The 74th anniversary of the Battle of Britain will be observed at the Dunedin Cenotaph at 11am on Sunday. But there were aerial attacks on England in an earlier war, writes Gordon Parry.
When men speak today of ''the Blitz'' they are thinking of the bombing raids of the 1940s.
But a book written in 2008 by Neil Hanson and called First Blitz makes it clear that thousands of bombs fell on England between 1914 and 1918.
It also tells of the German intention to raze London to the ground.
This was a highly ambitious aim.
It was only 11 years after the famous flight of the Wright brothers, just five since Bleriot was the first man to fly the English Channel.
London was an international landmark, yet, with aeronautics in its infancy, the city was headquarters for political, commercial and military planning as well as being a major banking centre.
Although engineering problems forced a change of plans, bombs were dropped on Dover (they actually fell into the harbour) on Christmas Eve 1914.
The next day, as Britons were eating their Christmas pudding, damage was done by small bombs lobbed out of two-engined planes.
This attack was followed by raids on centres along the Thames. From then on raids continued at intervals.
The bombers had little difficulty getting across the Channel, a fact that irked and frustrated the Royal Flying Corps which (along with the Royal Naval Air Service) was established in 1912.
It has to be said the cavalier attitude of the British aviators was a contributing factor.
There was an aspect of snobbery, the ''officer class'' believing that anyone who could ride a horse could become a pilot as soon as it suited him.
That fanciful idea soon disappeared as crash landings became common and training courses were established, but contemporary writers suggest that in RFC messes there was more interest in the weekly dinner dances than in combat.
The civilian population also took an interest in bombing raids, gathering in the streets to watch, until the casualty lists grew longer and longer.
The writer has had access to a map which shows London on both sides of the Thames with black circles indicating where bombs fell.
There are hundreds of these markers. What caused the greatest fury was the bombing of schools and hospitals.
It was noticeable that from 1915 and 1916 the number of institutions under fire increased considerably.
This must have had something to do with the fact that Zeppelins came into service at that time and bombed from 10,000 feet.
The Germans had primitive bomb sights but accuracy was impossible from such heights.
One school that suffered was the Upper North; it had fewer casualties than many other hits, but the fact all were children caused widespread anger.
Sixteen died instantly, two more succumbed later and more than 30 were grievously injured.
On June 20, 1917, rows of tiny coffins were placed on trestle tables in the church at Poplar and 600 wreaths were laid.
Three parents arranged private burials but 15 children were placed in a common grave.
There was a specially poignant note when a sixteenth coffin was added; it contained remains that could not be identified.
Then, as at other funerals, there were calls for revenge and raiders were pursued back to their bases in France and Belgium.
As in all wars there were exaggerated claims of kills and the listed casualties on both sides were always revised.
Plans were also altered. The German High Command had ordered 30 Gotha bombers to mount daylight raids on London from February 1, 1917, but there was a long delay caused by construction problems.
The first machine arrived in March but was so unsatisfactory it was grounded and the full complement did not materialise until later in the year.
Both warring factions had similar problems of supply throughout the war.
As happened in World War 2, there were heroes and no-hopers.
The outstanding German aviator and administrator was Ernst Brandenburg, a regular serviceman.
The most famous British pilot was James McCudden.
He was a boy soldier who switched to the RFC, became a pilot of great skill and received the first Victoria Cross awarded to a flying man.
Both sides had high expectations but experienced many disappointments.
There were no parachutes.
The High Command was afraid that they would be used for easy escapes.
Nor were there air raid warnings in the early years.
Policemen on bicycles pedalled the streets, ringing their bells to warn of raids.
The German bombers, at first two-seaters, later large and clumsy four or five-engined craft, used more incendiaries than high-explosive devices.
This was because the raiders had what was called the Fire Plan and expected to frighten the defenders into submission.
A special attack unit was known as the England Squadron, specialising in low-level bombing.
It never lived up to expectations.
The first blitz on London was a failure but it had an important impact on events in the late 1940s.
Air defence was splendidly planned. With the exception of the use of radar, everything had been put in place by 1918.
There was a ring of fighting bases, anti-aircraft zones, a communication network, and an operations room with a huge map on which enemy movements were plotted.
The RAF was ready in 1939, unlike the RFC in 1914.
• Gordon Parry, who has retired as Otago Daily Times Memory Lane columnist, has written this article on behalf of the Otago Brevet Club and to help note its last parade on Sunday.
Final parade
The final few members of the Otago Brevet Club - all former aircrew members - will parade for the last time on Saturday. Gordon Parry, one of those members, said they were grateful the torch was still carried by 42 Squadron of the Air Training Corps.
''Long may their efforts continue,'' he said.
