{"id":6946,"date":"2025-04-26T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-26T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/?p=6946"},"modified":"2026-04-17T11:19:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T10:19:56","slug":"war-from-the-air-26th-april-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/war-from-the-air-26th-april-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Guernica & War from the Air April 26th 1937"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Tiled wall in Guernica after Picasso’s famous painting<\/a>. Photo By Tony Hisgett from Birmingham, UK – Guernica, CC BY 2.0, https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=64155674<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a> of Nazi Germany<\/a>‘s Luftwaffe<\/a><\/em> and the Italian Aviazione Legionaria<\/a>‘ (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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The War from the Air<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
“The War in the Air” by H. G. Wells. London: George Bell & Sons, 1908. First Edition
Illustration by A. C. Michael<\/a> of Pall Mall Magazine –<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 <\/a>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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(see my post on the-ultimate-raf-london-blitz-story<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On this Day<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

1994 The new South African constitution came into force and democratic elections were held.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First Published on April 26th 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Guernica & War from the Air April 26th 1937”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[112],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-almanac-of-the-past"],"yoast_head":"\nGuernica & War from the Air April 26th 1937 - And Did Those Feet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"War from the Air. How Guernica showed the damage that modern aeroplane could do to urban populations. Leading to Terror bombing.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/war-from-the-air-26th-april-2025\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Guernica & War from the Air April 26th 1937 - And Did Those Feet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"War from the Air. How Guernica showed the damage that modern aeroplane could do to urban populations. Leading to Terror bombing.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/war-from-the-air-26th-april-2025\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"And Did Those Feet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-26T14:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-17T10:19:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1920px-Guernica_3820712635.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1136\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kevin Flude\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kevin Flude\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chr.org.uk\\\/anddidthosefeet\\\/war-from-the-air-26th-april-2025\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chr.org.uk\\\/anddidthosefeet\\\/war-from-the-air-26th-april-2025\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kevin Flude\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chr.org.uk\\\/anddidthosefeet\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cb27a3e695fa933f259306aab8fab59f\"},\"headline\":\"Guernica & War from the Air April 26th 1937\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-26T14:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-17T10:19:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chr.org.uk\\\/anddidthosefeet\\\/war-from-the-air-26th-april-2025\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":383,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chr.org.uk\\\/anddidthosefeet\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cb27a3e695fa933f259306aab8fab59f\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chr.org.uk\\\/anddidthosefeet\\\/war-from-the-air-26th-april-2025\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chr.org.uk\\\/anddidthosefeet\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/1920px-Guernica_3820712635-1024x606.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Almanac of the Past\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/chr.org.uk\\\/anddidthosefeet\\\/war-from-the-air-26th-april-2025\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chr.org.uk\\\/anddidthosefeet\\\/war-from-the-air-26th-april-2025\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chr.org.uk\\\/anddidthosefeet\\\/war-from-the-air-26th-april-2025\\\/\",\"name\":\"Guernica & War from the Air April 26th 1937 - And Did Those Feet\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chr.org.uk\\\/anddidthosefeet\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chr.org.uk\\\/anddidthosefeet\\\/war-from-the-air-26th-april-2025\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chr.org.uk\\\/anddidthosefeet\\\/war-from-the-air-26th-april-2025\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chr.org.uk\\\/anddidthosefeet\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/1920px-Guernica_3820712635-1024x606.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-26T14:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-17T10:19:56+00:00\",\"description\":\"War from the Air. How Guernica showed the damage that modern aeroplane could do to urban populations. Leading to Terror bombing.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chr.org.uk\\\/anddidthosefeet\\\/war-from-the-air-26th-april-2025\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/chr.org.uk\\\/anddidthosefeet\\\/war-from-the-air-26th-april-2025\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chr.org.uk\\\/anddidthosefeet\\\/war-from-the-air-26th-april-2025\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chr.org.uk\\\/anddidthosefeet\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/1920px-Guernica_3820712635-1024x606.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chr.org.uk\\\/anddidthosefeet\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/1920px-Guernica_3820712635-1024x606.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chr.org.uk\\\/anddidthosefeet\\\/war-from-the-air-26th-april-2025\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chr.org.uk\\\/anddidthosefeet\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Guernica & War from the Air April 26th 1937\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chr.org.uk\\\/anddidthosefeet\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chr.org.uk\\\/anddidthosefeet\\\/\",\"name\":\"And Did Those Feet\",\"description\":\"The Past brought to Life\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chr.org.uk\\\/anddidthosefeet\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cb27a3e695fa933f259306aab8fab59f\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chr.org.uk\\\/anddidthosefeet\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chr.org.uk\\\/anddidthosefeet\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cb27a3e695fa933f259306aab8fab59f\",\"name\":\"Kevin Flude\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chr.org.uk\\\/anddidthosefeet\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/04-new.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chr.org.uk\\\/anddidthosefeet\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/04-new.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chr.org.uk\\\/anddidthosefeet\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/04-new.jpg\",\"width\":525,\"height\":371,\"caption\":\"Kevin Flude\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chr.org.uk\\\/anddidthosefeet\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/04-new.jpg\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.chr.org.uk\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chr.org.uk\\\/anddidthosefeet\\\/author\\\/kpfludechr-org-uk\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Guernica & War from the Air April 26th 1937 - And Did Those Feet","description":"War from the Air. How Guernica showed the damage that modern aeroplane could do to urban populations. Leading to Terror bombing.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/war-from-the-air-26th-april-2025\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Guernica & War from the Air April 26th 1937 - And Did Those Feet","og_description":"War from the Air. How Guernica showed the damage that modern aeroplane could do to urban populations. Leading to Terror bombing.","og_url":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/war-from-the-air-26th-april-2025\/","og_site_name":"And Did Those Feet","article_published_time":"2025-04-26T14:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-17T10:19:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1136,"url":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1920px-Guernica_3820712635.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kevin Flude","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kevin Flude","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/war-from-the-air-26th-april-2025\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/war-from-the-air-26th-april-2025\/"},"author":{"name":"Kevin Flude","@id":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/#\/schema\/person\/cb27a3e695fa933f259306aab8fab59f"},"headline":"Guernica & War from the Air April 26th 1937","datePublished":"2025-04-26T14:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-17T10:19:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/war-from-the-air-26th-april-2025\/"},"wordCount":383,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/#\/schema\/person\/cb27a3e695fa933f259306aab8fab59f"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/war-from-the-air-26th-april-2025\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1920px-Guernica_3820712635-1024x606.jpg","articleSection":["Almanac of the Past"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/war-from-the-air-26th-april-2025\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/war-from-the-air-26th-april-2025\/","url":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/war-from-the-air-26th-april-2025\/","name":"Guernica & War from the Air April 26th 1937 - And Did Those Feet","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/war-from-the-air-26th-april-2025\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/war-from-the-air-26th-april-2025\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1920px-Guernica_3820712635-1024x606.jpg","datePublished":"2025-04-26T14:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-17T10:19:56+00:00","description":"War from the Air. How Guernica showed the damage that modern aeroplane could do to urban populations. Leading to Terror bombing.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/war-from-the-air-26th-april-2025\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/war-from-the-air-26th-april-2025\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/war-from-the-air-26th-april-2025\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1920px-Guernica_3820712635-1024x606.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1920px-Guernica_3820712635-1024x606.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/war-from-the-air-26th-april-2025\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Guernica & War from the Air April 26th 1937"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/#website","url":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/","name":"And Did Those Feet","description":"The Past brought to Life","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/#\/schema\/person\/cb27a3e695fa933f259306aab8fab59f"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/#\/schema\/person\/cb27a3e695fa933f259306aab8fab59f","name":"Kevin Flude","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/04-new.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/04-new.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/04-new.jpg","width":525,"height":371,"caption":"Kevin Flude"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/04-new.jpg"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.chr.org.uk"],"url":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/author\/kpfludechr-org-uk\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6946"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6946\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11933,"href":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6946\/revisions\/11933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}