Military aviation was still in its infancy at the outset of the First World War. Pilots and navigators took to the skies wielding a host of handheld small arms including pistols, rifles and even shotguns alongside larger fixed machine guns.

The Webley self-loading pistol in .455 calibre with its monstrous paddle-like buttstock was one such weapon used by airmen to fire at enemy aircraft.

Chapters
00:00 Webley & Scott, Mk.I (N), 1912
06:28 Webley & Scott Mk.I, No.2, 1915
10:30 Sealed Pattern
11:55 Naval Air Service use
16:00 Why would airman use a pistol?
17:48 Royal Flying Corps use
20:49 Outro


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