Guernica & War from the Air April 26th 1937

Franco ordered the bombing as part of his campaign to overthrow the Basque Government. The Town was badly damaged and 1,654 civilians were killed. It was undertaken by ‘the Condor Legion of Nazi Germany‘s Luftwaffe and the Italian Aviazione Legionaria‘ (Wikipedia). Picasso began his famous painting almost immediately after he heard an eyewitness account of the attack. The iconic painting was finished by 4 June 1937. The bombing showed the potential damage war from the air could do to crowded Cities. The painting became one of the most famous campaigning works of art.

The War from the Air

Aerial warfare became a reality as soon as the Montgolfier Brothers flew the first Hot Air Balloon. In the Revolutionary Wars, the French used them for reconnaissance. Napoleon considered transporting troops by balloon in an invasion of Britain. With the arrival of planes and the development of the Zeppelin. Air warfare became a feature of speculative fiction, and began to absorb the planners.

H G Wells book, illustrated above, featured a war between Germany and the United Statesin which New York is obliterated by Aerial Bombing. This was written in 1908

In World War 1 London was the focus of a series of Zeppelin and Aeroplane raids. These killed over 500 people. (see my post on the London Zeppelin raid of Sept 8th 1916). As planes developed in capacity, war departments created plans that seem now to have been exaggerated. It is thought that Appeasement was partly a response to the feared casualties from war in the air. Before the Blitz, the authorities were planning for 1 million killed in London and double that number of people deranged by fear. In the event, casualties were far less, some 43,000 killed. However, 2 million houses were destroyed. The scale of destruction was fairly accurately predicted but the casualties exaggerated.

(see my post on the-ultimate-raf-london-blitz-story)

On this Day

2025 The Tweed Run is a mass cycle ride around London with everyone dressed in Tweeds. See here for some photos of last year’s run. https://www.tweedrun.com

1994 The new South African constitution came into force and democratic elections were held.

First Published on April 26th 2025