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AERIAL LEAFLET TIME-LINE

1775/83 The American War of Independence (A paragraph from ‘The Bristol Journal’ of September 30,1775 reported "Colonists use wind-blown leaflets to undermine the morale of the British defenders of Boston")

1848 Siege of Milan

1850/54 The Arctic (Messages dropped from balloons) addressed to Sir John Franklin by rescue expeditions in an attempt to find him and his crew, trapped in the ice during his search for 'The Northwest Passage' in 1845)

1870 Siege of Paris (Piloted postal balloons leaving the city dropped leaflets, used as ballast, on to Prussian troops)

1912 Tripolitania (On January 15 the first aerial propaganda leaflets to be dropped by plane were used during the Italo-Turkish war. Addressed to the Arabs of Tripolitania, they offered a gold coin and a sack of wheat to every man who surrendered.

1914/18 WWI

1914 France (First leaflet of the First World War dropped on Paris on 30^th August – FL No. 49, pp 69-73)

1914 Western Front (25,000 leaflets, privately paid for, dropped over German lines)

1915 Syria (Leaflets from Gen. Sir John Maxwell in Egypt to Ottoman troops and Arabs – FL No.73, pp 56-59)

1917 France (First issue of ‘Le Courrier de l ’Air’ on 6 April – the worlds first regular newspaper)

1918 Turkey (British leaflet to Turkish troops at Gallipoli)

1918 Austria (Italian airmen dropped 200,000 leaflets over Vienna)

1918 Finland (Civil war – January 28 - May 16)

1918 Northern France – British leaflet A.P.74 ballooned to German troops BL No.10)

1918 U.S.A. Third Liberty Loan Leaflet - planes bombing Krupps works

1919 Russia (Bolshevik leaflet to Allied troops in Murmansk)

1930 Samoa (Civil unrest – leaflets dropped by hand from N.Z.P.A.F. Moth seaplane based on H.M.S. Dunedin)

1930/31 Northwest Frontier of India

1935/36 Abyssinia (War with Italy)

1936/39 Spanish Civil War (Leaflets used by both sides – disseminated by aeroplane and rockets which scattered 1,000 leaflets at a time)

1939/45 WWII

1939 Germany (The first British leaflet dropped on Germany)

1939 France (German leaflet in the shape of a plane leaf dropped on the Maginot Line)

1939/45 Finland (The Winter War, Continuation War and Lapland War – Leaflets by Finns, Russians and Germans – FL No.157, pp 61-64)

1940 Holland (First RAF leaflet No. EH(H).700 ‘Freedom does not perish’)

1940 Corsica (Corsican language leaflet dropped by Italian flyers in the Frasetto mountains during July & August – FL No.153, pp 68-70)

1941 Denmark (British miniature magazine disguised as a child’s book)

1941 Holland (Packets of tea dropped over 22 towns and cities)

1941 U.S.A - USO fund rasing leaflets - one in the shape of a bomb

1941 Norway - King Haakon's Christmas Message Code EH827(N)

1942 Germany – Volunteer for the U-boat service ( Mechanical leaflet G7)

1942 Morocco (Operation ‘Torch’) FL No.31, pp 73-76

1942 Egypt & Libya (German leaflet to Arabs ‘The British pound is worthless’– in the form of a fake £1 note)

1942/43 Germany (Operation ‘Cornflakes’ – Anti-Nazi ‘black’ mail with forged stamps dropped in mailbags from US bombers onto to mail trains to Germany – See Links

1943/44 Yugoslavia (German Safe Conduct Pass in the form of a cigarette paper)

1943/45 Burma – SEAC Safe Conduct leaflet SJ/16 in Japanese

1944 France (First issue of Nachrichten für de Truppe on 25 April – the worlds first regular daily aerial newspaper)

1944 Normandy – D-Day (Leaflet ZF.4 dropped on 6^th June, ‘Urgent Message to the inhabitants of this town – Depart to open country! You haven’t a minute to lose!’) Dropped over 16 small towns a few minutes before the invasion began.

1944 Germany – British ‘Black‘ Postcard Dieser deutsche Mann ist Frei (BL No. 13)

1944 Italy (German LIFE/DEATH leaflets to both U.S. and U.K. troops – FL No.74, p 101,102)

1944 Roumania (Leaflets dropped by RAF and USAAF en route from Italy to the Ploesti oilfields – FL No.157, pp 51-60)

1944 England - V.1 raid on Manchester (BL No.7) V.1 P.O.W. Post

1944/45 Europe (Operation ‘Carpetbaggers’ – covert operations and leaflet drops by 8th US Air Force – See links)

1945 Japan (U.S. leaflet ‘The following cities will be attacked...) Disseminated prior to the dropping of the atomic bombs)

1945 Singapore (‘The Japanese forces have surrendered unconditionally and the war is over’ Dropped over Changi 26 Aug. FL No.153, p 67)

1945 Italy - German leaflet (BL No. 2) TO LIVE FOR HER OR DIE FOR HIM

1950s The Cold War (BL No. 6)

1952 Korea (United Nations’ leaflets to Chinese Communist Forces)

1954/55 Kenya (Mau-mau terrorists killed in the Aberdare Forest)

1956 Cyprus (British leaflets dropped on Cypriot EOKA rebels)

1956 Egypt (Suez invasion – British leaflets used in the Canal Zone)

1956 Malaya ($1,000 reward if you surrender with a Bren gun)

1956 Red China (Real magnolia leaves, chemically treated before overprinting) dropped by Nationalist airmen based in Formosa

1957 Muscat/Oman (RAF dropped leaflets over rebels)

1959 Nyasaland (Anti-rebel warnings and threatened reprisals)

1959/63 Algeria (Leaflets dropped over Algiers calling for calm – FL 31, p 68)

1960/62 Southern Rhodesia (Political leaflets)

1962 Indonesia (‘Between Life and Death’ leaflets used against Dutch troops by the Republic in New Guinea FL No.74, p 101)

1962 Greece (Over Athens advertising a new newspaper – FL No.21, p 84

1962 Brunei (Surrender leaflets dropped on rebels – FL No.21, p 83)

1963 Yemen (Explosive cigarettes dropped as booby-traps – FL No.21, p 83)

1963 Haiti (Anti-government leaflets)

1965 Vietnam (6,245,200,000 leaflets dropped by US planes and helicopters plus 4 billion produced by JUSPAO)

1965 Aden (British leaflet offering 25 dinars for information on grenades - FL No.31, p63)

1968 Greece (500 drachma ‘banknote’ advertising ‘Macaroins’ food)

1970 Mozambique (Warning pro-Frelimo rebels of coming attack)

1972 Philippine Islands (Search for straggler Japanese soldier)

1982 The Falklands War ( FL No.186, p.3)

1983 Grenada (Operation 'Urgent Fury')

1988 Afganistan (Russian leaflets in Arabic dropped – FL No.153, p 48)

1989 Panama (Operation 'Just Cause')

1991 The Gulf War (Operation 'Desert Storm'– BL No. 20)

1991 Kurdistan (Operation 'Provide Comfort')

1992/93 Somalia (Operation 'Restore Hope'– BL No. 22)

1993 Bosnia (Leaflets warning of impending aid drop) - (FL No.140, pp 3, 4)

1993 Cambodia (Election leaflets dropped by U.N. plane on May 18th) FL No.143, p 123

1994 Haiti - (Leaflets dropped on civilans prior to invasion by U.S. forces) FL No.150 pp 112 - 115

1995 Chechnya (FL No.151, p 123, FL No.153. p 44)

1995 Sri Lanka (Airdrop in Jaffna to stem Tamil panic) FL No.151, p 126

1999 Iraq - Operation 'Desert Fox' (Appeal to Iraqi troops "Stay in your positions. Do not head south") - FL No.164, pp 6 - 11

1999 Serbia/Kosovo - Operation 'Allied Force' (NATO leaflets to civilians explaining why they were being bombed and how it could be stopped) FL No.165, pp 47 - 57

1999 East Timor Leaflets used by INTERFET 'International Force Timor' an Australin led multinational force, to counter mass violence by armed gangs after the East Timorese voted for self rule in a ballot held on August 30, 1999. FL No.169, pp 47-49

2001-2006 Afghanistan - Following the terrorist attack on the twin World Trade Centre towers in New York on 11th Sep. leaflets were dropped over Afghanistan from 14th Oct. onwards. Operation 'Enduring Freedom' - FL No.175

2002/03 Iraq - No-Fly Zone leaflets. FL No.180, p 13

2003 Liberia - U.S. Peace keeping in Liberia. FL No.182, p 115

2003-2006 Iraq - Operation Iraqi Freedom.

2005/06 Lebanon & Gaza - Israeli leaflets attacking Hamas and Hezbollah. FL No.188

2006 Republic of Congo - UN leaflets urging militia men and women to come out of the bush land surrounding Bunia and hand in weapons. FL No.189, p 6

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