History
The first dedicated interceptor squadrons were formed up during World War I in order to defend against attacks by Zeppelins, and later against early fixed-wing long-range bombers.
Prior to the start of the Second World War technology had improved so that it appeared that the interceptor mission would be effectively impossible. The visual and acoustic detection had a short range and would not give interceptor enough time to climb to altitude before the bombers were already on their targets. This could be addressed through the use of a standing cover of aircraft, but only at enormous cost. The conclusion at the time was that "the bomber will always get through". The introduction of radar upset this equation.
Read more about this topic: Interceptor Aircraft
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“In history as in human life, regret does not bring back a lost moment and a thousand years will not recover something lost in a single hour.”
—Stefan Zweig (18811942)
“Indeed, the Englishman’s history of New England commences only when it ceases to be New France.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The disadvantage of men not knowing the past is that they do not know the present. History is a hill or high point of vantage, from which alone men see the town in which they live or the age in which they are living.”
—Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936)