I'm Dr Brett Holman, a historian living in Melbourne, Australia. My research interests primarily revolve around the place of aviation in British society and culture in the first half of the 20th century. In part this means trying to understand how the British people responded to the threat of strategic bombing, the fabled 'knock-out blow from the air', as well as how they responded to the reality of bombing by German Zeppelins and Gothas during t...
The Next War in the Air: Civilian Fears of Strategic Bombardment in Britain, 1908-1941 University of Melbourne, 2009 (adapted for publication by Ashgate, 2014). During the First World War, several writers began to argue that the main strategic risk to Britain was the possibility of a sudden, intense aerial bombardment of its cities, which would cause tremendous destruction and large numbers of casualties. The nation would be knocked-out of the wa...
This is a partial and preliminary bibliography. Primary sources Fiction Arlen, Michael. Man's Mortality: A Story. London: William Heinemann, 1933. Doughty, Charles M. The Cliffs. London: Duckworth, 1909. Gastine, Louis. War in Space: or, an Air-craft War between France and Germany. London and Felling-on-Tyne: Walter Scott Publishing, 1913. Gloag, John. Tomorrow's Yesterday. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1932. Earl of Halsbury. 1944. London: Thorn...
I've just put in a massive order at Abebooks (which links the catalogues of many secondhand booksellers from around the world). This is not something I will be able to afford to do often, but at the moment I am still working full-time so it is sort of affordable. One thing I've found out that is that even if you choose the slower, cheaper postage option, it usually doesn't take anything like the estimated 21-36 (or more) working days to get to Au...
... If you want to get in touch with me, you can either use the form below, or email me directly at bholman at airminded dot org. Message Sent Thank you for your message, we will be in touch very shortly. Sorry, there has been a problem and your message was not sent. Please enter your contact details and a short message below and I will try to answer your query as soon as possible. Name: Email Address: Confirm Email Address: Message: ...
I've (mostly) finished a big update to my other site, scareships, which is about the British phantom airship scares of 1909 and 1912-3 - essentially, Edwardian UFO waves. To my mind, the fact that people (including, for a time, newspaper editors) believed that German zeppelins were buzzing their country - when in fact they weren't - shows that fear of airpower (in this case, espionage rather than bombing) came early to Britain. But I've created t...
Brief biographies of some significant figures in airpower literature. Noel Pemberton Billing L. E. O. Charlton Claude Grahame-White P. R. C. Groves Montagu of Beaulieu J. M. Spaight H. G. Wells Note: I suspect that the Who's Who entries are written by or at least based on information from their subjects, so they are unlikely to be less than complimentary and possibly may include outright fabrications. But they should at least cover the salient po...
CHARLTON, Air Commodore Lionel Evelyn Oswald. C.B. 1919; C.M.G. 1916; D.S.O. 1900; late R.A.F.; b. 7 July 1879; s. of late William O. Charlton of Hesleyside, Northumberland. Educ.: Brighton Coll. Served South Africa, 1899-1902 (twice wounded, despatches, Queen's medal 5 clasps, King's medal 2 clasps, D.S.O.); served W.A.F.F., 1902-7; European War, 1914-17 (wounded); Air Attaché, British Embassy, Washington, 1919-22; Chief Staff Officer, Iraq Comm...
