1918 We will remember them
Page 28
General Henderson commanded the RFC for all but a couple of months of the war. The Fokker Scourge lasted from autumn 1915 until February 1916. It took the Gunbus and other new aircraft to defeat them. The BE 2 aeroplanes were known as Fokker fodder and vast numbers were shot down. There were few true bombers at this stage of the war and the Gunbus was one of the first multi-role aeroplanes. The addition of the third Lewis gun did take place at this stage of the war. The Germans had to react to their lack of superiority and in the next book the pendulum swings in Germany’s favour when the Albatros D.III and other new aircraft wrested control of the air away from the RFC.
This is the Immelmann Turn as a diagram. The Immelmann Turn was named after the German Ace Max Immelmann who flew the Fokker E1. He was apparently shot down by an FE 2 although one theory is that his interrupter gear malfunctioned and he shot his own propeller off. I prefer the first theory.
I have no evidence for Sergeant Sharp’s improvised bullet proofing. However they were very inventive and modified their aeroplanes all the time. The materials he used were readily available and, in the days before recycling, would have just been thrown away. It would be interesting to test it with bullets.
The Mills bomb was introduced in 1915. It had a seven second fuse. The shrapnel could spread up to twenty yards from the explosion.
The tunnels at Arras were astounding. Work had been going on underground to construct tunnels for the troops since October 1916. The Arras region is chalky and therefore easily excavated; under Arras itself is a vast network of caverns, underground quarries, galleries and sewage tunnels. The engineers devised a plan to add new tunnels to this network so that troops could arrive at the battlefield in secrecy and in safety. The scale of this undertaking was enormous: in one sector alone four Tunnel Companies worked around the clock in 18-hour shifts for two months. Eventually, they constructed 20 kilometres of tunnels, graded as subways for men on foot tramways which had rails and was used for taking ammunition to the front and bringing casualties back; and railways. Just before the assault the tunnel system had grown big enough to conceal 24,000 men, with electric lighting. Bert and his company are part of this undertaking. However the Germans knew of the tunnels and they were digging countermines. Both sides fought a deadly war beneath the surface.
The Battle of Arras was delayed because the French were not ready and consequently began during a snowstorm. Despite that the British and Commonwealth troops made astonishing gains in the first few days. The German front line troops were, quite literally, shell shocked from the two week barrage they had endured. The defences ceased to exist.
General Trenchard was in command in France although he was a controversial figure. He was not universally popular. He was the first Chief of the RAF. He was known for his penchant for offensive rather than defensive flying.
More aeroplanes were shot down by ground fire than other aeroplanes and I have tried to be as realistic as I can but Bill Harsker is a hero and I portray him as such. He does achieve a high number of kills. Lanoe Hawker was the first ace to reach 40 kills and he died just at the end of the Somme Offensive.
The Spring Offensive almost won the war for the Germans. With Russia out of the war and the Americans still feeding men across the Atlantic Operation Michael almost succeeded. The Offensive was four attacks. The first was in the Somme. It was followed by one close to Ypres. A third was to the south of the Somme and the final one was an attempt to enlarge the Somme salient. The Offensive cost the Germans almost 700,000 casualties whilst the allies lost nearly 900,000. It was stopped, in no small part by the RFC or, as it became on April 1st 1918, the RAF. The new German aeroplanes could not defeat the RFC. There were a few Fokker D.VIIs in the air but by the time they reached the front the Spring Offensive had been halted. The battle cost many aeroplanes but once it was over then the RAF dominated the skies of Northern France.
I have tried to base the relationship between Bill and Bates on that of Frodo and Sam in Lord of the Rings. This is not as bizarre as it sounds for Tolkien served in World War 1 as an officer in the trenches and had a close relationship with his servant. It is widely believed that the Frodo/Sam relationship is that of Tolkien and his batman. For those readers who have commented to me about the lack of servants for the other officers I say that all of them would have had a servant and the relationship would have been a similar one to Bates and Bill but I was trying to encapsulate in Bates a sub plot to do with the stress of war and the remarkable changes it brings in the most mild mannered of people.
I have taken the idea of Bill’s injured legs from the true story of Douglas Bader who defied the odds in World War II not only to be able to walk again with artificial legs but also to fly a Spitfire and lead a whole wing of aeroplanes.
The swastika was used by pilots in Jasta 17 and appears to have been the personal emblem of Oblt Hermann Pritisch who was the acting Jastafuhrer. He scored one victory.
The war in 1918 surged one way and then the other. The Spring Offensive came within a whisker of succeeding but the German plan wasted their finest troops in their assaults. Ludendorff, in particular, did not use the elite troops well. Their job was to punch a hole through and then the rest would flood through the gaps they made. Ludendorff had these storm troopers making costly attacks on the British redoubts. They could have been bypassed. Another crucial factor was the control of the air. The Germans were between their good fighters. The triplane was on the decline and the new Fokker D.VII was not ready in enough numbers. Even though the German air force was never defeated it could never control the skies because of their lack of production.
The Hundred Days Offensive began in August and lasted until November 1918. It ended with the allies in Germany. Ironically the worst month of the war was September when 560 allied aeroplanes were lost on the Western front. The previous worse month had been bloody April in 1917 when 305 Allied aeroplanes were lost. In both bloody battles the bulk of the losses were amongst the pilots of the RFC/RAF. These figures pale into insignificance when compared with the losses on the ground and amongst the infantry.
WW1 Aviation Casualties
Casualties
British
French
American
German
Killed
6166
2872
681
5853
Wounded
7245
2922
127
7302
Missing
3212
1461
72
27151
Total
16623
7255
880
15906
Selected Specifications for the aeroplanes mentioned in the novel
FE2b
2 crew
47 feet wingspan
12 feet 6 inches height
Rolls Royce Eagle engine 360hp
Maximum speed 81 mph (up to 88 at higher altitude)
Ceiling, 11000 feet
2 Lewis machine guns and up to 517lb of bombs
AEG G1
3 crew
52 feet wingspan
11 feet four inches height
2 Mercedes 8 cylinders in line engines 100 hp each
Maximum speed 78 mph
Ceiling 7874 feet
2 machine guns
Aviatik B1/B11
Crew 2
Wingspan 40 feet
Height 10 feet 10 inches
Mercedes D11 Engine 99hp
Maximum speed 60 mph
Ceiling 16404 feet
1 machine gun
Bristol F.2A
2 crew
39 feet 3 inches wingspan
9 feet 9 inches height
190 hp Rolls Royce Falcon v-12engine
Maximum speed 123 mph
Ceiling 18,000 feet
1 .303 Lewis (rear facing) machine gun (+an optional Lewis on a Foster mount)
1 Vickers .303 (synchronised) machine gun
Fokker E1
1 crew
29 feet wingspan
9 feet 5 inches height
.7 Cylinder air cooled rotary engine 80 hp
Maximum speed 81 mph
Ceiling 9840 feet
1 machine gun (later variants had a machine gun firing through the propeller)
Arco DH2
1 crew
28 feet wingspan
9 feet 6 inches height
Gnome Monosoupape 10 hp Rotary engine
Maximum speed 93 mph
Ceiling 14,000 feet
I machine gun either fixed or moveable
Nieuport 11
1 crew
29 feet wingspan
7 feet high
1 Le Rhone Rotary Engine 80hp
Maximum speed 97 mph
Ceiling 15,000 feet
1 machine gun
Fokker D.1
1 crew
29 feet wingspan
7 feet 5inches high
Mercedes D 111 160 hp Engine
Maximum speed 93 mph
Ceiling 11000 feet
1 7.92 Spandau mg
Albatros D.1
1 crew
27 feet 10 inches wingspan
9 feet 8 inches high
Mercedes D 111 160 hp Engine
Maximum speed 109 mph
Ceiling 17000 feet
1 x 7.92 Spandau mg
Albatros D.11
1 crew
27 feet 10 inches wingspan
8 feet 8 inches high
Mercedes D 111 160 hp Engine
Maximum speed 109.4 mph
Ceiling 17000 feet
2 x 7.92 Spandau mg
Albatros D.111
1 crew
27 feet 6 inches wingspan
9 feet 6 inches high
Mercedes D 111 160 hp Engine
Maximum speed 102 mph
Ceiling 18000 feet
1 x 7.92 Spandau mg
Fokker D.11
1 crew
28 feet 8 inches wingspan
8feet 4 inches high
Oberursel 100 hp Engine
Maximum speed 93 mph
Ceiling 14700 feet
1 x 7.92 Spandau mg
Halberstadt D111
1 Crew
28 feet 10 inches wingspan
8 feet 8 inches high
Argus As.11 inline 120hp engine
Maximum speed 99.4 mph
Ceiling 14764 feet
1 7.92 Spandau mg
Bristol F.2B
2 crew
29feet wingspan
9 feet 9 inches height
Rolls Royce 275 hp engine
Maximum speed 113 mph
Ceiling 20,000 feet
1 synchronised Vickers .303 machine gun
1 rear mounted Lewis .303 machine gun
Sopwith Pup
1 crew
28 feet wingspan
9 feet 6 inches height
La Rhone 9C 80 hp engine
Maximum speed 105 mph
Ceiling 17,500 feet
1 synchronised Vickers .303 machine gun
Sopwith Camel
1 crew
28 feet wingspan
8 feet 6 inches height
Clerget 9 cylinder air cooled rotary piston (130 hp) engine
Maximum speed 117 mph
Ceiling 19,000 feet
2 synchronised Vickers .303 machine guns
Fokker D I (Triplane)
1 crew
23 feet 8 inches wingspan
9 feet 8inches high
Oberursel 110hpEngine
Maximum speed 115 mph
Ceiling 20015 feet
2 x 7.92 Spandau mg
Fokker D VII
1 crew
29 feet 1 inches wingspan
9 feet 6 inches high
Mercedes DIII 180hpEngine
Maximum speed 118 mph
Ceiling 22695 feet
2 x 7.92 Spandau mg
I used the following books to verify information:
World War 1- Peter Simkins
The Times Atlas of World History
The British Army in World War 1 (1)- Mike Chappell
The British Army in World War 1 (2)- Mike Chappell
The British Army 1914-18- Fosten and Marrion
British Air Forces 1914-1918- Cormack
British and Empire Aces of World War 1- Shores
A History of Aerial Warfare- John Taylor
First World War- Martin Gilbert
Aircraft of World War 1- Herris and Pearson
Thanks to the following website for the slang definitions
www.ict.griffith.edu.au/~davidt/z_ww1_slang/index_bak.htm
Griff Hosker February2015
Other books
by
Griff Hosker
If you enjoyed reading this book then why not read another one by the author?
Ancient History
The Sword of Cartimandua Series (Germania and Britannia 50A.D. – 128 A.D.)
Ulpius Felix- Roman Warrior (prequel)
Book 1 The Sword of Cartimandua
Book 2 The Horse Warriors
Book 3 Invasion Caledonia
Book 4 Roman Retreat
Book 5 Revolt of the Red Witch
Book 6 Druid’s Gold
Book 7 Trajan’s Hunters
Book 8 The Last Frontier
Book 9 Hero of Rome
Book 10 Roman Hawk
Book 11Roman Treachery
Book 12 Roman Wall
The Wolf Warrior series (Britain in the late 6th Century)
Book 1 Saxon Dawn
Book 2 Saxon Revenge
Book 3 Saxon England
Book 4 Saxon Blood
Book 5 Saxon Slayer
Book 6 Saxon Slaughter
Book 7 Saxon Bane
Book 8 Saxon Fall: Rise of the Warlord
The Dragon Heart Series
Book 1 Viking Slave
Book 2 Viking Warrior
Book 3 Viking Jarl
Book 4 Viking Kingdom
Book 5 Viking Wolf
Book 6 Viking War
Book 7 Viking Sword
The Aelfraed Series (Britain and Byzantium 1050 A.D. - 1085 A.D.
Book 1 Housecarl
Book 2 Outlaw
Book 3 Varangian
The Anarchy: England 1120-1180
English Knight
Modern History
The Napoleonic Horseman Series
Book 1 Chasseur a Cheval
Book 2 Napoleon’s Guard
Book 3 British Light Dragoon
Book 4 Soldier Spy
Book 5 1808: The Road to Corunna
The Lucky Jack American Civil War series
Rebel Raiders
Confederate Rangers
The Road to Gettysburg
The British Ace Series
1914
1915 Fokker Scourge
1916 Angels over the Somme
1917 Eagles Fall
1918: We will remember them
Other Books
Great Granny’s Ghost (Aimed at 9-14 year old young people)
Adventure at 63-Backpacking to Istanbul
For more information on all of the books then please visit the author’s web site at http://www.griffhosker.com where there is a link to contact him.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 22
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30