Gotha G.III

The Gotha G.III was a twin-engine pusher biplane heavy bomber that succeeded the G.II in production for the Imperial German Air Service during the First World War. It differed mainly in its engines, the unreliable Mercedes D.IV being replaced by the inline six-cylinder 190 kW Mercedes D.IVa, and in an extra machine gun firing through a ventral opening to protect the tail from below. Most of the 25 built went to Kagohl 1 in the Balkans, where in September 1916 a formation destroyed a railway bridge over the Danube at Cernavodă in Romania; others served with Kagohl 2 on the Western Front. Its commander complained that the bombers outran their escort fighters, and in September 1917 the surviving aircraft were relegated to training units.