Airborne leaflet dropping is a type of propaganda where leaflets (flyers) are scattered in the air, normally by filling cluster bombs that open in midair with thousands of leaflets.
Military forces have used aircraft to drop leaflets to attempt to alter the behavior of combatants and non-combatants in enemy-controlled territory, sometimes in conjunction with air strikes. Humanitarian air missions, in cooperation with leaflet propaganda, can turn the populace against their leadership while preparing them for the arrival of enemy combatants.
Leaflet droppings have also been used to limit civilian casualties by alerting civilians of imminent danger allowing time to evacuate targeted areas.
Objectives
Threaten destruction Warn enemy combatants and non-combatants that their area will be targeted. This has the dual purpose of reducing collateral damage and encouraging enemy combatants and non-combatants (who may be engaged in wartime production) to abandon their duties, reducing the target's military effectiveness. Prompt the enemy to surrender Explain to prospective deserters how to surrender. Offer rewards Rewards could be offered to encourage individuals to provide assistance, or to encourage defection. Disseminate or counter disinformation Reduce enemy morale through propaganda. Neutralize enemy propaganda. Advise radio listeners about frequencies/times of propaganda broadcasts and methods for circumventing radio jamming. Facilitate communication Create a friendly atmosphere for the enemy by promoting the leaflets dropper's ideologies or to convince the enemy of "noble intentions" Provide humanitarian assistance Inform people where to find airdropped food, how to open and consume it, and when it comes.
History Early use Airborne leaflets have been used for military propaganda purposes at least since the 19th century. One early example is from the Franco-Prussian War when, in October 1870 during the Siege of Paris, a French balloon coming from the city dropped government proclamations over North German Confederation troops that stated the following (in German):
Paris defies the enemy. The whole of France rallies. Death to the invaders. Foolish people, shall we always throttle one another for the pleasure and proudness of Kings? Glory and conquest are crimes; defeat brings hate and desire for vengeance. Only one war is just and holy; that of independence.Quote from "Cassell's History of the Wars Between France and Germany (1870–1871)" via
Leaflet propaganda has been delivered by airplanes since the Italo-Turkish War of 1911–12."Aerial leaflet", in Encyclopedia of ephemera, 10-11.
World War I Aerial leaflets were first used on a large scale during World War I by all parties. The British dropped packets of leaflets over Imperial German Army trenches containing postcards from prisoners of war detailing their humane conditions, surrender notices and general propaganda against Kaiser Wilhelm II and the German generals. By the end of the war MI7b had distributed almost 26 million leaflets.
In August 1918, the famous Italian nationalist writer, poet and fighter pilot Gabriele D'Annunzio, organized the Flight over Vienna: a famous propaganda operation during the war, leading 9 Ansaldo SVA planes in a 1,100-kilometre (700 mi) round trip to drop 50,000 propaganda leaflets on the Austro-Hungarian capital.
The Germans began shooting the leaflet-dropping pilots, prompting the British to develop an alternative method of delivery. A Fleming invented the unmanned leaflet balloon in 1917, and these were used extensively in the latter part of the War, with over 48,000 units produced. The hydrogen balloon would drift over no-man's land to land in the enemy trenches.
At least one in seven of these leaflets were not handed in by the soldiers to their superiors, despite severe penalties for that offence. Even General Paul von Hindenburg admitted that "Unsuspectingly, many thousands consumed the poison" and POWs admitted to being disillusioned by the propaganda leaflets that depicted the use of German troops as mere cannon fodder. In 1915, the British began airdropping a regular leaflet newspaper Le Courrier de l'Air for civilians in German-occupied France and Belgium.
World War II
Distribution of airborne leaflet propaganda was used by both Allied and Axis forces in the Second World War, starting with a Royal Air Force leaflet drop over the port of Kiel in September 1939. During the Phoney War most of the Royal Air Force's operations consisted of airborne leaflet dropping, as the United Kingdom wanted Nazi Germany to be the first country to begin strategic bombing of civilian areas to avoid deterring neutral powers such as the United States from supporting the Allies.Bouverie, Tim (2019). Appeasement: Chamberlain, Hitler, Churchill, and the Road to War (1 ed.). New York: Tim Duggan Books. pp. 380-381. . .
The first proposal to construct a special bomb with which to disperse airborne leaflets was put forward by British air force officers during World War II. The most successful "leaflet bomb" model of the War was the Monroe bomb, invented in 1943 by USAAF Captain James Monroe of the 305th Bombardment Group. It was developed from laminated paper containers that had been used to transport M-17 incendiary bombs.
The British improved the use of hydrogen balloons to carry leaflets over German lines. Some of the V-1 flying bombs launched by the Germans against southern England carried leaflets in a cardboard tube at the tail of a missile. This would be ejected by a small gunpowder charge while the V1 was in flight.
Allied airborne leaflets printed during WWII were "factual, in the main truthful, and served (or so it was claimed) to create a reputation for reliability both in supplying information and refuting German accounts which we said to be untruthful". Often the leaflets did not reach their intended targets because they were dropped from such high altitudes and often drifted over lakes and rural areas. Furthermore, there were various elements which made dropping leaflets on targets difficult, like slow airspeed, short range, and attack by enemy.
Although leaflets were seen as effective in manipulating troops when morale was low, "During the early months of the war, leaflets or pamphlets were scattered over enemy territory by aircraft and balloons, but it was more than doubtful whether these had any useful effect, their obvious defects being that few can have reached their targets and, being printed, they were sometimes out of date by the time they were ready to distribute. The front-line distribution of leaflets was quite another matter and these were dropped by aircraft or fired by shells, the messages they bore being less careful about the general principles of consistency and frankness and only truthful about matters on which the enemy had contradictory information". It was found that psychological warfare was not effective when distributing surrender leaflets to an enemy which currently had a high morale amongst its troops. Despite the limitation of airborne leaflets' ineffectiveness on opposing sides with high morale, enemies used this tactic "to cause the men to begin talking to each other about their poor military position, their desire to stay alive for their families' sakes, and the reasonableness of honorable surrender", which often led men to desert. According to Noel Monks who was a correspondent for the London Daily Mail, many German soldiers caught US surrender passes which were dropped despite this being punishable by death; 75% of German people, or 11,302 out of 12,000 who had a surrender pass from the US, surrendered in fact.
One example of German propaganda leaflets which appealed to American troops was one that depicted a passionate kiss between a man and woman. The leaflet read: "FAREWELL Remember her last kiss ... ? Gee were you happy then ... ! Together, you spent marvelous times ..., lounging on beaches ..., dancing, enjoying parties galore ..., listening to the tunes of your favorite band ...". The leaflet's back side reminds the soldier that his loved one is longing for him and that most of the men he had come with are now dead. In comparison, one Allied propaganda leaflet simply showed a picture of a large open field with thousands of German graves.
James A.C. Brown, a Scottish psychiatrist, summed up the WW2 experience with the observation that "Propaganda is successful only when directed at those who are willing to listen, absorb the information, and if possible act on it, and this happens only when the other side is in a condition of lowered morale and is already losing the campaign."Brown, J. A. C. (1963) Techniques of Persuasion, Victoria, Australia: Penguin Books
Before the B-29's exclusive deployment to the Pacific Theater began, the United States Army Air Forces initiated a disinformation campaign through leaflets over the Third Reich early in 1944 that hinted at what sorts of American heavy bombers were likely to appear over Germany in the future. Partly in conjunction with use of YB-29-BW 41-36393, the so-called Hobo Queen, one of the service test aircraft flown around several British airfields in early 1944, four-page German language Sternenbanner-headlined, American-published propaganda leaflets mentioning a "battle of annihilation against the Luftwaffe" (), dated to Leap Year Day in 1944, were dropped over the Reich, with the intent to deceive the Germans into believing that the B-29 would be deployed to Europe.
Japan
Leaflets were also used by the USAAF on Japan during the Pacific War. To create leaflets, Japan specialists and also Japanese prisoners of war were involved, and more than 500 million leaflets were dropped in Japan by the USAAF during the Pacific War. The leaflets aimed to not criticize Japan overall but to make citizens and soldiers demoralized and hostile toward Japanese military commanders. In mid-1945 it became apparent that B-29 bombers of the USAAF were raiding Japan's cities without meeting significant resistance. General Curtis LeMay, commander of the XXI Bomber Command, part of the Twentieth Air Force, consequently ordered the dropping of leaflets hoping to reduce the needless killing of innocent people. One of the leaflets dropped on targeted Japan's cities, with the text on the back, read:
Read this carefully as it may save your life or the life of a relative or a friend. In the next few days, some or all of the cities named on the reverse side will be destroyed by American bombs. These cities contain military installations and workshops or factories, which produce military goods. We are determined to destroy all of the tools of the military clique that they are using to prolong this useless war. Unfortunately, bombs have no eyes. So, in accordance with America's well-known humanitarian policies, the American Air Force, which does not wish to injure innocent people, now gives you warning to evacuate the cities named and save your lives.
America is not fighting the Japanese people but is fighting the military clique, which has enslaved the Japanese people. The peace, which America will bring, will free the people from the oppression of the Japanese military clique and mean the emergence of a new and better Japan.
You can restore peace by demanding new and better leaders who will end the War.
We cannot promise that only these cities will be among those attacked, but some or all of them will be, so heed this warning and evacuate these cities immediately.
B-29s dropped approximately 10 million propaganda leaflets in May, 20 million in June, and 30 million in July. The Japanese government implemented harsh penalties against civilians who kept copies of such leaflets, including surrender passes. In contrast, US soldiers could pick up leaflets dropped by Japan freely, and some kept them as souvenirs.