Were there any light restrictions placed on Amiens during WWI? I know it was under shelling threat, but was there much threat of aerial bombings? What was the general discipline? Thanks!
Hi James not sure what of the official stance was , but the reality of it was the streets were lit by gas light, as were most homes of that era or oil lamps the reality was you couldn't just turn off the gas supply at source , because when you turned it back on again the unlit gas would build up in homes creating a dangerous risk of explosion . the street lights were probably not lit , and individual properties would have blackout curtains in place . most probably a nigh time curfew in place as well ,
James ... aviation was in it's infancy I doubt whether the biplanes of the times would have flown at nighttime anyway , the threat of bombing would have come from zeppelin type machines , a new terror from the Skies , bringing in new defence weapons such as Anti Aircraft artillery and searchlights to counteract this .
Thanks again. I'll follow up on their nighttime activity and see what I can find. Once again, you've been very helpful.
Re: bi-planes flying at night. I have been told by a friend doing research in the field that it was indeed very rare for bi-planes to be up in the air at night as landing them was near-suicidal. However, I have read numerous accounts of nurses at CCSs that report seeing and hearing the planes - and being bombed by them - at nighttime. I guess the compromising stance is that, while rare, it was still somewhat of a very real threat.
Towards the end in 1917 the Germans were developing nightime bombing with 'Gotha' Bombers , this was mainly because nighttime was the safest environment for the operation , daytime missions were perilous and needed protection of fighter planes , landing and navigation were indeed perilous as can be imagined , by any pilot of the day . even 20 years later in 1939 the navigation at night with bombers was pretty hit and miss , mainly miss . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_strategic_bombing_during_World_War_I
