If Ive understood your post correctly Healz, theres a few problems with it. First of all, paratroop assaults were simply not viable in WW1. The British and Commonwealth forces distrusted the parachute to the extent that they banned aircrews from using it, as they believed it encouraged cowardice...so it was unlikely they were going to train the PBI to use it. More to the point, there wasnt an aircraft in existence that was suitable for airborne forces deployment. Even the heaviest bombers of the day were too slow and vulnerable to be used for paradrop duties, and there was also a total lack of capable escorts. Neither side ever achieved true air superiority during WW1 (as the Allies did on the ETO 1944-5), so the risk was simply too great.
As for your comment on the utility of bombers in a support role, there are several points to be made. First, there was simply no reliable means of selecting and attacking a point target during WW1. Even the most rudimentary optical bombsights did not exist - the Norden sight was the first truly accurate optical sight in service. Furthermore, tactical bombers such as the DH9 carried such a small bombload that field artillery was still a more efficient and accurate method of delivering HE to a specific target. On top of these considerations, it was impossible to mount an effective
interdiction campaign, never mind a fully strategic campaign, which would have been necessary in order to make close air support operations possible. This is, again, mainly due to a lack of both escorts and adequate intelligence/targeting systems. As a final point, C3I structures in place in WW1 ruled out the possibility of aircraft being used for close air support missions. As it took at least 4 hours for a company to conatacy it's battalion, and a day for battalion to contact brigade in most combat circumstances, there was simply no point in calling in airstrikes as they would never arrive at the right place at the right time.IMHO, any attempt to airland troops behind enemy lines would have inevitably suffered from a lack of support, supplies, and reinforcements.
Just my 0,02
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