ABSTRACT
The shadow of the bomber was not a constant presence in the British consciousness. Its threat first had to be constructed by airpower writers. Some of them foresaw surprise attacks by large aerial fleets, which would terrorise civilians, destroy key nerve centres. Other key ideas which began to emerge before the First World War included the belief that London was an especially vulnerable target, that civilians were prone to panic, and that there was no defence against air attack. Groves became the interwar periods most influential military intellectual on aerial warfare. The most characteristic form of adaptation, protection, was favoured mainly by the left, particularly in the form of deep shelters, since working-class homes were ill-suited for the types of defence advised by the government. The knock-out blow theory limited the governments freedom. It has been suggested that the publics fear of the bomber could have been used to gather support for a less timid rearmament programme.
