to attack the Ottomans, starting the First Balkan War.
Did you know?
A week before the first bombing, Captain Carlo Piazza made the first flight to spy on enemy lines from the air.
Timeline
- 29 September 1911The Italo-Turkish War begins.
- 23 October 1911Carlo Piazza makes the first aerial reconnaissance flight.
- 1 November 1911Giulio Gavotti drops the first bombs from an aeroplane.
- 18 October 1912The Treaty of Ouchy ends the war.