World War I Air War

As of late, I’ve read a few titles focusing on certain aspects of WWI air combat…namely the German Albatros series.

If you like it have a look at the development of this thread over on SPS. Stunning work by Dave which reflects his exhaustive research on the subject and will be hard to beat. He is however always on the look out for more info on the subject.

Best place to start is here..
http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/replica-aircraft/
Also contact Russel Smith
http://www.russellsmithart.com/Limited%20Editions%20WW1P1.html
Or the guys in NZ
http://thevintageaviator.co.nz/node

Dammit, I think my copy of Winged Victory went to charity… 🙁

Fate, in a cruel twist, decreed that Yeats would die with millions of others in the great Influenza epidemic just after the end of the Great War. In fact, few realise that it was so bad that it killed more people than the war itself…..

Actually Yeates died from Tuberculosis exacerbated by the stress of constant high altitude flying. He didn’t actually die until the early thirties. He wrote ‘Winged Victory’ while he was dying–TB takes a long time.
A few years ago I was in correspondence with both his son and grandson.
The son sent me a very nice photograph of Victor in his RFC uniform.
He flew Camels with 46 Sqn. and was an ace.
The character of ‘Mac’ in the book is of course the Canadian ace Donald MacLaren.

Cheery it is not, but it will take you closer to the reality than. is comfortable.

Totally agree.
The character of Seddon is just about my favourite character in any book.
Winged Victory is the book about aviation in The Great War.

Andy

Without a doubt, the best book that I have ever read about flying in the Great War, was one called ‘Winged Victory’, by V.M.Yeats. It’s touted as fiction, but it’s a very, very thinly disguised autobiography from a man who lived through that awful carnage where so many perished soon after they arrived at the front. He knew first-hand from bitter experience, just how savage were it’s effects upon what were often nothing more than school-leavers.

Fate, in a cruel twist, decreed that Yeats would die with millions of others in the great Influenza epidemic just after the end of the Great War. In fact, few realise that it was so bad that it killed more people than the war itself…..

If you have any serious interest in what the experience was really like for the pilots, it’s essential reading. I was the same age as the pilots in the book when I first read it, and it really made me stop and think.

Cheery it is not, but it will take you closer to the reality than is comfortable.

Ditto the above.

‘Winged Victory’ is the book on First World War air fighting.

The fact that the ungainly looking DH.2 flew and flew quite well is amazing to me. On top of that I’d wager most people who don’t know any better would not assume the worlds first truly successful fighter plane (the Eindecker) was a monoplane and not a biplane.

The more I read, the more fascinating WWI and its air war becomes to me.

You might like to look at the amazing flying and racing career of Eddie Reckenbacker.

My personal interest in WW1 aviation tends to focus on the early days, when the RFC were flying pushers and the Fokker scourge was imminent.

I always enjoyed John Harris’ fictional novels on Martin Falconer & Ira Penaluna for lightweight but enjoyable reading. Also look at the trilogy of War Story, Hornets Sting and Goshawk Squadron by Derek Robinson for sheer gritty fiction.

Thanks for the suggestions gents. The more I read, the more fascinating WWI and its air war becomes to me.

Anyone here have a keen interest in it? Any types that you are fond of from the era? There were quite a few types that flew during the war despite aviation being so relatively new.

Amazing when you think of the transition from the Fokker E.I of 1915 to the Spad XIII or Fokker D.VII of 1918…

That doesn’t even cover the variety of recce, light bomber, and heavy bomber types that saw service during the war years.

I learned a lot from Fire in the Sky, The First Battle of Britain, 1917-1918, by Major Raymond Fredette, USAF.

It deals with the UK response to bomber raids, which set the stage not only for the RAF but bomber command and the UK policy of taking war to enemy cities.
Oddly, from being on the receiving end of strategic bombardment, the UK made it a cornerstone of their air policy, the Germans on the other hand obviously thought the costs outweighed the benefits and didn’t develop
long range “strategic” bombers for use in WWII (we all know they relied on smaller tactical types for their long-range attacks).

Despite being written in 1966, the book is still in print (in the US) and available on Amazon.

Flying in the Great War.

Without a doubt, the best book that I have ever read about flying in the Great War, was one called ‘Winged Victory’, by V.M.Yeats. It’s touted as fiction, but it’s a very, very thinly disguised autobiography from a man who lived through that awful carnage where so many perished soon after they arrived at the front. He knew first-hand from bitter experience, just how savage were it’s effects upon what were often nothing more than school-leavers.

Fate, in a cruel twist, decreed that Yeats would die with millions of others in the great Influenza epidemic just after the end of the Great War. In fact, few realise that it was so bad that it killed more people than the war itself…..

If you have any serious interest in what the experience was really like for the pilots, it’s essential reading. I was the same age as the pilots in the book when I first read it, and it really made me stop and think.

Cheery it is not, but it will take you closer to the reality than is comfortable.

Thanks for all the book tips. I’ll add them to my queue. I’ve got a few to finish before I should add any new ones.

I’ll just gamble on Amazon and maybe I’ll get lucky and find a good documentary

I know most people rate the Cecil Lewis book but I enjoyed these 3 books much more…

Wind in the Wires, by Capt Duncan Grinnell-Milne. MC.DFC

Combat Report,by Capt Bill Lambert. DFC

Recollections of an Airman, by Lt. Col. L. A. Strange,
D.S.O., M.C., D.F.C.

The first 2 I had been given by the widow of a neighbour and languished for many years until I got round to reading them,G-M and Strange both joined the RAF during WW2,the WW2 service of Strange is well documented but I have read conflicting reports about G-M’s WW2 service,I know he was grounded due to ill health…does anybody here have documented details of G-m’s short WW2 flying career (yes I have googled it but read conflicting articles).

rgds baz

As far as the RNAS is concerned, didnt they often use their fighters in very offensive type missions such as ground attack?

Yes, also first offensive attacks against enemy positions, first bombing raids over enemy territory, the HP O/100 was built for the RNAS, first British fixed forward firing gun tractor (Airco DH.2 was a pusher) fighters (Sop. 1 1/2 Strutter – 1st true multi role combat aircraft). The great Sopwith scouts, Pup, Tripe and Camel were built to navy requirements and went to RNAS squadrons first, the Tripe never served with the RFC. First aircraft carrier launched air strikes in history, the Tondern raid; the first successful one, the first aircraft carrier based torpedo carrying aircraft and many more…

Look into the careers of guys like Charles Rumney Sampson and Fredrick Rutland. Terrific stories.

An interesting sideline is the British use of airships; by far their use as maritime patrol aircraft was far more successful than the Germans use of them as bombers. The British non-rigids made excellent patrol aircraft. A good book on the subject is the British Airship at War by Patrick Abbott.

Oh, and if you are looking for something different, look into the career of the German commerce raider Wolf; she carried a seaplane and was one of only two German commerce raiders to get back to Germany in WW1. A number of books have been written about the ship’s voyage. A real interesting story.

Saggitarius Rising is an excellent book, by the way; couldn’t recommend it more highly.

IMHO, one of the most underrated WW1 autobiographies is Night Raiders of the Air by A.R. Kingsford, a New Zealander who flew numerous night raids in Fe.2’s and HP 0/400’s. Thankfully, it looks as though it’s being reprinted in a hardcover format, Amazon are listing it as due for release in December. There should be some older softback copies around if you don’t fancy the newer version.

Ooh, The Red Air Fighter – MvR’s book on his flying experiences. Haven’t read it in years but I remember it being an excellent book.

Cannot recommend any DVDs but, for books, I don’t think you will beat Sagittarius Rising by Cecil Lewis who had a spell flying SE5s with 56 Sqn.

Fan of the SE.5 series perhaps?

I’ve actually read the title in the Duel series you mentioned (love that series by the way!).

The Aces title will probably follow at some point.

As far as the RNAS is concerned, didnt they often use their fighters in very offensive type missions such as ground attack?

Naval Aviation of the First World War, Its impact and influence by R.D.Layman.

An aspect of WW1 aviation almost always overshadowed by the activities of the land based ‘aces’ and air war over the front. In a comparison between the RFC and RNAS (for example), the latter was by far the more innovative in its use of aircraft.

I dunno about documentaries, but I’ve got a few books here which I find useful:

Flying Fury – Five Years in the RFC, by James McCudden
No56 Squadron RFC/RAF – Alex Revell
SE5/5a Aces of WW1 – Norman Franks
SE5a vs. Albatros D.V – Jon Guttman

(You can probably notice a pattern here! :p )

Also, the book Ghosts of the Great War by Phillip McKanna is worth getting. It’s WW1 pornography.