Paratroopers in WWI?

At least two preconditions are needed for paras to appear: 1) Static-Line Parachuting, which was developed in Italy in the 1920s, and 2) Suitable aircrafts.

I think with WWI technology, there could still be small, commando-style raids tried with biplanes or even gliders. But large scale drops behind the enemy line could not be developed until large slow-moving aircrafts like Tupolev TB-3 was employed.

So, if the determination to develop parachuting warfare was there, could the Tactical questions be quickly solved with WWI technology? For instance, could WWI bombers be used for parachuting?
 
Airships

The parachute is simply a way to get the trooper from the air to the ground. I wonder--if the objective was important enough, could an airship perhaps be sent, especially in the earlier days of the war, to drop off raiders, possibly even with the airship being expendable and the aircrew joining the raiders?
 
In October 1918, Mitchell had suggested that 12,000 men of the US 1st Infantry Division could be outfitted with parachutes and dropped behind the German line near Metz. While General John Pershing was skeptical he order that operational plans be drawn up. Mitchell explained his idea:

“We could equip each man with a parachute, so that when we desired to make a rear attack on the enemy, we could carry these men over the lines and drop them off in parachutes behind the enemy position.”

This force was to attack the enemy’s rear in conjunction with a larger conventional offensive. Mitchell envisioned the operation as a new strategic role for the air corps however, in order to lift an entire division he would have needed sixty squadrons of the huge Handley Page Type 0 twin engine (see image #2) and four engine Handley Page V/1500 (see image #3) heavy bombers. Mitchell’s operations officer Major Lewis Brereton was tasked with planning the drop. The Type 0 was to carry 10 paratroops and two machine guns while the heavier V/1500 was to carry 20 men. One of the first major problems with the plan was that there would not be sufficient aircraft available until the spring/summer of 1919. Additionally producing enough parachutes for 12,000 men, 4,000 machine guns and thousands of tons of supplies was an insurmountable task. http://www.historicalfirearms.info/post/112510819579/aviation-firsts-billy-mitchells-plan-for-an
 
The parachute is simply a way to get the trooper from the air to the ground. I wonder--if the objective was important enough, could an airship perhaps be sent, especially in the earlier days of the war, to drop off raiders, possibly even with the airship being expendable and the aircrew joining the raiders?

Zeppelins are way too expensive, which include the training cost. If it's a commando raid, that's ok, but what I wanted was regiment or division- level airdrops.
 

TinyTartar

Banned
I can see Paratroopers, in terms of small groups of maybe between company and battalion size, being dropped with the intention of sowing mischief behind enemy lines at the start of hostilities being possible. For example, think about having multiple groups of highly trained German units dropped into Belgium and sow panic behind enemy lines, switching up signs, etc. Operations a lot like that of Skorzeny in WW2 at the Battle of the Bulge. Austrian incompetence was legendary, but I can see their 1914 Serbian campaign having a better shot if they were able to pull this kind of thing off.

I don't think any size larger than a regiment would be logistically feasible nor seen as worth it by high command for either side.

Also, doing it during the era of stalemate from 1915-early 1918 would be damn near impossible. The units would be chopped up and destroyed by the in depth reserves.

On non-Western front theatres, however, I see it as possible. The British could have done this, possibly in the Levantine theatre in late 1918 to speed along the advance. Ottoman defensive depth was haphazard and a divisional size attack, if such could ever be assembled and supplied, which I doubt, would be great.
 
I can see Paratroopers, in terms of small groups of maybe between company and battalion size, being dropped with the intention of sowing mischief behind enemy lines at the start of hostilities being possible. For example, think about having multiple groups of highly trained German units dropped into Belgium and sow panic behind enemy lines, switching up signs, etc. Operations a lot like that of Skorzeny in WW2 at the Battle of the Bulge. Austrian incompetence was legendary, but I can see their 1914 Serbian campaign having a better shot if they were able to pull this kind of thing off.

I don't think any size larger than a regiment would be logistically feasible nor seen as worth it by high command for either side.

Also, doing it during the era of stalemate from 1915-early 1918 would be damn near impossible. The units would be chopped up and destroyed by the in depth reserves.

On non-Western front theatres, however, I see it as possible. The British could have done this, possibly in the Levantine theatre in late 1918 to speed along the advance. Ottoman defensive depth was haphazard and a divisional size attack, if such could ever be assembled and supplied, which I doubt, would be great.

Emm, how about dropping them right behind the enemy trenches, a few kilometers behind the line? Would it be tactically helpful? It was a time when thousands died without even making a few yards of advance.
 
Tactically it might create a bit of confusion, strategically it would be a waste, since the men would likely be captured within hours, and they'd probably not be able to achieve enough in that time to make all the extra training worth it. And the total deployment wouldn't be more than a company, as you couldn't possibly load more than a squad per aircraft, and such aircraft would be as big as Russia's Ilya Muromets bombers.
 
Emm, how about dropping them right behind the enemy trenches, a few kilometers behind the line? Would it be tactically helpful? It was a time when thousands died without even making a few yards of advance.
Not in 1918 it wasn't - by the time that aircraft performance was good enough to do this the Entente forces were quite capable of blowing through just about any German defensive line while inflicting more casualties than they received.
 
The parachute is simply a way to get the trooper from the air to the ground. I wonder--if the objective was important enough, could an airship perhaps be sent, especially in the earlier days of the war, to drop off raiders, possibly even with the airship being expendable and the aircrew joining the raiders?

Zeppelin

The outbreak of World War I places Scots officer Geoffrey Richter-Douglas in an uncomfortable position. Although his allegiance is to Britain, his mother was from an aristocratic Bavarian family, and he spent his summers in Germany as a child. When Geoffrey is approached by a German spy who offers him a chance to defect, he reports the incident to his superiors, but instead of arresting the spy they suggest that he accept her offer--and become an Allied agent. In Germany, among old friends, Geoffrey discovers that loyalty is more complicated than he expected, especially when he finds himself aboard the maiden voyage of a powerful new prototype Zeppelin, headed for Scotland on a secret mission that could decide the outcome of the war.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068014/
 
In October 1918, Mitchell had suggested that 12,000 men of the US 1st Infantry Division could be outfitted with parachutes and dropped behind the German line near Metz. While General John Pershing was skeptical he order that operational plans be drawn up. Mitchell explained his idea:

“We could equip each man with a parachute, so that when we desired to make a rear attack on the enemy, we could carry these men over the lines and drop them off in parachutes behind the enemy position.”

This force was to attack the enemy’s rear in conjunction with a larger conventional offensive. Mitchell envisioned the operation as a new strategic role for the air corps however, in order to lift an entire division he would have needed sixty squadrons of the huge Handley Page Type 0 twin engine (see image #2) and four engine Handley Page V/1500 (see image #3) heavy bombers. Mitchell’s operations officer Major Lewis Brereton was tasked with planning the drop. The Type 0 was to carry 10 paratroops and two machine guns while the heavier V/1500 was to carry 20 men. One of the first major problems with the plan was that there would not be sufficient aircraft available until the spring/summer of 1919. Additionally producing enough parachutes for 12,000 men, 4,000 machine guns and thousands of tons of supplies was an insurmountable task. http://www.historicalfirearms.info/post/112510819579/aviation-firsts-billy-mitchells-plan-for-an

Had the war dragged on into 1919 I could see a reduced version of this attempted. Maybe they could have got up 6,000 men. Dropping them on a railway center like Metz would stall supply delivery across a armies worth of front & create a degree of over the shoulder paranoia among the German generals. No telling when another 6,000 would drop down :eek:
 
The average WW1 infantryman didn't have enough individual firepower with his bolt action rifle. A small force dropped behind enemy lines would need automatic weapons. So Lewis guns or maybe BARs. Ammunition expenditure then being the problem. You might be better looking for large fields to land aircraft in to unload troops supplies. The biggest problem though is the payload of early aircraft wasn't very great - with the planes generally available, you'd be lucky to get more than a couple of soldiers per plane. So it's "raiding only" for WW1 airborne operations.
 
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