First air unit in war and first aerial bombardment

[Angus]

Here is the quiz.
When was the world's first air unit for military use formed, and by whom

And

When and where and by whom was the first aerial bombardment.

It is easy;)

[Simba]

The first time an aeroplane was used in war was by the Italians in 1911-12 during a war in Tripolitania against the Turks. On 11th October 1911, an Italian Bleriot piloted by Capitano Piazza made a reconnaissance flight from Tripoli to Azizia to view the Turkish positions. The aircraft was part of an air force comprising nine aeroplanes (two Bleriots, three Nieuports, two Farmans and two Etrich Taubes) in addition to two non-rigid airships. The airships dropped 2kg Swedish grenades on positions at Ain Zara; this was the first hostile aerial bombardment by manned aircraft.

Source: The Guinness History of Air Warfare by D. Brown, C. Shores and K. Macksey; 1976, Guinness Superlatives Ltd., Enfield, SBN 900424 61 3.

 

[Angus]

Its sooner
Study this carefully

[USCH]

It was a balloon and you don't really know for sure because they used them like 1,000,000,000,000 years ago Vs. the dinosaurs.

[Angus]

Dinos where dead before we were here. Try better
Oh, the aerial bombardment means humans dropping bombs from the air, not meteors or such (which may have killed the dinos).
And the first air unit, I restrict it to military purpose

[USCH]

now were just getting down to specifics  did i mention the balloon?

[Angus]

Yes.

[Chalenge]

The French used one (balloon) at the Battle of Fleurus in 1794 for aerial observation.

The first bombardment was probably not much more than flechetes dropped from an observation aircraft over a marching infantry column.

[Angus]

First one correct.
"The French Aerostatic Corps or Company of Aeronauts (French: compagnie d'aérostiers) was the world's first air force,[1] founded in 1794 to use balloons, primarily for reconnaissance."
"It was used in the battle of Fleurs in may 1794.
The bombardment however is unanswered....

[Angus]

Hint: The target was a city.

[jolly22]

1915 in london?? dont have much info yet.


NO november 1, 1911 by lt. Gavotti at an alt of 600ft. in a plane called the Taube monoplane on the turks

[Simba]

"When and where and by whom was the first aerial bombardment."

Fair enough, the first air unit was just that one balloon at Fleurus. Napoleon didn't go much on 'loons, he believed their slow deployment hindered his army rather than helped it, so he ordered it to be disbanded.

My first answer referred to bombardment by manned aircraft. As for unmanned aircraft:

The first aerial bombardment was undertaken by the Austrians against the Venetians in March 1849, when Oberleutnant Franz Uchatius designed and launched several score paper balloons, each carrying a 30lb (13.5kg) bomb. The balloons were intended to drift with the wind across the city and release their bombs in response to a time fuse.

Source:  Page 2 of The Guinness History of Air Warfare by D. Brown, C. Shores and K. Macksey; 1976, Guinness Superlatives Ltd., Enfield, SBN 900424 61 3. Which is where I suspect you got the Fleurus balloon gen, Angus?

A lighter-than-air flying machine such as a balloon or airship is still properly described as an aircraft; so is the heavier-than-air aeroplane (or airplane, if you prefer), which derives its name from the plane surfaces from which it gains lift. So a bombardment from a balloon is valid in the context of this thread.

 

[Angus]

Spot on Simba
For aircraft:
The first air-dropped bomb from an airplane was dropped when Lieutenant Giulio Gavotti of the Italian Army dropped four grenades from his Blériot aircraft onto an Ottoman military encampment at the Taguira oasis in Libya on 1 November 1911