The airplane was still a new invention when on October 23, 1911, the Italian captain Carlo Maria Piazza took off from Tripoli. With his single-engine “Bleriot XI“ he headed for Ajizia, southwest of the city, to observe Ottoman positions and enemy movements.
The flight lasted about an hour. It remains in history as the first widely recognized military reconnaissance mission carried out by airplane during a real conflict. Smithsonian Magazine described Piazza's flight as a moment in which he "made military history" by observing the enemy from the air.
Aviation Enters the War
The fighting was part of the Italo-Turkish War, which began on September 29, 1911, between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire for control of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, present-day Libya. The Italians sent a small but diverse air force to North Africa: two Bleriot XIs, three Nuphar monoplanes, two Farman biplanes, and two Etrich Taube aircraft. Along with them arrived 10 officers and 29 soldiers.
The planes of the time were slow, fragile and devoid of almost all the equipment that would later become standard for military aviation. Piazza's “Bleriot XI“ had a 25 horsepower engine and its control used a system of twisting the wings. Despite its limitations, the machine allowed the military to observe the battlefield for the first time from an altitude inaccessible to ground reconnaissance.
The Ottoman forces in North Africa did not have aircraft at the beginning of the war. This gave the Italian pilots the opportunity to fly without an air opponent, although the machines themselves remained vulnerable to fire from the ground. The Australian Air Force states that Piazza's flight from Tripoli to Ajizia lasted about an hour and was the first military reconnaissance mission over Ottoman lines.
The bombing came just days later
The initial task of aviation was surveillance, but its role quickly expanded. On 1 November 1911, a young Italian officer, Giulio Gavotti, took off in an "Etrich Taube" and dropped four small bombs on Ottoman positions at Ain Zara and Tajura.
This was the first aerial bombing in history. The bombs were taken from a leather bag and thrown overboard by hand. In practice, the damage was limited, but the significance of the actions was great: for the first time, the aircraft was used not only for observation, but also as a means of attack.
There is a discrepancy regarding the date of the first military flight. Smithsonian Magazine and the Australian military publication indicate October 23, 1911, while the Italian encyclopedia “Trecani“ and Guinness World Records give October 22. Despite the difference in dating, the sources are unanimous that Carlo Piazza and his “Bleriot XI“ marked the beginning of the combat use of aircraft.
Sources: smithsonianmag.com, airpower.airforce.gov.au