aerial darts
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I thought aerial darts were dropped from an aeroplane? Could they also shoot with those things?
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Information for you on Aerial Darts:
Aerial Darts ww1
WWI Flechette (Aerial Dart)These little aerial darts pre-date machine guns and were use to murderous effect from about 1915. They were usually bundled and inserted in a galvanized metal can with a trap door on the bottom. The aviator (or observer/bombadier) leaned over the side with the can and twisted a handle to open the door and launch the hundreds of darts. As might be imagined, the flechettes did significant damage as they passed through helmets, pinned feet to the ground and even killed horses.
Images for aerial darts Link: https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1C1DSGL_enGB426GB426&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=Aerial+Darts+ww1
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by
cyngast
moderator
Erik, I agree with you that these aerial darts were coming from the German trenches, not from airplanes. I searched on Google and found first this: http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?/topic/15469-aerial-darts/ (Look at post no. 10.) which led me to this: http://www.forgottenweapons.com/granatenwerfer-16/ This makes much more sense than flechettes dropped from an aeroplane. I've also seen diaries that referred to these as aerial torpedoes.
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by
Stork
Wow- I didn't know those things existed. They're certainly nasty, which isn't to say that bombs or any other weapon are any nicer, of course.
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Do you mean that aerial torpedoes and aerial darts are the same thing and that a granatenwerfer 16 is an aerial dart sic aerial torpedo?
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by
cyngast
moderator
I guess I wasn't paying attention to my own reply yesterday, because no, they are not the same thing. Thanks for catching my error, Erik.
This thread from the Invision Zone may help explain aerial torpedoes: http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?/topic/165777-aerial-torpedoes/ Be sure to read the diary excerpt at the end. It sounds quite harrowing.
These aerial torpedoes were not the same thing as the naval aerial torpedoes, which evolved eventually into cruise missiles.
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by
ral104
moderator, scientist
Aerial darts were usually dropped from aircraft, but I believe there were also darts which could be fired by a mortar, hence the granatenwerfer reference. They were essentially quite similar to the darts currently used to throw at a dartboard, but heavier and generally all metal (although I have seen some with feathers as fins).
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cyngast
moderator
Whatever these darts were officially called, the men in the trenches, including the officers who wrote the diaries, seemed to have universally referred to them as aerial darts.
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