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Walter R. Booth Imagines the Great War in Advance


2015 January 19


Walter R. Booth, trained as a stage magician, became one of the first film-makers in Great Britain. From 1899 until 1915, he created increasingly ambitious short silents, including the first British science-fiction movie, The Airship Destroyer. By 1909, many people realised that the Great War was on its way, and that Count Zeppelin's airships would play a role in it. The idea of drone warfare, however, was less common (Nikola Tesla was unable to get funding for his military drone watercraft), and it is interesting that Booth included the theme. While the First World War in the air was less destructive than had been feared, Booth's nightmarish vision of aerial bomber-fleets came true soon enough.

This version of The Airship Destroyer is from the British Silents YouTube channel. It lasts about seven minutes.



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