German fletchette aerial dart, 1915 (c)

Metal aerial dart with feather flights, 1915 (c).

Fletchettes, or fliegerpfeil as they were called by the Germans, were anti-personnel missiles designed to be dropped en masse from aircraft and airships during air raids. They were used by German and Allied air forces in the early years of World War One (1914-1918) but proved relatively ineffective when compared to bombing and strafing with machine gun fire.