Early operations research in World War One: Viscount Tiverton and the strategic bombing of Germany

This paper provides an original contribution to the pre-history of Operations Research by describing and analysing the contribution of Lord Tiverton (later the Earl of Halsbury) to the ‘first principles’ of strategic bombing. The relevant principles were to underpin Britain's offensive air strategy for the greater part of the interwar period. They also provided the rationale for RAF Bomber Command's area offensive against Germany in World War Two. The paper complements other contributions in identifying the early applications of the ‘scientific method’ to the study of warfare in World War One.