A German-type airship (dirigible) falls in flames after being struck during aerial combat, photographed from an accompanying aircraft during the First World War. Rigid and semi-rigid airships served both belligerents for reconnaissance and bombing early in the war, but their hydrogen-filled envelopes made them extremely vulnerable to incendiary ammunition once fighter aircraft were equipped to counter them. Images such as this captured a pivotal shift in aerial warfare, as fixed-wing fighters proved capable of destroying the previously formidable airship threat. Project: 218364